Share your probiotic tips!

[venymae]

Many of us know that probiotics are extremely helpful to the immune systems of animals, including chickens! There are lots of ways to introduce them. How do you do it?

I personally feed my chooks chopped up Kombuca SCOBYs! They LOVE them! Might as well be chicken candy! We also will occasionally give them a dollop of yogurt mixed into some crumble.

 

[ChickNanny13]

I give my girls (4 BO) ACV with the Mother once a month for a week and I ferment their Flock Raiser. Always interested learning what else is "good" for them.

 

[venymae]

I give my girls (4 BO) ACV with the Mother once a month for a week and I ferment their Flock Raiser. Always interested learning what else is "good" for them.

I had forgotten about Apple Cider Vinegar! I used to give it to my chicks (in their water) to jump start their gut bacteria.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I get probiotics into the chicks in the brooder by feeding them dirt from the run where the older chickens have pooped. That way the adults pass whatever probiotics they have on to the chicks. That also gets the chicks grit and starts them strengthening their immune system so they can work on flock immunities. With my first chicks before I had adults I just fed them dirt from the run. I didn't worry about it after that.

With broody hens I let them introduce the chicks to probiotics by pooping around the chicks. As long as you don't get ridiculous with the amounts you feed keep doing what you are doing, it will not hurt and may help. My chickens are healthy and have strong immune systems so I'm quite satisfied with my method. We all have our nethods.

 

[Eggcessive]

I use a good brand of plain yogurt with cultures some in a while, and mix it into their feed in a pan and add a lot of water to the mixture. It is gone by the end of the day. A little tub of Chobani Greek yogurt is just 99 cents, and sometimes if I have cottage cheese or sour cream going out of date, I use that instead. If it says live cultures, cultured, or lists them, it is okay.

 

[Akrnaf2]

I use probiotic Yougurt as a starter for the feed fermentation
And I make my own ACV, so I get all the wonderful probiotics bacteria in it.
And if I get some human probiotic capsules they go in the fermented feed as well.

 

[venymae]

I get probiotics into the chicks in the brooder by feeding them dirt from the run where the older chickens have pooped. That way the adults pass whatever probiotics they have on to the chicks. That also gets the chicks grit and starts them strengthening their immune system so they can work on flock immunities. With my first chicks before I had adults I just fed them dirt from the run. I didn't worry about it after that.

With broody hens I let them introduce the chicks to probiotics by pooping around the chicks. As long as you don't get ridiculous with the amounts you feed keep doing what you are doing, it will not hurt and may help. My chickens are healthy and have strong immune systems so I'm quite satisfied with my method. We all have our nethods.

That's really interesting! I suppose that would be a way to get them used to bacteria they will have to fight off. Much like how people build up resistances to local diseases. Interesting take!

I use a good brand of plain yogurt with cultures some in a while, and mix it into their feed in a pan and add a lot of water to the mixture. It is gone by the end of the day. A little tub of Chobani Greek yogurt is just 99 cents, and sometimes if I have cottage cheese or sour cream going out of date, I use that instead. If it says live cultures, cultured, or lists them, it is okay.

So do you also add freed of is it just yogurty water?

I use probiotic Yougurt as a starter for the feed fermentation
And I make my own ACV, so I get all the wonderful probiotics bacteria in it.
And if I get some human probiotic capsules they go in the fermented feed as well.

I never tried using a starter when attempting fermented feed...it's a good idea!

 

[twilightgecko]

ACV with the mother, and yogurt.. they love it..

 

[Sara Ranch]

Fermented feed and ACV in the water.

 

[katieuppi]

Hate to disagree, but ACV is not probiotic- acetobacter converts alcohol to acid (vinegar). That's it. Commercial kombucha like GT Dave's has added probiotics, but they aren't produced in kombucha under most conditions. The bacteria naturally present in a kombucha culture aren't probiotic. They convert sugar or alcohol to acid. Fermentation junkie here- don't get me wrong, I love me some ACV or booch. I've dug a little deeper through, and found that popular claims about their probiotic nature are not correct.