We fermented our chicken feed when living in the city and they loved it. Also, if you buy a 50# sack of seed, wheatvor whatever is cheapest, and set a few cinder blocks so the holes are vertical... Dump about 1 cup of seeds in each hole, starting a new hole each day. Water maybe twice a day enough to just wet everything, and after you get to about 4-6 days I think, you will sprout maybe 90% of those seeds in a hole. Takebit out and give them the reaulting mat of sprouts and they will almost fight over everyone wants some! Chickens love fresh greens!

How long do you ferment it for?

Brilliant! Will suggest to my brother

For your info to share with him we soak the grains in a bucket 1 part grains to 2 parts water for three days then just pour it out in their run to eat. It's a fully balanced poultry mix to start as we have ducks and chickens.

This sounds like a fun one for the chickens!

Thanks for this Jen! He will be pleased and probably say “why didn’t I think of that “.

I need to get back into the habit of fermenting chicken feed.

Sounds awesome. What is your benchmark in terms of eggs per day per layer? What is the process? What kind of feed is it? Grains?

Our goal is one egg per layer per day. We do have some heritage breeds who I'm happy with 5 per week if it's consistent but they do have a tendency to go broody. The ducks were completely off the lay and we are now averaging 2 eggs per day from our 3 girls. I think it's about 5 per week per duck. The colour and structure of the yolk and white is visibly improved too. We use a custom grain mix from our local feed store that meets the protine and vitamins needed for both the ducks and chickens. But I have heard you can ferment pellet food too. I'll get a breakdown of components for you if you like. For the process with have 3x 20L buckets with lids that we have on the go. I worked out the amount of feed necessary by trial and error and have been reducing the amount based on what they actually eat with minimum left overs and waste. I measure out the grain into a bucket, fill with water so the grain is covered and let it sit for 3 days. After 3 days it smells a bit like beer and the grains are hydrated and swollen. Sometimes I add a little apple cider vinegar too but only occasionally and it's not needed for there ferment process. Then I pour it out into their run to encourage them back in from free ranging through the day and reset the now empty bucket so it's ready again in 3 days.