# Fermented food for chickens



## leigti (Nov 13, 2015)

Hello, I was wondering if any of you people who have chickens feed them fermented food? I am trying but my chickens won't eat it. I keep hearing how they love it so much and gobble it up. But my chickens have obviously not been reading the same things I have  
Any ideas on how to get them to eat it? It is the consistency of oatmeal, and I have tried sprinkling goodies on top.


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## Yvonne G (Nov 13, 2015)

Never heard of it. But yuck.


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## leigti (Nov 13, 2015)

Yvonne G said:


> Never heard of it. But yuck.


Supposedly they love it. It is a great way for them to get all the nutrition from their feed. They'll eat it dry but they won't eat it wet or fermented.


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## Tom (Nov 13, 2015)

Never heard of this. We feed ours chicken food. They occasionally get some weeds, grass or bugs too. If they are really lucky, I'll toss them a handful of pigeon seed. They _really_ love that!


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## leigti (Nov 13, 2015)

Tom said:


> Never heard of this. We feed ours chicken food. They occasionally get some weeds, grass or bugs too. If they are really lucky, I'll toss them a handful of pigeon seed. They _really_ love that!


This process just involves fermenting their food. You can ferment any kind of chicken feed that you usually feed. My need it dry just fine but they won't touch it wet or fermented.


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## Yvonne G (Nov 14, 2015)

What is the object of fermenting it? Does it change the nutritional value?


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## Yvonne G (Nov 14, 2015)

Nevermind...I looked it up on Google:

What the heck is fermented feed and why on earth would you want to give it to chickens?
Fermentation has been used for hundreds of years by many cultures to preserve and enhance foods. If you have ever consumed cheese, yogurt, sourdough bread, wine, beer kimchi or sauerkraut (just to name a few) you have eaten a fermented food.
The fermentation process uses naturally occurring bacteria to partially break down the food, improving its enzyme content and increasing its levels of vitamins B, C and K. It also makes food more digestible, and boosts the "usable" protein level by about 12 percent.
The other benefits to using fermented feed:

Feed consumption and waste will drop by 1/2 to 3/4 (this will save you money)
Poultry on a diet of fermented feed are generally healthier and less likely to contract disease
There is almost zero waste as chickens don't scratch through it, kicking it out of the feeder
Stools become more solid and many people report less smell in the coop and run!
Egg yolks of eggs laid by hens on fermented feed will become noticeably larger, and shells will be more solid.


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## leigti (Nov 14, 2015)

Yvonne G said:


> Nevermind...I looked it up on Google:
> 
> What the heck is fermented feed and why on earth would you want to give it to chickens?
> Fermentation has been used for hundreds of years by many cultures to preserve and enhance foods. If you have ever consumed cheese, yogurt, sourdough bread, wine, beer kimchi or sauerkraut (just to name a few) you have eaten a fermented food.
> ...


Exactly, it sounds like a good idea to me. Now I just have to convince the chickens.


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## Yvonne G (Nov 14, 2015)

I agree it sounds good. Back in the dark ages when I kept chickens, they made such a mess out of their food. I had it in a hanging feeder. You fill up the container and it spills out a little at a time in the little tray. But the chickens would take their beaks and nudge the food out of the tray so they could eat the parts that they like best. They went through a sack of feed at twice the rate they should have.


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## waretrop (Nov 14, 2015)

I have 250 chickens, layers that is. I feed mine all the house scraps. we go as far as giving them potato chips, all the day old bread that the local homeless can't eat. That amounts to 3 large boxes every 2 days or so. I cook corn bread with all kinds of food added to it before cooking. I buy Alice's food by the case and whatever is getting old or the ribs of the leafy things my chickens get. They don't get anything fermented.Reminds me of pig slop. I get well over 100 eggs a day and probably 4 are soft shells or have toe nail holes in them. Not bad batting average.

I don't understand why you would want to feed fermented food except to keep them arm in the winter.


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## mike taylor (Nov 14, 2015)

I treat my animals as family if I wouldn't eat they aren't getting it . I've never heard of that and I have family that farms birds of all types . I personally wouldn't try it . We've always feed chicken feed and keep grit in with them . You can build a small chicken tractor and move it around your yard . This gives them the bugs and greens they need plus it gives them free range without the poop on your porch .


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## leigti (Nov 14, 2015)

waretrop said:


> I have 250 chickens, layers that is. I feed mine all the house scraps. we go as far as giving them potato chips, all the day old bread that the local homeless can't eat. That amounts to 3 large boxes every 2 days or so. I cook corn bread with all kinds of food added to it before cooking. I buy Alice's food by the case and whatever is getting old or the ribs of the leafy things my chickens get. They don't get anything fermented.Reminds me of pig slop. I get well over 100 eggs a day and probably 4 are soft shells or have toe nail holes in them. Not bad batting average.
> 
> I don't understand why you would want to feed fermented food except to keep them arm in the winter.


I want to do it for all the reasons that Yvonne listed above. I have seen great results when I switched my dog and cat over to raw and my tortoise doesn't eat anything processed either except for the TNT powder and it is basically ground up plants. So I thought I would try this with the chickens to help them get the most nutrition out of their food. I am raising them as pets, I do like the eggs, but I'm not interested in making money or eating them.


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## leigti (Nov 14, 2015)

mike taylor said:


> I treat my animals as family if I wouldn't eat they aren't getting it . I've never heard of that and I have family that farms birds of all types . I personally wouldn't try it . We've always feed chicken feed and keep grit in with them . You can build a small chicken tractor and move it around your yard . This gives them the bugs and greens they need plus it gives them free range without the poop on your porch .


They free range in my yard all day. But it won't be long before everything is frozen.


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## waretrop (Nov 15, 2015)

My chickens are excited when I bring out treats. They are not picky. I feed pellets along with house scraps. I don't understand this at all.


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## leigti (Nov 15, 2015)

Never mind. Forget I asked.


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## Yvonne G (Nov 15, 2015)

I know we kind of got off track, but I was interested in seeing what it was, so thank you for asking. Where do you buy it?


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## leigti (Nov 15, 2015)

Yvonne G said:


> I know we kind of got off track, but I was interested in seeing what it was, so thank you for asking. Where do you buy it?


You just ferment whatever food you usually feed. There is a good article at tikktok World press. It is a very easy method, only uses one container. Put in food, water, and stir. Cover with a towel and stir daily. After about three days it should start fermenting. Scoop out what you need for your chickens that day then just add more food and water and stir again. Not really hard. It has all the benefits you listed above. 
I'm not really surprised people are not very open to it. Had the same responses when I switched my dog and cat to raw. But they are doing great and the vet can't stop raving about how good they look. So it's OK.


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## mike taylor (Nov 15, 2015)

I believe in fresh food for dogs . I use the fermented chicken feed to catch cat fish . I hope you didn't fill I was bad mouthing you. But I just can't understand why this would be good . This sounds like the start of corn moon shine . lol


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## waretrop (Nov 15, 2015)

Bet it would keep them quite warm in the winter. I would have to make a 5 gallon bucket every day. I don't think that would be good for me. Do tell.....what are the bennifits?


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## leigti (Nov 15, 2015)

mike taylor said:


> I believe in fresh food for dogs . I use the fermented chicken feed to catch cat fish . I hope you didn't fill I was bad mouthing you. But I just can't understand why this would be good . This sounds like the start of corn moon shine . lol


Sorry, but it's a different type of fermentation process. Yvonne listed a bunch of the benefits earlier in this thread. Basically less waste, less food cost, better health, better growth. Supposedly they eat less then half of their regular amount. 
I just saw my chickens poking at it a few minutes ago. So maybe they are starting to get used to it.


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## mike taylor (Nov 15, 2015)

Hey if it works and you have healthy birds that's what counts . Can you use it in cold weather ? I built a pvc pipe free feeder and waters for my birds and water was my enemy.


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## waretrop (Nov 15, 2015)

I have 55 gallon bins for water and for food. Lids on both the yellow food bin holds 350 pounds of pellets, No waste there. The water of course is 55 a gallon blue barrel and I keep a pond heater in it in the winter so it doesn't freeze. I have to fill the food about every 7 days and the water about one extra time in the week. It all works great and saves on allot of work.


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## leigti (Nov 15, 2015)

You can feed it in winter. Supposedly they eat it before it freezes. And people do this on a small or very large scale. They supposedly drink much less water also, kind of like the same thing with dogs and raw food. They get a lot of voice you're in the food.


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## mike taylor (Nov 15, 2015)

All cool stuff . You learn something new everyday .


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## leigti (Nov 15, 2015)

waretrop said:


> View attachment 155738
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> View attachment 155739
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That's a lot of chickens, those barrels look like they work pretty well.


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## waretrop (Nov 16, 2015)

My chickens eat 50 pounds of pellets a day. I can't imagine making anything in a volume for them everyday to substituted all that food. I would become a slave to the making and delivering it. But I am going to look into it farther.


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## leigti (Nov 16, 2015)

waretrop said:


> My chickens eat 50 pounds of pellets a day. I can't imagine making anything in a volume for them everyday to substituted all that food. I would become a slave to the making and delivering it. But I am going to look into it farther.


They would probably eat a lot less of it. And after the initial three day period to get it fermented it's not a big deal. But yes you would have to scoop it out every day.


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## waretrop (Nov 16, 2015)

I really don't think that 50 pounds of pellets is allot for 250 chickens. They also get all my extra foods from my house and probably 2 two foot long boxes of day old bread every day. I am not interested in getting them to eat less. I may try this if it is more nutritional for them or keeps hem warm. I hope it wouldn't be intoxicating for I don't want them to forget what their job is... LOL


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