Fermented Chicken Feed + What It Does for Your Chickens
Learn how to make fermented chicken feed, why it improves digestion, and how it can reduce waste and help your chicken feed last longer.
When I first started fermenting chicken feed, it was mostly out of stubborn curiosity and a tight feed budget. At the time my coop sat on a small property in town (so I couldn’t free range), and every bag of feed disappeared faster than the eggs showed up in the basket. I’d heard other homesteaders mention fermenting feed, so I tried it one summer with a simple bucket on the porch.
After a few messy experiments and a couple batches I had to toss, I started seeing real changes. My chickens wasted less feed, their feathers looked better, and my feed bill stretched further. Since then, fermenting feed has just become part of the routine around here.
If you’ve been curious about fermented feed, I’ll show you how it works and what I learned along the way.
What Fermented Chicken Feed Is + Why It Works
Fermenting chicken feed is simply soaking feed in water for a few days so naturally occurring bacteria begin breaking it down. As the feed sits in water, these microbes multiply and begin softening the grains while producing beneficial acids. This process is called lacto-fermentation. The same basic process happens when people make foods like sauerkraut or sourdough.
As fermentation happens, bacteria convert starches and sugars into acids. That change helps good gut bacteria thrive and makes the feed easier to digest.
So the same bag of feed ends up going a little further.
How Fermentation Improves Digestion
Chickens have efficient digestive systems, but dry feed can still pass through without being fully used. Fermentation begins breaking down the feed before the birds even eat it.
The first things I noticed were firmer droppings and healthier looking feathers. The birds were clearly getting more from the feed.
Why Fermented Feed Often Reduces Waste
If you’ve had chickens for any length of time, you’ve probably watched them fling half their feed onto the ground. When feed is fermented, it turns into a moist mash. Chickens tend to eat it quickly instead of tossing it aside. Less feed ends up on the ground and more ends up where it belongs.
Fermenting feed is not the only way to stretch your feed budget, but it can help. If feed prices make you wince at the store like they do for me, there are a few other tricks that help stretch a bag further.
How to Ferment Chicken Feed (Step-by-Step)
Once you get the hang of it, it only takes a minute or two a day.
Supplies You Need
I started with a basic plastic bucket and a wooden spoon. Most homesteaders use:
- A bucket or large container
- Chicken feed (pellets or crumbles work)
- Water
- Something to stir with (I use a paint stirrer)
Some people use a two-bucket system with drainage holes, but I often just scoop feed out with a ladle.
The Basic Fermentation Process
Add chicken feed to your bucket and cover it with several inches of water. For a small backyard flock, a few cups of feed is plenty for your first batch. The feed will absorb water as it sits, so make sure it stays submerged.
Give the mixture a quick stir once a day. After about three days you should begin to see small bubbles and notice a slightly sour smell that reminds many people of bread dough.
Most batches are ready between three and five days depending on temperature. Many people say it smells similar to bread dough or mild yogurt. If temperatures drop below about 60°F, the process slows down quite a bit. This is why many homesteaders ferment feed mainly during spring, summer, and fall.
Once it’s ready, scoop some fermented feed into your chickens’ feeder and add fresh feed and water to the bucket so the cycle continues. Doing this keeps the batch going so you’re not starting from scratch every few days. Think of it like maintaining a sourdough starter. The culture stays alive as long as you keep feeding it.
What Feed Works Best for Fermenting
Most people ferment standard commercial poultry feed such as pellets or crumbles. Those feeds are designed to provide the nutrients chickens need. Things like cracked corn, wheat berries, or a handful of vegetable scraps can be added occasionally for variety. These extras should stay a small portion of the mix so your chickens still receive the vitamins and minerals from their regular feed.
If you raise birds of different ages, keep in mind that feed changes as chickens grow. If you’re not sure which feed your chickens should be on, it helps to understand how feed changes as birds grow.
If you are new to keeping hens, it may also help to review basic laying hen care and nutrition so you know what healthy feeding habits look like overall.
Common Problems When Fermenting Chicken Feed
The process is easy, but a few things can confuse people the first time they try it.
Mold vs Normal Fermentation
One of the biggest worries people have is mold. Healthy fermentation smells slightly sour or yeasty. Many people say it smells similar to sourdough bread or mild yogurt. The feed may bubble and the water often turns cloudy.
Mold looks fuzzy and usually appears white, green, or black on the surface. If you see fuzzy growth or smell something rotten, throw the batch away and start fresh. Keeping the feed submerged under water prevents most mold problems.
Fermentation in Cold Weather
Cold temperatures slow fermentation dramatically. Here in Maine, I usually stop fermenting feed once winter settles in. You can continue fermenting indoors or in a garage if temperatures stay above freezing. A lot of people just switch back to dry feed until spring.
Feed That Is Too Watery
Sometimes beginners add too much water and end up with soup instead of mash. If that happens, just stir in a little more dry feed. The mixture should be thick enough that you can scoop it easily but still moist.
Does Fermenting Chicken Feed Save Money?
Fermenting feed can stretch your feed supply because chickens waste less and often eat slightly smaller portions. Some keepers report using about a third less feed over time, though results vary depending on flock size and management. It’s not going to cut your feed bill in half, but it can stretch a bag further.
Another approach some homesteaders explore is sprouting grains. If you are curious how that compares, you might want to look at another way to stretch feed with homegrown fodder and decide which method fits your setup better.
Common Questions About Fermenting Chicken Feed
These are the questions I hear most often from new chicken keepers.
Pin this guide so you remember how to ferment chicken feed and save on feed while keeping your flock healthy.
Fermenting chicken feed might feel strange the first time you try it. A bucket of bubbling feed on the porch can look questionable if you are not used to it. Once you see how fast the chickens eat it and how little ends up in the bedding, you understand the appeal. It’s simple, and it helps both your chickens and your feed budget.
If you have experimented with fermented feed on your homestead, I would love to hear what worked for you. Leave a comment and share your experience.
If the chooks aren’t eating the dry pellets I put out, would they be more likely to eat the pellets if they are fermented ?
I think that the reason why the birds eat less fermented feed is not due to the digestibility, but due to the high water content.
I’m confused about part of this process and leftovers. When you ferment the chicken feed in your two buckets (I do this with bokashi composting), after 3-5 days or once fermented, you strain the now fermented feed and drain the liquid off. But after you have taken enough fermented feed for the day to feed the flock, do you put the fermented feed back in the originally drained liquid, does the bucket of fermented feed just hang as is and dry out, or do you cover it with fresh water? Thinking that if I made a bucket of fermented feed, I would have too much fermented feed to give them all at once and will have leftover.
You take out what you need and then put the bucket back into the liquid bucket. You top with water as needed to keep the feed below the surface. As the levels of feed go down, you just add more and give it a stir.
I get buckets apart with compressed air. Stick the nozzle in between the buckets and let the air lift the bucket out of the other.
Do you ever feed your chickens fodder? I’m just starting my flock with 11 chicks and have just started raising fodder from oats to give them. I’ve read a lot about fermenting their feed also and am wondering if you can do both? Thanks for any advise you can give.
I have in the past, but my toddler has made growing anything indoors a challenge. I probably will again this summer when I can do it on the deck. It’s a great idea to do both because it offers a natural, well-balanced diet. Growing sprouts is also a nice healthy addition to your flock’s diet.
Thank you Jessica. My husband and I just bought our 5 acre farm that needs tons of work. I’m starting with chickens and quail, but by next year I want to add pheasants, ducks, and peacocks. I am finding lots of information on how to feed your chickens healthy and inexpensive, having a little more trouble with the quail. Do you have any experience with them? My daughter really wants quail. I thought I would ask, thank you for your awesome information.
I don’t know to much about fermenting feed for quail, so I did a bit of research. None of my quail-keeping friends ferment their quail’s feed, even those that do so for their chickens. I asked why and they all said they hadn’t considered it. None of the forums online provided much help either. I did find a research paper that stated that the benefits of fermented feed are similar with quail as they are with chickens. An increase in egg production, higher quality eggs, as well as a decrease in coli and other bacteria. I’m not sure how much help that is to you, but it seems to me that it would be worth a try.
I live in Nebraska and we have to watch that their water doesn’t freeze and I would assume that fermented feed would freeze too. Where do you live that you don’t have to worry about that? Should I just wait for the summer to come before trying this?
I have had the feed freeze a few times (though not as quickly as the water does), but the birds don’t seems to mind. It sort of turns into a flock block, keeping them busy as they peck away at it. Fermented feed does, however, need to be fermented indoors. It can be a bit challenging getting it to ferment with indoor temperature fluctuations. If you’re getting started, I suggest waiting until spring. That way you have some experience under your belt when you start dealing with winter.
What do you do if you go out of town? Will the chickens just go back to the dry feed? I want to ferment for health reasons, but I would like the ease of dry food when I have others watching over them. Also, I have 23 chickens…how much feed would I put out each day?
You should have no problem transitioning your birds to dry when you go on vacations. They won’t flock to it like they do fermented, but they’ll nibble through the day. As far how much to feed, there are so many numbers floating around and none were helpful when I got started. I would estimate that I serve my girls about 1/3 what I did when I fed dry feed. Even that figure changes seasonally. In the spring there would be some left in the dish, so I’d cut back a bit. In the fall, they’d seem still hungry and finish the dish quickly, so I’d add a bit more. It’s really trial and error at the start until you get a feel for it. I still keep a small dry feeder in the coop in case they are still hungry. It usually goes untouched.
I share 11 chickens with a friend at her 2 acre plot. I’m having a dilemma! My friend ONLY wants to feed them grain & mash that have been fermented. Whereas, I want to offer them a variety of dry and fermented. I have watched them turn up their noses at fermented food, and eat the dry like their starving. I’m wondering how to judge if the ferment has gone bad. Is there any way to tell? Whenever I put dry into their trough, my friend comes along and scoops it into the ferment. She doesn’t start new batches, just uses the one as a starter and adds to it. I’m concerned that it’s too cold out to force them to eat spoiled. Is there a definitive way to make ferment? HELP, need advice!
I feel for your plight. I don’t know I could share my chickens 🙂 The fact that the chickens aren’t eating the feed leads me to believe it’s gone south. Usually a bad batch has an off smell and the start of mold growth. Properly fermented feed should smell sweet and yeasty like bread dough. I am a fan of the recycled water method, but you do need to keep a very close eye on it. It may be time to start a new batch and hang a dry feed feeder just in case.
Do you add dry food as you scoop ff out or just let the bucket run out and then refil?
Many people refill as they go, but I wait until I get down near the bottom. When it seems like there might not be enough for the following day, I fill the bucket back up. It was just easier for me that way. I store the fermented feed right in the coop, but for space-saving purposes, the dry feed is stored in the garage. Laziness is the only reason for my method.
I’ve been fermenting feed for over a year and I am possibly a little sloppy about sealing the bucket. I seal it mainly to keep my dogs out. I don’t use two buckets because the chooks go through it fast enough. I agree with the money saving part but only slightly. I maybe cut down on purchasing feed by about 1/4-1/3 less. I use a commercial feed and then I mix with wheat berries, lentils and many other things on hand that I know the birds like. Too many black sunflower seeds can hurt the liver of the chickens from what I’ve heard so I feed those sparingly now even though they love them. I often sprout lentils for them in the winter too. Old bread goes into the bucket as well as oatmeal, whole oats. My mash is different depending on what I’ve purchased, what’s on sale etc. Chooks come looking for me when they want their mash, so yeah it’s like a treat.
I love two things about your comment. First, as you said, the mash is always different. I think that’s a great thing about fermented feed. It changes up their diet. No one likes eating the same thing every day. I also love that you mentioned sprouting. I’m hoping to do that as a post topic this fall as one of the ways to add greens during the winter.
So do you just keep the water above the feed level or do I need to also cover it?
I put a lid on lightly because otherwise bugs get in, but if you keep the water level higher than the feed it won’t spoil.
I am missing where the money saving part comes in…
I understand the health benefits cuz we ferment just about anything for the benefits of the probiotics. 🙂
I sprout organic grains and as the grains sprout they often double or triple in size but they are also growing which changes the composition of the grain and nutrient level as well. With pellets or crumbles that cant grow (just absorb water) I am missing the money saving part…
Kathy,
Thank you for calling me out there. I shouldn’t mention something without elaborating 🙂
You will see I edited the post to add why fermenting saves money. The big reason is that the probiotics that fermentation creates increases nutritional value and it also increases the ability to absorb nutrients (meaning the bird meets its requirements with less intake). A secondary money saver is that the birds are less likely to waste feed. My girls act like I’m giving them this special treat every morning. They don’t fling it all over the place or scratch it out of the dish like they did with dry feed.