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Natural Probiotics for Chickens
You can make your own!
A lot of my time and energy is spent on ways I can improve my animals lives. One thing I spend time on concerns their feed. I research the best ways to bring great nutrition to their bowls. One way to add a nutritional boost to your chicken’s food is to include natural Probiotics. There are two simple and easy ways to get natural probiotics for chickens. Apple Cider Vinegar is easy to make at home, using apple peels and scraps. Another simple and often overlooked or unknown source of probiotics is fermented chicken feed. Apple Cider Vinegar makes use of the naturally occurring acetic acid. Fermenting the grain creates lactic acid which is beneficial to both humans and animals!
Why would you want to add probiotics from fermented feed to your chicken’s diet? Evidence and studies show that it can increase the egg weight, and shell thickness. It helps chickens naturally resist pathogenic organisms like E-coli and Salmonella. And one reason that particularly pleases your wallet, the chickens will eat less grain and their bodies will use the feed more efficiently. Fermenting increases the nutrients available in the feed and creates new vitamins such as B vitamins, Folic Acid, Riboflavin, Thiamin and Niacin.
How to Ferment Chicken Grain
Grab a large glass container, a BPA -free bucket or some large vessel that can be covered and will not leach metal or chemicals into the feed during the fermentation process. Make the amount appropriate for feeding your flock maybe a few times a week. The same liquid can be reused so the container can be refilled as you dip out the feed needed. If you have just a few chickens, you could use a large glass bowl, a quart or half gallon jar. The other options for larger flocks could be a large food grade storage bucket, a glass ice tea jar, or something else appropriate in size for your flock.
Place the dry grain into the container
Cover with de-chlorinated water. (de-chlorinate water by letting it sit in an open container for a day) Add enough water to completely cover the grain. Grain left uncovered by the water could become moldy. Adding a tablespoon or two of Whey will help the process get started but is not necessary. Lactobacillus bacteria is already present in the air we breath so it is already in the jar of feed.
Cover the container loosely and leave at room temperature.
Stir the grain daily, stirring up from the bottom. If water is being absorbed, add enough to cover the grain. Bubbles should be forming and even a thin skim of milky looking film could be forming. This is good! 
The grain should be ready to use in three to four days. Smell it. It should have a sour smell similar to sourdough. It should not smell rancid or moldy. Mold is bad. If the fermented feed smells like alcohol, you might be able to rescue it by adding two tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar to the mix and letting the acetic acid eat the alcohol.
Strain the grain, allowing the liquid to drain back into the jar or bowl. The liquid is teeming with probiotics and can be used a few times to make more batches of fermented grain. Add more de-chlorinated water as needed.
Voila! Natural Probiotics for Chickens and you made it yourself!
Now,
Feed the Chickens!
I used my fermentation tools from Fermentools. While in the case of fermenting chicken feed, the air-lock system is a bit of an over kill, since the food does not have a long ferment, I decided to use them anyway. Fermentools has a top notch line of fermenting accessories that I do use for fermenting people food! You know its so good for us too right? The kits come in many sizes and all you need it a wide mouth canning jar. Check the company website here for more. www.fermentools.com 
Apple Cider Vinegar
Making your own unpasteurized apple cider vinegar couldn’t be easier. This is another way to add natural probiotics for chickens. It is made from apple scraps and peels. I can’t believe I have not written a post before on making Apple Cider Vinegar! This is the first post I read about it and is how I learned to make this simply amazing substance. I simply put the scraps in a bowl, add enough water to cover the solids. Stir in about a quarter cup of sugar to the large bowl. Use less sugar for smaller quantities. Place something heavy on top, such as a plate, to submerge the apple scraps. Cover with a lightweight kitchen towel. Set aside for about 10 days to two weeks at room temperature. You should see bubbles developing around the edge. IF you see some moldy spots develop it is ok to remove them and try to re submerge the solids so this doesn’t keep happening. Next, using a mesh strainer, drain the liquids into a jar and discard the solids. Put a cloth over the top of the jar, and apply the ring but not the flat lid to the canning jar. Put the starting vinegar in a dark place for 6 weeks or more.
When the vinegar is ready it should smell like a good vinegar! If it smells like wine or alcohol, it is not ready. Return it to the dark cupboard and wait a bit longer. When the vinegar is ready, replace the solid flat lid and store. The vinegar has an unlimited shelf life.
Adding two tablespoons of your homemade vinegar to your chicken’s water a few times a week will keep their digestive tracts healthier, reduce their susceptibility to intestinal parasites, and just help keep them healthier and more robust. A good post to read about chickens digestive tracts and natural and also harmful bacteria and parasites can be found here.
Now you know how easy it is to make fermented foods to benefit your flock. Why not grab a jar and start some fermented feed today. Please come back and let me know your experience and how things worked out.
Sources used and further reading on this topic
Garden Betty – Why and How to Ferment Your Chicken Feed
Natural Chicken Keeping – Fermented Feed
Fresh Eggs Daily How to Save Money by Fermenting Chicken Feed
Bluetooth Hollow – Fermenting Feed for Chickens
Fresh Eggs Daily – Make Your Own Apple Cider Vinegar
Untrained Housewife – How to Make Apple Cider Vinegar
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So glad you’re trying this. My hens have been on fermented grain for at least 8 months and they love it! They seem so happy and healthy too.
Before fermenting, I noticed any grains they ate would often show up whole in their stool. (And they had plenty of grit for digestion.) Now it’s being digested more efficiently.
Good to know Debra. I have tried it before but I wasn’t consistent. Giving it another go.
Curious how much you would feed per hen, per day?
Normally we need a three gallon bucket. Today I took one quart of the fermented feed too. I don’t give them the fermented feed every day. We have 25 chickens
Another great way to add probiotics to their diet is by adding kefir water to their feed. All my birds love it and dive into the pans every night.
Very good idea Thank you for your comment!
I’m new at this so need more explanation. You say “ferment your chicken grain”….the jar looks like cracked corn but I am not sure. Exactly what grains (what feed) are you fermenting? Or what grains can be fermented? I use organic layer feed… can that be fermented?
Thank you!! Donna at the Small House Homestead.
Hi Donna. Happy to add some clarification. The grain I fermented does have some corn in it. It is scratch which also has barley, and oats and sometimes I add what ever else I have such as fennel, or rye to it also You can ferment just the layer ration in pellets or crumbles. It does not matter if it is organic or non-organic. What ever you feed can be fermented, even veggie scraps but they take longer and you may need the air-lock as shown in the one picture. I have a few posts on fermenting veggies too. here is one. https://timbercreekfarmer.com/recipes/easily-ferment-vegetables-home/
You know I love this post, right? Thanks for sharing on the (mis)Adventures Mondays Blog Hop!
What exactly do you mean by “layer ration” when talking about fermenting pellets or crumbles above? Thanks!
Hi Kiva I am referring to pellets or crumbles that you buy at the feed store. I have had mixed results using the feed as it does become quite soupy That is fine to use but I prefer to use the scratch grain mixture or whole grains
I have 50 chickens that get cracked corn and 22% layer pellets. Would I supplement their feed with the fermented scratch? If so,, how much would I give them, and how often? There are 10 chickens in each coop.
Monika I would suggest that you start with more of a mixed grain such as a scratch mixture for the ferment. I did about 5 pounds at a time for my flock of 28 birds. It was distributed over a few feedings, not everyday. Then I started the next ferment. It really doesn’t matter too much how much you do at one time but I like to do 1/2 gallon jars and use one at a time. How often is up to you. I think it works fine as a supplement once or twice a week some people use only fermented feeds.
on your followup question concerning your goats, I have heard of people using fermented feed with goats but I have not tried it.
Monika, I feed my 13 chickens the same feed you do. Have you tried fermenting? I’ve thought about just fermenting some corn for a few feedings per week.
I also have 2 goats,,,can I give this to them also?
is this method save cost??
Yes, it saves money because the chickens eat less while gaining more nutrition from what they eat.
we want to use this probiotic experimentally on our chicken and compare its growth performance with any commercial probiotic. is it remain save for long time after its preparation?
No the fermented feed needs to be used within a couple of days
can you check the bacterial strain which are in this fermented feed?
I suppose you could if you wanted to. I have not thought about that
and plzzz also clear that is we compare thar probiotic performance with and commercial probiotic.
Great article very helpful for an aged pensioner who cannot afford the commercial variety.
Thank you for writing a comment. Glad the post was helpful
I made my first batch and the chooks loved it. I also keep racing pigeons, they were not so keen. My question is would it be advantageous to put the left over water in the pigeons drinking water?
Hey John Good question. I would think it could be beneficial to your pigeons if they will drink it. It should be high in probiotics like the grains that were in it. Very interesting I would make sure I use it in a timely manner or feed it to your chickens because it can grow mold too. If you see mold growth, throw it out!