# Fermented grain :chickens



## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

I wonder how to feed out fermented grain to a large number of chickens? By large, I mean 20-30... Right now I sprout grain and use pellets as well and just throw it out in the grass and on the ground for them. If it is more of a mash then does it need to be in containers? Several?...I just want to make sure everyone gets fed and I also don't want to make a lot of extra work for myself
After all, morning milking and feeding everyone is long enough as it is!!!


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## KristiStone (Apr 29, 2015)

Last year I did some sprouting as well for my chickens and rabbits (8 total between them) and it was a nice way of getting greens into them. I got into mixing my own feed for the chickens, which was cheaper than the local non-GMO choice here and considered fermenting my homemade feed for them because I read somewhere that doing so doubles the nutrient level in the grain by making it more accessible (you probably already know that).

I only have 5 girls, but I know how some of them can keep another from eating. If it were me, even with 5 I would find it difficult to make sure that each one got their share. I wonder if you could ferment the same amount of feed that you were giving "dry" and divide it up into 3 feeding pans and put them in different areas of the yard so that there would be many options for where to eat? Just in case they get bullied at one feeding area, they could head off to another and get the food. You would probably have to adjust how much you ferment according to how much is getting eaten, but if you start out with your normal amount (just fermented), you'd think there would be enough so that all your girls could get enough.

Just me thinking out loud here.


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## thekibblegoddess (Dec 13, 2014)

I feed my 20-some-odd flock fermented feed. I have 3 feed pans on the ground in the run and before i let the hens into the run in the morning, i just 'glop' 2 scoops in each pan. I challenge feed them, meaning i give them just enough to keep them laying and they are expected to forage my 3 acres for the rest. If i have young ones or ones in need of extra food, they quickly learn to come when called out of the run to get extra. I wouldn't spread the pans too far out or some hens will spend all their time running from one pan to the next to see who has the best feed and end up not getting anything to eat  I feed them the same amount in the evening. No food or water in the run, though i do throw my compostable kitchen scraps in the coop daily. Whatever scraps they don't eat feeds the bugs that they do eat. We also throw weeds and garden refuse in the run to give them something to scratch up. They seem to find bugs under there too.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

I was feeding my flock of 30 hens fermented feed. I fermented it in the back porch in 5 gallon buckets and then fed the girls in those tip proof horse grain feeders (look sort of like a dog dish on steroids). They are easy to hose out and don't spill. 

They loved it. I loved the way they looked and produced after being on it. One problem I did find was that the calcium supplement the company adds to the feed would fall to the bottom of the bucket and was hard to mix back in. My girls refuse to eat oyster shells, so the egg shells were getting soft. I fexied it by making smaller batches of the fermented feed, like each bucket would only hold enough for 1 day, instead of a whole 5 gallons. I had to have more buckets that I tripped over, but it made a difference in egg shell quality.


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## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

I found these on a Facebook sale page... They are from a grain conveyer so are super heavy duty! I'm gonna see how these work ...I put some soaked feed in each but they weren't excited ...spoiled girls
I bet it'll be gone by morning...


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## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

BTW...we were blessed with 6 new chicks today!
I love my 2 little Banty mommas! They are such good moms


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