Fermenting feed

HornyToadAcres

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I'm sure y'all have talked this to death already somewhere but i just wanted to say WOO HOO for fermenting chicken feed!

I just started doing it a month ago and my feed use has been cut by 75%.

Not just from fermenting the feed but because I don't have every bird from 5 miles around eating my chicken feed now.

Currently have just a very small flock so I am fermenting in mason jars in my kitchen. I will move to the bucket
when I get my new chicks in March,

If you have chickens and haven't tried fermenting their feed, I'd encourage you to give it a go.

I've also started sprouting my BOSS instead of just flinging them hither and yon for everyone.
I give a few of those to my bunnies as well. 148235865_1162361327554778_5303949311302357177_n.jpg145931257_122709443074146_8482363499347582020_n.jpg
 

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Fermenting rocks! To many many benefits and up-sides to name! I recently converted a friend to this and while they were previously using about half a five-galleon-bucket on three bantam chickens, they now ferment that half bucket and it spreads around to all of their chickens (I think they have 50+ at the moment!)

It's early yet. I had to read your post twice. I thought you were saying that you were fermenting rocks. So... scratching my head here, wondering, "How's that working for ya???"
 

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@Beekissed is the queen of deep composting litter. She has a you-tube video somewhere. Bee, can you post it somewhere here for us? Or maybe you have, and it's buried???? Deep composting litter involves adding lots of mixed texture compostable materials to the coop and run to create a rich layer of bedding/compost. It breaks down while the added fecal material gets mixed in by the birds, and completely disappears. It works best in a coop with soil floor. Unfortunately, I don't have soil floor, and I have below freezing temps 6 months of the year. So... my system is not as functional as it should be. But, it IS functional enough that I DO find a few red worms in the mix when I do a partial clean out in spring and fall. My goal is to have at least 6" of bedding in my 500 s.f. run. Difficult chore, since the stuff melts so fast. But, I can go into my run, and harvest rich black compost for the garden when ever I want. Hidden benefits of composting litter: Decreased pathogens including external/internal parasites. B-vitamin production by the bacterial flora. Improved gut flora in the flock. Thus: improved viability, growth, and feed utilization. Studies have shown improved viability and growth in meat birds when successive broods of chicks are brooded on old litter from previous broods.
 

Beekissed

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Bee, I like your comments. I think that next season, when I clean up the garden... I'll build a pile right under the roosts. It's my usual MO to clean things out in the fall to make room for the winter's accumulation. But... perhaps I'm going at it all wrong! One of my concerns is that the walls of the coop are wafer board, and I don't want the mass and moisture of the DL building up against those walls. Perhaps it's time to consider adding an inner wall to keep the moisture off the outer wall. I have some steel roofing that would do the trick.
Yeah...I'm REALLY missing my garden mess in that mix long about now. It's the first time I haven't had warmer temps in the coop than I had outside and also the first time I've seen little frosted places on the rooster's combs. Usually they stay red and lovely, the thermometer at the roosts reads 10* warmer than the outside temps and that's with the coop wide open at all levels.
 

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I'm wondering if I'm paying WAY TOO MUCH FOR MY FEED!!!! my yard is full of rocks. Every spring, I have an incredible harvest of rocks of all size! Who knew! A bucket, half full of rocks, add water.... tincture of time..... feed out, rinse and repeat. Never ending supply of feed!!!
 

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I've been fermenting feed for about 10 years. It makes a huge difference in feed conversion rate. Also, as you mention, it cuts down on pilfering by wild critters. My rate is .19#/bird/day with FF, compared to .25#/bird/day when feeding dry. This is w/o free range opportunities. I'm also a firm believer that deep composting litter improves feed conversion rate, as well as viability.
 

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