Which probiotics for chicks??

[missypebble]

As long as you've fermented the feed correctly, most chickens take to it right away, including chicks. It's just a matter of them "discovering" it. You can offer it alongside the dry feed or withdraw the dry feed and force them to "discover" the FF more quickly.

I feed dry crumbles scattered on the floor of the brooder the first couple days while I have my new chicks in the house under observation for issues before I exile them to the run with their heating pad. When I give them the FF, they are still hunting for the dry crumbles, but it doesn't take long for them to start tucking into the new food.

Thank you for responding!

I fermented the chick crumble a out 4 days, then offer to them on a small dipping dish but they shook their heads all the time. I also tried adding a few dry crumbles on top but they wouldn’t try either.

After being fermented for 5 days, can I put the extra in the fridge and reserve a little of it to add in the new crumble? Or, I’d need to make a fresh batch if the fermented feed isn’t consumed within the week?

 

[azygous]

Fermented feed goes "flat" by the fourth day, and it doesn't even smell appealing by then. What happens is the nutrients begin to degrade after the third day, and the stuff begins to give up water content, becoming soupy.

I have 23 chickens and I make only enough feed for two days. I have a second bucket going on the heals of the first, so the chickens always get FF before it loses its maximum nutrition and I never run completely out.

If you compare a bucket of fresh FF that is fresh and has just reached full ferment, it's light in color and fluffy with a very appealing yeasty odor. Before it starts to ferment, the feed is simply dark and wet with an unappealing odor of wet feed. After the fermented feed has reached its peak and is on the way to degrading, it compacts, becomes dense, turns darker again, and has a strong acidic odor.

Try fermenting just enough feed so that it's fed out in two or three days. Have a second batch going so that it's ready to feed as you finish the first container. With chicks, a juice pitcher makes a good fermenting vessel, or something similar. For two dozen chickens I use plastic buckets.

I use a tiny bit of FF from the preceding batch to jump start the next batch. It's ready in 24 hours using a "starter". Also filtering the chlorine out of your tap water will make it ferment more quickly, as well, as the yeast doesn't have to work at overcoming the chlorine.

 

[missypebble]

Fermented feed goes "flat" by the fourth day, and it doesn't even smell appealing by then. What happens is the nutrients begin to degrade after the third day, and the stuff begins to give up water content, becoming soupy.

I have 23 chickens and I make only enough feed for two days. I have a second bucket going on the heals of the first, so the chickens always get FF before it loses its maximum nutrition and I never run completely out.

If you compare a bucket of fresh FF that is fresh and has just reached full ferment, it's light in color and fluffy with a very appealing yeasty odor. Before it starts to ferment, the feed is simply dark and wet with an unappealing odor of wet feed. After the fermented feed has reached its peak and is on the way to degrading, it compacts, becomes dense, turns darker again, and has a strong acidic odor.

Try fermenting just enough feed so that it's fed out in two or three days. Have a second batch going so that it's ready to feed as you finish the first container. With chicks, a juice pitcher makes a good fermenting vessel, or something similar. For two dozen chickens I use plastic buckets.

I use a tiny bit of FF from the preceding batch to jump start the next batch. It's ready in 24 hours using a "starter". Also filtering the chlorine out of your tap water will make it ferment more quickly, as well, as the yeast doesn't have to work at overcoming the chlorine.

ah got it. So I got it all wrong.... I was thinking along the line of maintaining a sourdough starter!!!

thank you so very much!!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I fermented the chick crumble a out 4 days, then offer to them on a small dipping dish but they shook their heads all the time. I also tried adding a few dry crumbles on top but they wouldn’t try either.

After being fermented for 5 days, can I put the extra in the fridge and reserve a little of it to add in the new crumble? Or, I’d need to make a fresh batch if the fermented feed isn’t consumed within the week?

Since you're trying to teach chicks to give it a try, I wouldn't even necessarily ferment at this time (especially not 4 days) - I'd try wetting the feed enough so it starts sticking together a bit and then serving pretty much immediately. If they won't eat it, give the bowl back to them tomorrow. You're going to waste a lot of feed trying to get them to eat it if you're fermenting 4 day batches and they're just not interested.