# Fermented feed?



## Clearcut23 (Apr 25, 2013)

What exactly does it mean? As a home brewer I am intrigued. 

Do you add sugar and water and pitch yeast into it? Does it get the chickens drunk?


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

No, yes, no and no.  Fermented feeds just means you've added water to grain/feed, stirred it well, left it open to air so that it grabs yeast spores from the air and let it sit and start fermenting. It will ferment on its own. Some people jump start it a little by inoculating it with some yeasts/cultures if they like, but it can do it without these. 

Sort of like starting a sourdough mix but instead of flour, you use your feed or grain of choice.


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## Happeesupermom (Aug 29, 2012)

I've been told not to led the dry feed get wet because it "goes bad." Doesn't the feed spoil?


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## Apyl (Jun 20, 2012)

I didn't do the full ferment. In the winter I soaked the feed for 24 hours then tossed it out to them. Now that its summer I don't do it. Come winter I'll probably do the 24 hour soak again to make the feed last.


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

Happeesupermom said:


> I've been told not to led the dry feed get wet because it "goes bad." Doesn't the feed spoil?


Damp feed can grow the wrong kind of mold, to be sure. But wet feed that is contained, stirred and kept warm and moist will ferment and grow healthy yeasts/bacteria, much like you find in wine, beer, buttermilk, sourdough, yogurt, etc.

This adds instant probiotics to the feed, can improve bowel health while also converting the grains to a more absorptive nutrition that monogastric animals can utilize(increases the protein levels of your feed by making it more available for digestion), and even improve laying performance due to the boost in nutrients, the immune system and overall health.

Not to mention it can cut the feed costs...one of my friends reports she feeds 2 bags of dry feed to the one bag of fermented feeds to her flock in the same amount of time...she's sold on the savings.

There is another thread on here with more details and I urge you to do some research on it as a way of improving flock health and immune systems, save money and improve performance.

It can be done in the winter also if you relegate an area of the house to it...I kept mine in my bedroom this winter. It doesn't smell ripe unless it is really warm where it is kept, so I didn't have any problems with keeping mine there. It can be done large scale or small scale, whatever one chooses.

It helps with molt recovery, illness and malnourishment recovery and can prevent cocci overgrowth as well as the overgrowth of other harmful yeasts, bacteria and protozoa, by populating the bowel wall with healthy bacteria that actually feed on the bad bacteria and keeping them to a normal level in the fauna of the bowel.

Because proteins are not being moved through the digestive tract~they are actually utilized instead~ and expelled out on your coop floor, the feces no longer have a strong smell nor do they attract flies as much. My dog doesn't even eat them anymore, which I regret, because he kept the yard free of chicken bombs.

I've been feeding dry mash for many a long year but when I did research on fermented feeds, I changed over and will never go back. It has too many good benefits to NOT do it and it doesn't cost a dime, just a small change in the order of the chores that only takes a few minutes every 3 days or so.


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## Roslyn (Jun 21, 2012)

I'm intrigued! What kind of feed are you doing this with? Layer pellets/mash or actual grains like scratch grains that are whole or cracked?

I have sprouted wheat for them in the winter, but this sounds interesting.


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

Anything you want to use...it's all grains but just ground in different sizes and shapes. Sprouting is much like fermenting grains, as the kernel of the grain has to ferment and change before it can sprout, so you are already familiar with the process!

Adding whole grains to the formulated and ground feeds can give a different consistency to the batch and change the total nutrients, just like in a dry feed mix.

Here are a few of the studies done that I found when I first started researching this method of improving my feeds but I'm sure there have been more recent studies done if anyone cares to search for them. If you persist and read through all the scientific jargon you can get to the meat and potatoes of the studies and find that this can be done in your backyard fairly simply.

Here in the country, fermented foods are a staple and we are well familiar with pickling and fermenting foods to preserve them but are also familiar with their health benefits, so this information wasn't new to me....just applying it to the poultry was. We have used fermented mash for hogs for a long time in the farming business and also transformed low grade fodder into sileage for ruminants, but I think this is probably the first move there has been to apply it to poultry in a wide spread manner.

http://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajb/article/viewFile/60378/48610

http://www.pjbs.org/ijps/fin640.pdf

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19373724


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