Scratch and Peck Feeds

[Better Than Rubies]

Guys, won't feeding your chickens fermented feed make them drunk?

 

[Kat C]

Guys, won't feeding your chickens fermented feed make them drunk?

No more than "fermenting" milk produces alcohol rather than yogurt. The difference is that fermenting for alcohol uses yeast, and fermenting milk, yogurt, vinegar, kefir, sauerkraut, etc uses bacteria. http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/p/fermented-feed.html Hard cider and vinegar are both fermented, but the one will get you drunk and the other pucker up your face.
Best article I found on fermenting feed is https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/ long but worth the read IMO

 

[Better Than Rubies]

No more than "fermenting" milk produces alcohol rather than yogurt. The difference is that fermenting for alcohol uses yeast, and fermenting milk, yogurt, vinegar, kefir, sauerkraut, etc uses bacteria. http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/p/fermented-feed.html Hard cider and vinegar are both fermented, but the one will get you drunk and the other pucker up your face.
Best article I found on fermenting feed is https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/ long but worth the read IMO

Oh.

 

[Kat C]

Oh.

No oops. I didn't know that either. I thought it was just because it was a short time (usually 3 days). Your question prompted me to learn something new

 

[anna-newhampshire]

Well said @Kat C. Bravissima! Very clever the comparison to Ensure.
As for me, I bought some organic wheat from Scratch & Peck coincidentally, which I sprout for my five quails.

 

[Kat C]

Well said @Kat C. Bravissima! Very clever the comparison to Ensure.
As for me, I bought some organic wheat from Scratch & Peck coincidentally, which I sprout for my five quails.

Sprouts are great. You are doing right by your quails
I found sprouting to be a bit of a chore, so I found a way that works for me. I make a "cage" of hardware cloth that I put on the ground and sprinkle wheat in it. When it sprouts I lift it up and move it and the chickens devour it in about 1 hour. Being in Alabama I can sprout wheat all year this way
I tried "cages" of fencing but the sparrows came and got the sprouts just when they sprouted .... lots of them.
I think we humans have this idea that a "treat" is something you should give in moderation. If chickens adore some food its probably something you should feed them frequently. They adore it because it is something they need. They adore bugs which in wild jungle fowl is about 1/2 their diet. Plant matter comes next, with grains a smaller proportion. These are not treats, these are the foods they are programmed to desire. http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/The_wild_chicken__39__s_diet/ Where we lived before I kept a compost pile in the chicken yard to benefit them with bugs and me with well worked compost. Getting old and haven't set that up again since our move a few years ago. Saw this vid about feeding chickens on just what they can find in compost. Of course this guy has huge compost piles

 

[Tesumph]

Sprouts are great. You are doing right by your quails
I found sprouting to be a bit of a chore, so I found a way that works for me. I make a "cage" of hardware cloth that I put on the ground and sprinkle wheat in it. When it sprouts I lift it up and move it and the chickens devour it in about 1 hour. Being in Alabama I can sprout wheat all year this way
I tried "cages" of fencing but the sparrows came and got the sprouts just when they sprouted .... lots of them.
I think we humans have this idea that a "treat" is something you should give in moderation. If chickens adore some food its probably something you should feed them frequently. They adore it because it is something they need. They adore bugs which in wild jungle fowl is about 1/2 their diet. Plant matter comes next, with grains a smaller proportion. These are not treats, these are the foods they are programmed to desire. http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/The_wild_chicken__39__s_diet/ Where we lived before I kept a compost pile in the chicken yard to benefit them with bugs and me with well worked compost. Getting old and haven't set that up again since our move a few years ago. Saw this vid about feeding chickens on just what they can find in compost. Of course this guy has huge compost piles

My chickens would eat tuna all day long if I let them. Maybe I should just start feeding them straight tuna? They know what’s best I guess.

 

[Kat C]

Have you ever tried

My chickens would eat tuna all day long if I let them. Maybe I should just start feeding them straight tuna? They know what’s best I guess.

Have you ever tried that? Do you know that if you put out greens, fruit veggies and tuna in unlimited quantities that they would only eat the tuna and not eat anything else? Tuna is good meat nutrition. But I wager that if you put out unlimited tuna, greens, veggies and fruit they would eat a balance. If I could afford it I would skip the grains and feed tuna greens and fruit.
However I bet if you fed your chickens nothing but tuna they would do well. Eskimos in the past at least ate a mostly meat diet. Vegans eat a no meat diet. Vegans have to be careful as they run the risk of B12 deficiency. Eskimos survived quite well on their diet.

 

[Tesumph]

Have you ever tried

Have you ever tried that? Do you know that if you put out greens, fruit veggies and tuna in unlimited quantities that they would only eat the tuna and not eat anything else? Tuna is good meat nutrition. But I wager that if you put out unlimited tuna, greens, veggies and fruit they would eat a balance. If I could afford it I would skip the grains and feed tuna greens and fruit.
However I bet if you fed your chickens nothing but tuna they would do well. Eskimos in the past at least ate a mostly meat diet. Vegans eat a no meat diet. Vegans have to be careful as they run the risk of B12 deficiency. Eskimos survived quite well on their diet.

Nah, haven’t tried it, just a hunch.
I’ll experiment with it and give my dogs only hamburgers and the kids I’m babysitting only ice cream at the same time.
They’re all gonna thrive for sure.

 

[rebrascora]

@Kat C

I get what you are saying..... with an unlimited choice of foods and plenty of space to forage and get exercise and most likely having to work to get that food, the majority of chickens will be healthy. I think the video about not using grains is interesting and my feeling is that a largely grain based diet is not healthy for them which is why I outlined my concerned about whole grain feeds although I appreciate that pellets and crumbles are also grain based.
I think you have to look at more than one factor than just the feed like....
How the feed is provided... gravity feeder, fermented pan of feed, scattered over the ground etc and how often.
How much feed is given ie rationed or adlib.
How much area the hens have to range over.
The breed of bird
What other forage they may have available... ie compost pile etc.

I stand by my argument that modern day chickens are not like their jungle fowl ancestors and their high level of productivity means that dietary balance is probably much more critical. Many domesticated creatures will over eat and become fat or obese if they are allowed to eat as much as they like and don't get enough exercise.
Chickens that are penned or mostly penned and fed a whole grain diet ad lib are likely to become overweight and suffer health issues. Most people do not have the luxury of free range due to land restrictions or predators.
I think you have to weigh up all these circumstances and considerations if you move away from a formulated pellet or crumble and for the majority of people a pellet or crumble fed adlib is probably going to be the easiest and healthiest option for their chickens.