Fermenting Feed for Chicken Basics 101 (is there a 102?)

What you will need to get or have on hand:

TWO 5 gal buckets with lids. Food grade if you eat these chickens or their eggs!
1 small bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)
Food for the chickens: your normal feed


To START: the process takes 3 days initially. You will want one bucket going out to feed the chickens while the other is “brewing”
Dump in 1/2 bucket full of your normal feed. Add 1/2 cup of ACV. Add water till about 3 inches over the top of your feed. Let it set. Go out and stir it 3x a day. Add water as needed till it is a tooth paste consistency. Keep it covered with the lid to avoid wild birds from getting into it if it is outside and odor down (smells like vomit). The food will swell to fill the entire 5 gals! Watch for bubbles and the odor. When you have both of those, it is ready to go out.

Feed: For 40 birds I feed 15 cups spread out in different dishes (4 total) in the morning. And another 8 cups in the afternoon mid day. They eat about 1 5gal bucket every 3 days. Feed till about 3 inches from the bottom

Next Round to repeat:
Take the 3 inches from the bottom, add from “To Start” at the top to repeat process but DO NOT ADD the ACV. Stir. You will get ferment in 2 days then instead of 3.

Findings:

One week finished of feeding fermented feed. They have ate about 40lbs. So 1lb each for 40 birds. Feed here is about $13/50lb for the mix I give (all natural layer feed, BOSS, Scratch). Averages to about .35c/bird per week. The poop is 1/3 of normal in the coop.

 

1/3 from the bottom

 40 birds chowing down. They LOVE IT!

--Boots N Lace