FERMENTING GRAINS FOR CHICKEN FEED

Texas Farmstead Living - Caren Rueffer

4 роки тому

FERMENTING YOUR CHICKEN'S FEED IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO TO HAVE HEALTHY CHICKENS. ANOTHER BONUS TO FERMENTING IS YOUR CHICKENS WILL EAT LESS AND THAT MEANS YOU BUY LESS FEED. PERFECT!
TODAY I AM GOING TO SHOW YOU HOW TO FERMENT GRAINS FOR YOUR CHICKENS!
*Remember rate of fermentation is strongly influenced by ambient temperature. The number of days I ferment varies with the seasons. When the temperature is warm things progress rapidly and I only ferment 1 day. In the winter 2-3 days.
You definitely can strain the grains before you feed them if you are concerned about impurities from soaking the grains. If you leave a bit of grain and liquid behind in your container for your next batch, fermentation has a head start and will progress faster.
My chickens prefer fermented grains but I am always rotating the chickens diet with each season. We vary their diet so they will get vitamins and minerals from different sources. We think this approach improves overall health of all of our farm animals.
BEST,
CAREN

КОМЕНТАРІ: 42

@stephanienuce7711 2 роки тому

I actually have done this with my meat birds as well but I didn’t soak with water ... I soaked with whey as I had an abundance available to me from a raw milk dairy neighbor that made a ton of cheese ! Worked great!

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 2 роки тому

Whey is super nutritious and we feed all of our extras to our chickens. If I have extra whey I definitely would do this. Chickens also love clabbered milk. During milking season they get it daily!

@BirdseyeVu 2 роки тому

Thanks for posting this, Caren! I know you are aware of this but others may not know that….If using tap water, make sure it doesn’t have any chlorine, as that will kill fermentation.

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 2 роки тому

Thank you so much for your comment. Yes, chlorine tap water should never be used for any kind of fermentation even sourdough bread.

@homesteadgmad8223 Рік тому

You certainly have very healthy looking chickens!!

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 Рік тому

Thank you Irene! They have a happy life!

@emmanueltsukerman9756 2 місяці тому

Thank you! The chickens are so cute

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 2 місяці тому

Thank you!

@hastalavistaadventures2602 4 роки тому

Great vid, 😎

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 4 роки тому

Thank you so much.

@gobtiger6711 3 роки тому

Hello new friend fully watched your video. Thanks you for sharing. About feed fermenting feeds. 😍 😍 😍 from Philippines

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 3 роки тому

Thank you for watching!

@dwayneshephard2575 Рік тому

Question! I mix 4-5 grains to feed the girls. Can any and all grain be fermented to feed ‘em? Thanks!!

@rockwilliams457 Рік тому

Great video. Trying my first day of fermented feed today. We are between Fredericksburg and Kerrville. Where are y'all located? Thank you so much for the video and tips.

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 Рік тому

Hello Rock, thank you for watching! We are between Fredericksburg and Mason. We hope you like all the benefits of fermenting feed such as stretching the amount of feed.

@dawnfinniss7978 4 місяці тому

Thanks for the video! Where'd you get the mill?

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 4 місяці тому

You are welcome! I bought it here: pleasanthillgrain.com/country-living-grain-mill-wheat-grinder

@gallowayfamilyfun471 3 роки тому

Great info. We get scratch feed with milo in it already I just through it out in their coop to give them something to do. Im going to try the fermenting it and see what happens. I use pellets for their regular feed. can you ferment that? And where did you get that grain mill? I have been looking for one like that. Thanks

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 3 роки тому

Yes, some people ferment the pellets but I personally have not done this. Please let me know how it goes! I bought the grain from Pleasant Hill Grain. and it has served us well for 8 years. Thanks!

@Brightbear_mom584 Рік тому

How often do you make the fermented feed? You have lots of chickens but if I can get an idea of how often you do this, given it takes 3 days to ferment, I can tailor it to my small flock of 6 hens and one rooster. Although, we may have more chickens soon, I have a broody naked neck hen that’s been sittin on 14 eggs for almost 3 weeks. It was so nice to meet you today at the Azure puckup. I didn’t even introduce myself and I apologize. It was my first Azure experience and I was a bit overwhelmed, but really enjoyed the community effort involved.

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 Рік тому

Hello Mandi, it was so very nice to meet you yesterday. We soak or ferment our chickens feed when we are in the season of feeding our chickens. They have a very large area to free range and don't always need feed. At this time with our high temperatures it may not take 3 days to ferment. Fermenting stretches feed as much as an 1/3 increase so it definitely saves money and conserves feed. In your case the timing would be the same just use lessor quantities for your small flock. Hens usually eat about 1/2 cup daily of feed. I would start with fermenting 2 cups and see how long it takes them to finish it. Fermenting feed needs to be consumed the same day it is finished. Sure hope your hen will hatch some more chicks for you. Let me know if you have anymore questions. Thanks

@tracyclarke2548 2 роки тому

Hi Caren, Thank you for the video. Great Help :) What happens when you go away on holidays? What do you feed them then?

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 2 роки тому

I hire someone to take care of my farm when we are away. The chickens get their regular ration.

@tracyclarke2548 2 роки тому

@@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 Ok... Cool. I thought there might be a great set up you have.... for them to be SELF sufficient.

@derickchetty 3 роки тому

Wonderful Video I must say. Please help. I'm in South Africa and the only chicken feed we have is GMO. It works great fermented but I'd like to know if fermenting GMO for long enough time, takes it back to organic? Does it destroy the GMO?

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 3 роки тому

Hello Derick, sorry I don't believe fermentation can remove GMO due to augmented DNA of the plant. Have you thought about using milo for your chicken feed? I am not aware that milo is GMO yet. We ferment milo in the summer for our chickens since they are free range. You might try wheat as well, just try to avoid wheat that has been sprayed with glyphosate. Hope this helps!

@tfcig2019 Місяць тому

Curious to know what grains you use? Do you biuy locally or co~op? Unfortunately, most our feed stores carry grains for horses/cows/goats & only scratch for fowl. All my chickens develope digestive issues from the corn in the scratch, so I rarely.use it, picking out most of lg pcs of corn.

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 Місяць тому

Have you tried Azure Standard? I use milo/sorghum lots.

@JRCHomesteadTexas 2 роки тому

Hi Caren - we're over in Real County near Garner State Park. I stumbled on your channel while researching fermenting chicken feed. Our flock is small, just 9 chickens right now. How much fermented feed would you suggest per day for this size flock? Subbed you.

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 2 роки тому

Hello neighbor, thank you for watching. A chicken eat about 1/2 cup daily.I would start with 3 cups of fermented feed and go from there. Thank you for subscribing.

@streetpunk99 2 роки тому

Just did this for the first time with mine this week I'm a few small Mason jars. I have 22 birds and want to make larger batches I'm just not sure how long the feed keeps and how much they should get each day. Any recommendations?

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 2 роки тому

I would only ferment enough food for one feeding seems the fermented food goes down hill quickly. Fresh is best. A laying hen is suppose to eat about 1/2 cup per day. When fermenting the feed goes farther so maybe 1/3 cup per day. This is just a guess but let me know about your findings. My chickens are free range so I don't feed a full ration. Thank you for watching.

@noahriding5780 3 роки тому

is this why people used to call it 'slop' way back in the day feeding the animals? And I'm curious what you think about how much of a chicken's diet max you can have come from yard forage, etc?

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 3 роки тому

The term 'slop' bucket is my definition is everything left over or discarded in the kitchen. In my area the locals would save a 'slop' bucket for their pigs. At my farm my chickens have a very large area to roam and can forage for their food, therefore they don't need much additional feed. The seasons dictate 'how much' and 'what type' of feed source we offer. In the spring and summer we offer fermented milo and when additional energy is needed we ferment scratch grains. They forage for the bulk of their diet. I have never kept penned chickens so I am not familiar with providing them a complete diet. As with all my animals we rotate what they eat so they get a variety of vitamins and minerals. This system is working great for us. Thank you!

@lindanguyen2818 3 роки тому

It doesnt explode if you cover with lid tightly ?

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 3 роки тому

You will want to only put the lid on finger-tip tight or maybe just sit the lid on top of the jar and don't tighten it at all. Thank you for watching!

@nandasarkar3714 3 роки тому

Hello I am from India.My question is can I use rice to make fermented chicken feed as it is easily available in India.

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 3 роки тому

Thank you for watching from India! I have only on occasion fed cooked rice to my chickens, never uncooked rice and only a very small amount. Is sorghum available?

@nazmunnahar1557 3 роки тому

Your feed have How much protein

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 3 роки тому

Chicken scratch is 8-9% protein. My chickens are free-range, so fermented chicken scratch is used in winter and a treat, not daily. The protein % is not high enough to be a complete food source for chickens. You may ferment any chicken feed using this method. Hope this helps!

@nazmunnahar1557 3 роки тому

Only water mix for fermented

@texasfarmsteadliving-caren9517 3 роки тому

Yes, only water-non-chlorinated as with anything you ferment.