Fermenting Feed Series - Part 3 of 3
MAKING LACTO-FERMENTED FEED
Part 1: BENEFITS OF LACTO-FERMENTATING FEED FOR CHICKENS
| Part 2: FERMENTATIONBASICS: A TALE OF TWO FERMENTATIONS
Swedish Flower Hens enjoying their fermented feed.
By Sue -
To start your lacto-fermented feed, follow these steps:
1. Find a container that is a suitable size for
the number of chickens in your flock.
Suitable containers include:
-Plastic Food Grade Buckets
These can often be obtained free of charge or very
inexpensively from your local grocery store bakery department or a local
restaurant and come in various sizes including 2 Gallon, 3 Gallon or 5
Gallon.
- LEAD FREE Ceramic Crocks or Containers - If using ceramic, be sure that you purchase a new container from a source that clearly states lead-free. Do not use any ceramic container that you currently own that is not marked lead-free. See Lead and Zinc - Hidden Dangers to Your Chickens.
Various sized crocks from lehmans.com
https://www.lehmans.com/p-3893-numbered-stoneware-crocks.aspx
- Glass Containers - So far I've used glass containers that I can keep handy in the kitchen. If possible I always prefer glass over plastic as glass is much less porous and does not contain substances that can leach into the high-acid ferment. Glass containers come in various sizes similar to crocks.
Above: Anchor glass truffle bowl
with fermented feed. I used this when I
only had 6 chickens.
Below: Two Gallon Glass container
with fermented feed.
Notice the liquid layer above the feed sediment. Keeping liquid above the feed helps keep
oxygen from freely reaching the feed below.
DO NOT USE METAL CONTAINERS.
The high acid content of the fermented feed can
interact with the metals and cause contamination of the feed.
2. Place a suitable amount of dry
feed in your container and completely cover with water. As
lacto-fermenting is an anaerobic
process, be sure to add enough water to keep about 1/2" - 1" of water
standing above the feed level. This
encourages the Lactic Acid Bacteria to proliferate while deterring the growth
of undesirable molds/yeasts/fungi which require oxygen to proliferate.
Notes:
Be aware that when you first start the feed, it
will begin soaking up water and expand so begin
with a small amount of dry feed relative to the size of your bucket or
container and continue to add water as it soaks into the feed to keep the
water standing well above the feed. Initially
when you add water and stir it all together it will appear that there is more
than enough liquid. After several hours
it may have soaked up all the water and you'll have to add additional water and
stir again.
Continue this process until it quits expanding and has
enough water standing above to keep it completely submerged. When you
first start a batch, stir the feed about
every 2-3 hours (or as often as possible for your schedule) for the first
several days.
Cover the feed with a loose-fitting cover or lid that will allow for off-gassing.
3. Within 2
- 5 days, the feed will begin to bubble slightly as the LABs will begin to put
off carbon dioxide, and you should start to smell a slightly sour smell similar to pickles, sauerkraut or yogurt. This is the lactic acid that the LABs are
beginning to produce.
NOTE: Lacto-fermented feed should
not have a rotten or putrid smell - just a slightly sour/tangy smell.
Some folks who
make fermented feed have asked about a putrid smell in their fermented feed. The presence of a strong, unpleasant odor
indicates an over-growth of unwanted yeasts/molds and possibly "unfriendly
bacteria". If the feed is kept well under the water level, you will usually not
have this unbalanced growth of molds and purification.
For LACTO FERMENTATION My personal "rule of
thumb" is: If I can smell yeast/mold or alcohol in the lacto-fermented feed, I
don't feed it to my chickens. (See notes on ACV below).
4. When
feeding, scoop or spoon out an appropriate amount of feed for your flock. Scoop from the bottom of the ferment
container to assure that you get a full mixture of all the items in the
feed. You can press out some of the
liquid, strain it in a strainer, or just put it into the feed pan as-is.
Do not remove all the feed and liquid from the
container.
Fermented feed in a stainless steel strainer draining slightly before
adding to the feed bowl.
Note: You
may begin to feed as soon as the first day.
While the LABs will not yet have had time to multiply, simply
soaking feed overnight is beneficial.
(See, "Easy Ways to Sprout Seeds for Your Chickens" for information on the
benefit of soaking grains for the reduction of phytic acid and other
anti-nutrients.)
5. Add more dry feed back into the ferment
container to replace the feed that was removed. Stir
thoroughly and add enough water to completely submerge the feed as before. The LABs that are already present will
continue to proliferate and the fermenting process can be continued
indefinitely in the same container.
NOTES:
A WORD ON STARTER CULTURES FOR LACTO-FERMENTATION:
Lacto-fermentation can be achieved with no added starter
culture as the LAB cultures and various yeasts are naturally present in the air and on surfaces
everywhere. However - if you prefer to
speed up the beginning of lacto-fermentation or cultivate specific LABs in your
ferment, you can add a starter culture when you first begin your batch.
If you decide to use a starter culture:
Starter cultures that are APPROPRIATE for Lacto-Fermented Feed include:
- A tablespoon or two of juice from raw lacto-fermented pickles or sauerkraut. (Note: If the pickles or sauerkraut were purchased from the store or were heat canned, this WILL NOT contain live active cultures and cannot be used.)
- A purchased starter culture. I have personally tested, and had several others test, Avi-Culture II which is the only avian pro-biotic culture on the market at this time that is grown on a non-gmo substrate. I've also tested Caldwell Starter Culture for Fresh Vegetables which works very well.
- Whey from cheese made with a mesophillic culture, or a mesophillic starter culture for cheesemaking or culturing other dairy products such as cultured buttermilk or fromage blanc.
- A tablespoon or two of CULTURED Buttermilk with live active cultures from the supermarket. Be sure it states live, active cultures.
Starter cultures that are NOT APPROPRIATE FOR LACTO-FERMENTATION:
- Whey from yogurt. The specific strains of LAB used in yogurt is thermophillic which means that it achieves maximum growth rate when it is kept at a higher temperature than the room temperature where most will have their fermenting container. Therefore, it is a less suitable source of LABs for fermenting feed.
- Yeasts are not an appropriate starter for lacto-fermentation as they produce alcohol rather than lactic acid. (See Part 2 FERMENTATIONBASICS: A TALE OF TWO FERMENTATIONS for more information.
Edited for clarification:
A few notes on Unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar relative to
lacto-fermentation (ACV):
When using LACTO-FERMENTATION, Unpasteurized Apple Cider
Vinegar is not an appropriate STATER
CULTURE. The CULTURE in ACV is Acetobacter
bacteria which converts alcohol to acetic acid and is not a lactic acid
bacteria.
Rather, for lacto-fermentation, a Lactic Acid Bacteria is
appropriate as a STARTER CULTURE. Please
see Part 2 for an overview of the
two types of fermentation.
Although not useful as a STARTER CULTURE in
lacto-fermenting, it has many other benefits.
Part 2 in this series gives a
brief list of nutritional benefits of unpasteurized ACV and some links to find
more information. Please take a look at Part
2 for that information.
While not a starter culture used in lacto-fermenting, it can be
added to lacto-fermented feed at any time in small amounts for its other great
benefits!
Since I prefer - and use - lacto-fermentation, one of my goals is to keep naturally occurring yeasts/molds/fungus
from proliferating in the feed so that the LABs
can be dominant in the mix.
As
stated above..For LACTO-FERMENTATION my personal "rule of
thumb" is:
If I can smell yeast/mold or alcohol, I don't feed it
to my chickens.
When
these smells are present and strong enough for me to notice, I know the LABs
are out of balance and yeasts or alcohol are becoming more dominant.
To
help illustrate with an example with which most are familiar: consider a
candida overgrowth in our bodies. (Commonly referred to as a
"yeast" infection.) Although yeasts are always present in
our systems, it is the balance that is the issue. When yeasts are kept in
balance, it allows the "good bacteria" to proliferate in our
system and create a healthy gut flora which helps our immune system
to do its job. If the yeasts get out of balance in our body, we take
action to help correct the imbalance and return the "good bacteria"
to dominance.
If
I ever smell either yeasts/molds or alcohol in my feed I have used ACV to help
quickly bring the pH level down (increase acid) which (in moderation) can help
retard the growth of the yeasts and allow the Acetobacter bacteria
that's contained in the ACV mother to digest any alcohol that may have been
produced by naturally occurring yeasts. When used in small amounts,
it can retard the growth of the yeasts just enough to allow the LABs enough
time to re-establish a dominant colony that is able to keep the molds/yeasts in
check.
In
my experience, the small amount of ACV (about a tablespoon or less for about 2
gal.of feed) allows the LABs enough time to re-gain dominance within a
day or two.
I
have not had to use ACV for the purpose of rebalancing LAB dominance for
several months as I have a good, strong LAB dominance in my current batch of
feed.
- Sue
Part 1: BENEFITS OF LACTO-FERMENTATING FEED FOR CHICKENS| Part 2: FERMENTATIONBASICS: A TALE OF TWOFERMENTATIONS
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