Vomit Smelling Fermented Feed!

[ChookieG]

Hi guys! I've done fermentation before but it's never smelled like vomit so I thought maybe someone may have some insight.

I've recently filled a 2-quart juice bottle halfway with scratch grains and added filtered water to almost the top and capped it with an air-lock to keep the fermenting conditions anaerobic. Then I placed it in an incubator at around 35 deg C (95 deg f) as it's Autumn now so the ambient temperature is too cold for rapid fermentation. Overnight, the smell was putrid! The entire incubator smelled like vomit! The mix was bubbling like crazy and even spurted out of the air-lock but ceased after 48 hours. I removed the cap and smelled the mix and still smelled like vomit but also with a hint of fruity alcoholic odor. I fed it to the chickens and they loved it though.

My past fermentation before this one have been done in 1/2 quart glass jars indoors over summer (not in an incubator) but I had to burp it several times a day so I thought it would be easier to do it in a larger batch with an air-lock. The fermentation then was still bubbling after 3 days but I have had problems with kahm yeast as the lid is not entirely air-tight.

The manufacturer states the scratch contains wheat, cracked corn, whole barley, cracked lupins, sorghum, black sunnies, layer pellets, shell grit and canola oil. Might it have been the lupins that's causing this problem? I heard that uncooked fermented beans are also putrid smelling.

Am I doing anything wrong?

 

[RosemaryDuck]

Hi guys! I've done fermentation before but it's never smelled like vomit so I thought maybe someone may have some insight.

I've recently filled a 2-quart juice bottle halfway with scratch grains and added filtered water to almost the top and capped it with an air-lock to keep the fermenting conditions anaerobic. Then I placed it in an incubator at around 35 deg C (95 deg f) as it's Autumn now so the ambient temperature is too cold for rapid fermentation. Overnight, the smell was putrid! The entire incubator smelled like vomit! The mix was bubbling like crazy and even spurted out of the air-lock but ceased after 48 hours. I removed the cap and smelled the mix and still smelled like vomit but also with a hint of fruity alcoholic odor. I fed it to the chickens and they loved it though.

My past fermentation before this one have been done in 1/2 quart glass jars indoors over summer (not in an incubator) but I had to burp it several times a day so I thought it would be easier to do it in a larger batch with an air-lock. The fermentation then was still bubbling after 3 days but I have had problems with kahm yeast as the lid is not entirely air-tight.

The manufacturer states the scratch contains wheat, cracked corn, whole barley, cracked lupins, sorghum, black sunnies, layer pellets, shell grit and canola oil. Might it have been the lupins that's causing this problem? I heard that uncooked fermented beans are also putrid smelling.

Am I doing anything wrong?

I think possibly the feed was moldy or off prior to you fermenting it. When I used to ferment my birds feed it always smelled like you described, fruity and slightly alcoholic. (Maybe I'm an outlier, but I loved opening the bucket to the smell!).

I would possibly do another batch if it smells sickly or rotten to you. Better to waste a little then have your birds get ill. But I'm not 100% an expert on it so let some others respond here as well! Hope this helps .

 

[ChookieG]

I think possibly the feed was moldy or off prior to you fermenting it. When I used to ferment my birds feed it always smelled like you described, fruity and slightly alcoholic. (Maybe I'm an outlier, but I loved opening the bucket to the smell!).

I would possibly do another batch if it smells sickly or rotten to you. Better to waste a little then have your birds get ill. But I'm not 100% an expert on it so let some others respond here as well! Hope this helps .

Dang this is a new bag of feed! I'll try to ferment it in the old 1/2 quart bottle and see whether I get the same result. I read somewhere in BYC that somebody's sprouts often smell like vomit when rodents have gotten on it. Hope it's not the manufacturer's product!

 

[Mellowmalt]

I'm sure you have researched how to ferment and the purpose of it so to me your process makes little sense.
The point is to let seeds soak so they get soft, are digested easier and start to sprout. There is no need to heat is to 35 degrees C unless you want it to start going off much sooner. Food that goes off (past consumption point) smells like vomit.
That is why we refrigerate our food to stop it going off.

 

[ChookieG]

I'm sure you have researched how to ferment and the purpose of it so to me your process makes little sense.
The point is to let seeds soak so they get soft, are digested easier and start to sprout. There is no need to heat is to 35 degrees C unless you want it to start going off much sooner. Food that goes off (past consumption point) smells like vomit.
That is why we refrigerate our food to stop it going off.

I don't quite understand what you're trying to say.. I'm fermenting my grains.. not sprouting them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I've never considered heating my ferment. I've also never covered it (mine sits open). So what you're trying to create is quite the opposite of what I'd want, as it would sour far too quickly and pose a potential explosive hazard from CO2 build up.

 

[ChookieG]

I've never considered heating my ferment. I've also never covered it (mine sits open). So what you're trying to create is quite the opposite of what I'd want, as it would sour far too quickly and pose a potential explosive hazard from CO2 build up.

Yeap hence the air-lock...

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yeap hence the air-lock...

Woops I read it as capped with a lock haha.

 

[RoosterML]

I just don’t get it, most if not all quality feeds come with probiotics so why in the world mess around with fermented feed.
SMH

 

[Dephora]

So I think if you lower the temp you will have better luck. I ferment my scratch and grains as well, the hotter it is the faster it ferments. I also make kombucha, alcohol, and other human ferments haha including veg. Your temp is way too high. Which makes it very smelly very quickly. I keep my ferments at 24c and I think you will have less bad smells at that temp.

Are you reusing the water from your ferments onto the next batch? I recommend adding a culture of probiotic to your ferment to get it started and you know that you are fermenting the probiotic you want to be fermenting. You can find a 5 dollar Acidophilus at most vitamin stores, just break open the capsule into your next ferment. Doing that, plus lowering the temp, and I recommend stirring once a day will greatly improve that vomit smell.