Vitamin C for chicken - i found this article, would like to share with you guys and listen to opinion.

[Folly's place]

Adding extra doesn't make sense, it's about having fresh water and a fresh balanced diet available all the time!
Mary

 

[glib]

Speaking of fermented feed. I saw quite a lot of people doing fermented feed, said it will increase absorption of 18%..
However, i am considering, if just soak the whatever feed mix for 3 days.. isn't mold and bad bacterial also thrive ? and hence, isn't that bad for chicken as well ? i mean, feed got fermented (good for absorption) but bad bacterial and mold also proliferate , so how can that be good ? unless one pour in EM so that good bacterial take over the whole thing..

You have to inoculate the ferment properly, initially, then always inoculate with 10% of the previous batch. For a good lactic fermentation, start with sauerkraut juice as your inoculator. fermenting in the 60-70F range will do a lot to keep your ferment healthy (lower temps are fine, but too high and it will start to stink).

 

[Folly's place]

Fresh dry feed, much easier! Wetting whole grain feeds is a good idea, but then it must be fresh daily. Fermenting feed is just more work than it's worth for me.
Mary

 

[BackToTheBeginning]

You have to inoculate the ferment properly, initially, then always inoculate with 10% of the previous batch. For a good lactic fermentation, start with sauerkraut juice as your inoculator. fermenting in the 60-70F range will do a lot to keep your ferment healthy (lower temps are fine, but too high and it will start to sti

Yes, it is a lot more work, furthermore have to make sure they finish up the fermented feed daily.. and makesure the feeder won't get mold on prolonged wet feed.
However i would like to try it out.

What starter should i use ? sauerkraut ? can i use apple cider vinegar ? can i use yogourt ?
I have crashed the grain mix (from feed store, they included dry shrink in the feed mix) for the chick.. a crashed grain still ok to ferment ? some of them already become powdery..

Thx

 

[glib]

Yes, it is a lot more work, furthermore have to make sure they finish up the fermented feed daily.. and makesure the feeder won't get mold on prolonged wet feed.
However i would like to try it out.

What starter should i use ? sauerkraut ? can i use apple cider vinegar ? can i use yogourt ?
I have crashed the grain mix (from feed store, they included dry shrink in the feed mix) for the chick.. a crashed grain still ok to ferment ? some of them already become powdery..

Thx

No, you can not use ACV. It has to be a lactic ferment. Yogurt, whey, or sauerkraut juice.

 

[Cazook]

if you don't have any sauerkraut the ferment will start by itself (there is lots of lactobacillus just floating around usually), just make sure that the feed is completely submerged in water. mix it with a spatula a couple times a day. it should start getting some bubbles and a sour-sweet grain smell in a few days. shouldn't be any mould or a bad smell. usually mould means that the feed was above the surface of the water too long (this can happen if it absorbs all the water, so add more than you think)

adding some sauerkraut juice in the beginning does take some of the guess work out of it though and speeds up the whole process. also once you have a batch of fermented feed going you can use the juice from that as your next 'starter'.

tbh i don't know if it's really worth it, but it puts the wild birds off eating the chicken's food so sometimes that is enough for me lol. i've heard it's also good for preventing sour crop (which seems to be due to yeast overload rather than sour-making bacteria, ironically >_>)

 

[BackToTheBeginning]

i've heard it's also good for preventing sour crop (which seems to be due to yeast overload rather than sour-making bacteria,

Can you explain that in detail , please ? I don't get it. Thanks

 

[AntiqueB]

My best fermenting experiments were with chick starter, which is ground grain. 1-2 days seemed optimal. The whole grain doesn't do as well for me.

 

[Cazook]

Can you explain that in detail , please ? I don't get it. Thanks

I mean that people might mistake 'sour crop' as being caused by acid-producing bacteria (like used in lactofermentation) rather than yeast, due to the name.