Thoughts on fermenting feed?

[wrenhen]

So I have searched and found a lot of threads on how to ferment, studies, etc. But I wanted more of people's experience with it.
Did you like it? Did you not like it? What about it did you / didn't you like?

Thanks!

 

[EddieSalita]

I've only very recently started doing it.

Likes are the health benefits.... its the start of winter and they just look fantastic. Shiny feathers, very active, laying lots of eggs.....i like getting extra value from feed, much less waste. What they would flick and pick through a bit previously, they now just readily eat it all when it's fermented.

Dislikes...... if I have to think of one it's that they are even more demanding in the morning now. It's not just about let me out.... it's let me out and feed me.

They have lost interest in scratch grain as a treat. It's all about the fermented mash. They really love it.

 

[Kiki]

I tried it for a little while when I first started with chickens because I thought there were HUGE benefits.

There are not.

They don't eat less feed if you ferment it.
They aren't any healthier for eating it.
It's messy.

Feed a crumbled or pelleted feed and your birds will get all the proper nutrition they need.
Don't feed treats regularly.

 

[Molpet]

I have been feeding it since 2015.
To me they eat less and the poo smells less.... especially CX and turkeys.
Since the feed is soaked they go through that much less water. If the water gets dumped it's not as critical. This was very helpful when I had COVID and couldn't check water as often.
I have over 80 chickens and 30 turkeys through this winter. Went through about 10 gallons of FF a day.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I tired it. Only benefit was reduced waste. I can get the same reduced waste benefit by buying pellets. Or by serving feed as a wet mash (which i do) without the effort of preparing half a 5 gallon bucket of fermented feed three days in advance (longer for people in less conducive climates), and without any concerns of an undesired "something" colonizing it instead.

I don't have to dip a ladle, strainer, or my hands into a wet or cold bucket, I don't need to set space aside for it, I don't have to worry about periodically cleaning my system.

Pour, wet, stir, dump.

And if I'm pressed for time? Simply dump.

My time is worth FAR more than the benefit I obtained fermenting - which even when I had a flock near 100 birds wasn't noticeable. If it happens when I've pre-measured feed for my wife to dsump while I am travelling, I don't object - but I don't make any effort at it, ewither.

If you are fermenting in mason jars because you have a handful of birds and it gives you pleasure? Go ahead, its your entertainment. But the bird's nutrition isn't markedly better , and you aren't saving any money. (fermentation is complicated, details matter - kimchi is fermented. So is wine, beer, sourdough bread, yogurt and pickles. Fermented feed is no different. What ingredients are you fermenting? under what conditions? with what microorganisms? with what liquid? Plain water? what is its pH???)

 

[Morrigan]

I've been doing fermented food for about 9 years. I like it because it reduces spillage, it helps with water intake, and the chickens by and large prefer it over dry. Some markedly so. There is some research suggesting it has some benefits. I wouldn't tout it as a magical elixir, but it works for me.

Links to some research articles if you are interested --

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7597451/#:~:text=In conclusion, fermented feed improves,capacity of laying hen chicks.

https://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-022-03322-4

 

[MrsNorthie]

So I have searched and found a lot of threads on how to ferment, studies, etc. But I wanted more of people's experience with it.
Did you like it? Did you not like it? What about it did you / didn't you like?

Thanks!

So we started feeding them some fermented, but we still have a hanging feed with dry layer crumbles, and 2 post mounted feeders with layer pellets and one post mounted feeder with oyster shell in it. so they have a choice, but the mash gets eaten first but 2 of my hens and one of the roosters really like the pellets.