Learn how to ferment chicken feed for immune support throughout your flock. It’s an easy way to provide a yummy treat and boost gut health at the same time. You already have all of the supplies needed!
Why Ferment Chicken Feed For Immune Support?
If you don’t already know, one of the biggest ways many species can support a healthy immune system, is to first support a healthy gut. Our gut health is directly linked to our immune health. Beneficial bacteria resides in our gut to help fight the bad bacteria and viruses that enter into our body. Boosting the amount of beneficial bacteria is a great way to help our body fight off illness and infections.
This is why it’s important to consume probiotics, foods, and beverages that contain strains of live bacteria to assist our body. For example, fermented foods contain loads of live bacteria and yeast that when consumed, benefit our bodies in wonderful ways. Sourdough, kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, and many more foods fall under this category. I recently posted about making a simple sourdough starter here. The post also contains a delicious and easy recipe to make with your starter.
So, what about the chickens?!
Well, when it comes to your flock, the same rules apply. And you may ask, why should I care about my chicken’s gut health? Simply put, you are what your chickens eat. Raising a healthy and sustainable flock allows them to produce nutritious eggs throughout a long life. If you raise chickens for meat, your birds will put back into your body what you feed them. From a sustainable standpoint, a long-standing healthy flock means less loss of birds, and yes, money. Raising chickens is not cheap. Or cheep. You choose how weird I am today.
What Do You Need To Ferment Chicken Feed For Immune Health?
I ferment smaller portions of my chicken feed to serve as a treat to my flock. Therefore, I use smaller containers for the fermentation process. If you prefer to ferment larger batches of feed, know that you will need a larger container to ferment in.
Choose a vessel that is either glass or ceramic. Plastic will not work well for fermentation. I am currently using 16oz mason jars, but you can use any glass or ceramic vessel of your liking.
I own a little fermentation kit that fits my wide mouth mason jars, so you will see some of those supplies here in the pictures. You do not need to purchase a fermentation kit. I use mine for chicken feed and other batches of goodies for human consumption, so I get good use out of it. Here is something similar to what I bought.
Other than a vessel to ferment in, the only other items you will need are your chicken feed, filtered water, and a kitchen towel or cloth to loosely cover the container.
You can use any kind of chicken feed, but I prefer to use whole grain feed. This is the what we feed our layer hens, and they really enjoy it. It makes me feel better knowing that they are eating well enough to produce nutritious eggs for my family. We also supplement their diet with fresh herbs to give the egg production a boost, especially in winter time. Here’s more information about that.
Simple Steps To Ferment Chicken Feed For Immune Support
Fill your container about half way with your chicken feed of choice. You will want to leave room for expansion during the fermentation process. The key is to keep your feed submerged in water most, if not all of the time. This is where I use my glass weights from my fermentation kit. You don’t necessarily need these. As long as you keep an eye on your water levels, you will be just fine.
After filling your container half full with feed, add enough filtered water to submerge the feed. You need to use filtered water because tap water contains added chlorine and other things that will inhibit the fermentation process. Like I said before, you will want to add water as needed throughout the process.
Cover your containers with a small towel or cloth to prevent things from landing in the mixture. You do not want an airtight seal because you want the natural bacteria and yeast from the environment to enter the mixture and start the fermentation process. I keep my jars on top of the refrigerator where it’s slightly warmer and out of the way of little kid hands.
How Long Do You Ferment Chicken Feed For?
On average, 3 days of fermentation is suitable for chickens. I say average because some chickens prefer the taste of a less fermented product, whereas others don’t mind a 4 day ferment taste. The longer it ferments, the more sour it will taste. You will have to experiment with your flock on this.
Once you find out the golden number of days that your flock prefers their fermented feed, then you can set up a fermentation rotation. We start a new batch every 2-3 days so the flock is receiving this treat 2-3 times a week.
Feeding Your Flock Fermented Feed And Other Tips
I recommend feeding the fermented feed separately as a treat instead of mixing it in to their existing food. I say this because depending on how long the fermented mixture is combined with the existing food, it could eventually cause some spoiling to occur.
When I head out to the backyard with a dish of this, there is usually nothing left 5 minutes after I allow them to start eating. This also makes a great way establish trust with your birds. You can try holding the container in your hand while they eat so they are used to your presence. Hand-feeding is a great way to allow you to easily handle your chickens in the future. You never know when it may be medically necessary to pick up a bird, and the more you mingle with your flock, the faster that trust is established.
You can also ferment your chick feed to establish good gut health with the little fluff balls. Again, hand feeding really helps them get used to your presence. I always hand feed my chicks and make my “chicken call” so they learn that association. My kids have picked up on it, and love to “call” the chickens when we’re outside. It’s the cutest thing ever.
If you’d like to learn more about how to raise a healthy and sustainable flock of chickens, you can sign up for the Sprouting Community newsletter below. I send simple and natural living inspiration, DIY tutorials for the small farmstead, easy and delicious recipes, and much more from our suburban homestead.
I hope you enjoy all the new life that Spring brings to your home. Here’s to many days of sunshine. Thanks for visiting and I’ll see you soon.
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