The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[konachicks]

Yes white. I thought it was strange cause the other feed didn't do that. And the the girls were soooo loving the FF!

 

[Lacy Blues]

I'd keep making it. There were times when my feed would look weird or if it started to smell off, I would pour some organic ACV in there along with the water. Sometimes I'll put yogurt in there too (plain and unsweetened). It will balance out. You don't need to toss a whole bucket of fermented feed, just work with it and you can usually get it back into the range where you're comfortable with it.

 

[Leahs Mom]

The white is most likely kahm yeast. It can be eaten okay, but it does change the flavor of the food and it tells you that yeasts are out of balance and proliferating in the feed. This is not something you want to proliferate. Yeasts produce alcohol. For lacto-fermented feed (which is the kind of ferment that was tested in the studies) you want the Lactic acid bacteria proliferating rather than yeasts.

If your goal is a healthy, lacto-ferment, seeing the kahm is a clue that things are out of balance.

 

[Lacy Blues]

That's why I added ACV... I just messed with it until it wasn't like that anymore and it has been absolutely forever since I've had to correct anything.

 

[lazy gardener]

What kind of mold? Reportedly white mold is ok.

If it were me and depending on how long it takes you to get through your batch, I would make less. I use up almost all of my feed that has been fermented morning and evening. I have a bucket for each. Each day, I add new feed and though it doesn't ferment for more than 24 hours, they gobble it up. I always wipe the sides of my bucket when adding water to the new feed. I don't let any feed stay stuck and built up on the sides but wipe it down into the feed.

I have two plastic lids from pies bought at the store that fit my buckets perfectly. They don't seal the air out but just keep anything else from getting into the bucket (including my dogs).

Oh, and I don't cover with water. I'd have soup if I did that.

Ditto your idea Lacy. I keep 2 containers going. Each morning I just grab the oldest one (that's had 2 days to ferment) and head out the door with it. No time in my life for scooping! I dump it into their massive dog bowl, and am done. My FF is thick enough that it lands in the bowl in a huge pile that will hold it's shape for a bit.

The white is most likely kahm yeast. It can be eaten okay, but it does change the flavor of the food and it tells you that yeasts are out of balance and proliferating in the feed. This is not something you want to proliferate. Yeasts produce alcohol. For lacto-fermented feed (which is the kind of ferment that was tested in the studies) you want the Lactic acid bacteria proliferating rather than yeasts.

If your goal is a healthy, lacto-ferment, seeing the kahm is a clue that things are out of balance.

Thanks for the info LM. I've occasionally had mine get out of balance in the summer. When I use it up every 48 hours, that is not an issue. It also helped when I moved mine down to the laundry room for the summer, where it's cooler.

 

[konachicks]

Thanks for the info

 

[armorfirelady]

The girls today enjoying a turkey carcass. I'm very blessed that friends and family saved them for me from thanksgiving. My friends who gave me the carcass today is the same one who gave me venison scraps that I ground up. They gave me several more bags today's of scraps since he got another deer. Girls will have fresh meat till summer at least between the venison and turkey carcasses in the freezer

 

[Leahs Mom]

@armorfirelady
What did you use to grind your meat?

Besides the venison livers I already got, I just had a call from the lady that I get our grass-fed beef from. They're taking in one for butcher and she remembered that I like the organs and gave me a call so I'm going to have a beef heart, liver, and tongue. I'd love to have it ground so I don't have to chop it up but since it's free, I don't want to ask them to do it!

 

[lazy gardener]

maybe you could offer a small fee, or an exchange of eggs for the grinding.

 

[LindaB220]

My girls love when I fermented their chick feed but for some reason their grower feed keeps getting mold. Same process, storing/stiring etc. any idea why? Always covered with water too

What kind of mold? Black? Or white? The white stuff is the good stuff. Stir it in. The black mold is usually on the sides and can be scraped off then stir down to neutrilize the rest. I don't cover with water. Just make it and let get to the consistancy of thick oatmeal or mortar. The chickens like it better this way. Just save a couple of cups in the bottom of the bucket to carry over the ferment. A good site to answer all questions is a BYC blogger. Here's her site for Fermented Feed FAQ

http://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/