I’ve been wanting to try fermenting feed for my chickens for some time now and I finally got started last night. I work out of town for 3 to 5 days every other week so I figured that if I could get it started as soon as I got home this time I could see how it goes. I have pellets and it’s organic so that’s what I’m going with. I got up this morning to fully absorbed water so I added more. As soon as it settled I got bubbles and a little foam! I added more water and then decided that my sourdough discard would speed things up. They love the sourdough discard anyway. I wasn’t sure if anyone else had added that but right now, less than 24 hours, it smells amazing!
I have not tried adding insects. I'd love to hear how this goes for you!
When I do my daily FF routine I take roughly half to 3/4s of the food in the bucket and add fresh food to the remaining quarter or half. There is always old going out and new coming in so it's not just sitting and fermenting itself crazy.
You're right in saying that if it fermented too long it could go bad. That is why it is important to adjust your container size and amount of food to your flock's consumption speed. Though I have not tested it, I can see how having a full bucket and taking only a scoop or two away a day could ruin the balance. Again, I typically take away at least half every day.
I have not done a lot of fermenting for humans, but it seems to me that if you have a container of sour kraut and you consumed and replaced a large portion of it every day there wouldn't be a problem with leaving it out, so long as you watch for mold. But if you go through the sour kraut slowly it would be a good idea to refrigerate it to slow the ferment.
Does this answer you questions? Can I clarify anything more/else?