For those who ferment: how do you handle (human) vacations?

[ChaosMom]

Morning, all, or whatever time it is on this lovely planet where you live!

Our 14 1/2 week pullets are on fermented Kalmbach Chickhouse Reserve, a whole grain/ mash-type feed. We all love it; hardly any waste, and they are thriving. But while trudging through the rain with their bowls of glop over the last week, it occurred to me that this will be less than thrilling to family members who will chicken sit, specifically a 7-year-old grandson and the dad who drives him.

It’s not just the twice a day part; it’s the jars and feed and de-chlorinated water - the fermenting.

So, two options I can think of:

1) Ferment a week’s worth of food and store it in the fridge, or

2) Find a pellet feed as backup plus wade through the hundreds of threads about chicken feeders, ugh.

Or something else?

I have (or will have) a veg garden, and that’s bad enough to schedule around, but at least it’s mostly May to early September. Chickens are year-round!

Any thoughts or experience welcomed!

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi,

I ferment HHR mixed with whole oats and wheat, and for us, it's just once daily. They get Kalmbach's Flock Maker crumbles too, in DIY 5-gallon PVC feeders. (Silkies).

If I go on vacation, they'll just have their crumbles as I have a farmer to lock them in at night and open the coops in the morning, but I couldn't expect her to take care of my ferment. In fact, if we're gone more than a couple of days, I think I'll have to dump it out. We used to do jars, so one jar a day, but with a larger flock, I now do about 2/3 of a 5-gallon bucket.

For you, I think refrigerating it would work though, if it's just for a couple of days.

 

[ChaosMom]

Hi,

I ferment HHR mixed with whole oats and wheat, and for us, it's just once daily. They get Kalmbach's Flock Maker crumbles too, in DIY 5-gallon PVC feeders. (Silkies).

If I go on vacation, they'll just have their crumbles as I have a farmer to lock them in at night and open the coops in the morning, but I couldn't expect her to take care of my ferment. In fact, if we're gone more than a couple of days, I think I'll have to dump it out. We used to do jars, so one jar a day, but with a larger flock, I now do about 2/3 of a 5-gallon bucket.

For you, I think refrigerating it would work though, if it's just for a couple of days.

Thanks! This is very helpful. I guess I’m going to have to figure out the PVC feeders. But it makes sense to have an easy backup.

Did your silkies have any issues switching back and forth, in a “what is this stuff” way?

 

[Debbie292d]

Thanks! This is very helpful. I guess I’m going to have to figure out the PVC feeders. But it makes sense to have an easy backup.

Did your silkies have any issues switching back and forth, in a “what is this stuff” way?

Nope, no trouble at all. They get excited when they see me come out with my bucket and large spoon though!

The PVC ports we bought on Amazon. Here's the ones we got, but there's smaller packs of them for less $$.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I feed both fermented mash and dry pellets, so during vacations I put the ferment in the fridge and the chickens get all pellets (which they're fine with).

If your chicken sitter is willing to dole out ferment, you can make a big batch and keep it in the fridge.

Or it honestly won't kill them to eat the same feed dry, if you don't want to bother switching feeds.

 

[ChaosMom]

I feed both fermented mash and dry pellets, so during vacations I put the ferment in the fridge and the chickens get all pellets (which they're fine with).

If your chicken sitter is willing to dole out ferment, you can make a big batch and keep it in the fridge.

Or it honestly won't kill them to eat the same feed dry, if you don't want to bother switching feeds.

I was also thinking that. I know that many chickens prefer not to eat the tiny pellet in the whole grain feed that contains many of the vitamins and whatnot, but I don’t suppose that skipping them for a week will kill them.

 

[Coffetym]

I have been wondering & considering fermenting. Does anyone know how long the feed will be good covered in water without refrigeration?

 

[rosemarythyme]

I have been wondering & considering fermenting. Does anyone know how long the feed will be good covered in water without refrigeration?

Depends on temperatures, the hotter it is the faster it goes. In summer I wouldn't have my ferment sit for more than 48 hrs. unless it's sitting somewhere cool.

Also no reason to cover it in water, you really only need enough water for the feed to absorb. Adding extra means you need to sieve it out before feeding but that means some vitamins and minerals are getting left behind.

 

[Finnie]

When I used to ferment feed for my chicks I just kept a bucket going in my chick shed at whatever the ambient temperature was. Each morning I would give it a stir, dole out whatever amount to each of the chick brooders, and then add back a certain amount of dry crumbles and a certain amount of water, give it a stir, put the cover back on loosely and be done with it until the next morning. (But I also kept dry chick feed in their feeders 24/7 so the fermented feed was not their whole diet. Just their morning snack.)

I taught my chicken sitters how to do all that since it was pretty easy and it was just a regular part of their chicken sitting duties. I guess you do have to have confidence that your sitter has learned how to add the new feed and water properly to keep the ferment going and knows not to ignore it for several days and then feed the chicks spoiled food.

Shouldn’t be too hard if it’s sitting right there where they are going to be feeding and watering the chicks. Someone mentioned carrying bowls back and forth. I guess if you can’t ferment the feed right next to where the chicks are then that involves more logistics.

 

[ChaosMom]

When I used to ferment feed for my chicks I just kept a bucket going in my chick shed at whatever the ambient temperature was. Each morning I would give it a stir, dole out whatever amount to each of the chick brooders, and then add back a certain amount of dry crumbles and a certain amount of water, give it a stir, put the cover back on loosely and be done with it until the next morning. (But I also kept dry chick feed in their feeders 24/7 so the fermented feed was not their whole diet. Just their morning snack.)

I taught my chicken sitters how to do all that since it was pretty easy and it was just a regular part of their chicken sitting duties. I guess you do have to have confidence that your sitter has learned how to add the new feed and water properly to keep the ferment going and knows not to ignore it for several days and then feed the chicks spoiled food.

Shouldn’t be too hard if it’s sitting right there where they are going to be feeding and watering the chicks. Someone mentioned carrying bowls back and forth. I guess if you can’t ferment the feed right next to where the chicks are then that involves more logistics.

I love the simplicity of just topping up one bucket! With only three girls (for now bwah hah), I use two 1-quart Mason jars, one for today and one for tomorrow. When today’s is almost empty, leaving some “starter” in there, I fill it halfway with feed, add water, stir it up, partly cover, and let it ferment while I use the other jar for THAT day’s feed.

It was me grumbling about carrying bowls in the rain! But the kitchen is maybe 10 yards from the coop, so like I said, just grumbling!