In order to reduce feed costs we supplement commercially-made pellets with fermented whole grains. Here, in Fairbanks, it is hard to find commercial chicken food for less than $0.58 per pound. So, we buy whatever grains or seeds can be found for a better price and mix them together in a tote bin. Usually, it is some combination of barley, oats, millet, wheat, corn, and sunflower seeds. The mixture is fermented, a little at a time, and used to reduce the volume of commercial feed used.
The content of the commercial pellets is chosen by professional nutritionists and is fine to use as the sole food supply for the chickens. It would be difficult for us to create a mix as optimized as that and it is probably the best choice for pullets and broilers.
Broilers need to grow quickly and move to the freezer. So, although they are eating expensive feed, it is only for a limited time. As long as the value of their meat is greater than the combined cost of the food they eat plus the purchase price of the chicks, we are making a profit.
Pullets need to develop a good bone structure and reproductive system in order to become the best laying hens. The pullets will live until they are ready to retire from their careers as laying hens. Once they have begun to lay eggs, they quickly pay back the cost of the chicks and the cost of the food they ate as pullets. As layers, they are profitable if the value of their eggs is greater than the cost of the feed they consume. Since they have reached adulthood, we can increase our profitability with no significant health risk to the birds by mixing their commercial food with something less expensive. We do this by giving them kitchen scraps and fermented grain.
A few days worth of the grain mixture is soaked in water in a 5-gallon bucket and allowed to ferment for a few days before we feed it to the birds. Usually, we have one bucket fermenting while the other is being emptied. The fermented grains are softer, which aids in digestion, and more acidic, which helps dissolve the oyster shells we give them as a calcium supplement. The fermentation biota are also beneficial to the chickens’ digestive systems.
The chickens love the fermented grain so much that we have to put it on top of the pellets or they will flick the pellets out of the feeder to get to the grain. Putting the fermented grain on top also helps reduce the feed cost because the liquid drains through the pellets to the bottom of the feeder and turns any dust into mush. The chickens eat the mush because it tastes like grain. Now, we don’t lose money on the pellets that break into dust.
I enjoyed seeing the picture of the chickens eating their grain.
Do you see signs of fermentation causing inebriation?
No signs of inebriation, but an argument might be made for addiction.
Sometimes they stand around the feeder just looking at the newly-added pellets or crumbles.
They will wait for me to add the fermented grain before they even start eating.
Their preference is clear.