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by Kristi Stone16 Comments
For years, I have been interested in culturing and fermenting in some capacity. It pretty much started with kombucha, then I tried water kefir (I killed my grains, ugh). I also tried fermenting zucchini pickles and carrot sticks in salt brine, and those were good. Then I tried dilly beans and those were outstanding! I was pretty much hooked.
Within a few months of moving into our new place, I made a new friend, Stacey. She introduced me to making milk kefir. I had experienced kefir as a child and loved it. It wasn’t the homemade kind, but the store-bought already-flavored-with-fruit variety. I had also experienced making my own yogurt in years past but it was too labor intensive for me with the tools I had. So when Stacey shared kefir grains with me and how easy it was to make, I gave it a go.
I Made Milk Kefir, Now What Do I Do?
Making milk kefir was quite easy, even using pasteurized cow’s milk. I had no idea what to do with each batch. I ended up just mixing the whole quart with bird feed and feeding it to the chickens for a snack. Heck, I wasn’t losing anything by giving it to them, really, and I’d heard it was good for them. BUT….
And honestly, I don’t have any real scientific proof that it does help them to lay more, but on the weeks I fed milk kefir to my laying hens, they tended to lay roughly a third more eggs than when they didn’t have it. Like I said—no science, just my own mind blown.
But, I Did Research Milk Kefir for Good Measure
Here’s (in what I hope will be a nutshell) what I’ve learned from the research I have been doing on formulating my own chicken feed: laying hens need somewhere between 16 and 18 percent protein in their feed. According to Dr. Jacquie Jacob of the University of Kentucky, layers need a couple of percent more protein than pullets or any other non-laying chicken. At the time I started feeding them the milk kefir, I was already giving my girls a 16.2% protein feed, so my guess is that the extra protein boost was the reason for the boost in laying power.
Should You Feed Your Chickens Milk Kefir? You Decide.
Now here’s where I need to say to you: THIS IS ONLY WHAT WE DO. I don’t know enough to tell you that you should also do it this way, but this is working for us right now, and it’s just one way that I am supplementing the needed protein that doesn’t get into my homemade whole grain chicken feed. Since I haven’t been able to find out what percent protein milk kefir is (I’m sure it really depends on what type of milk is used amongst other factors), I can really only use it as a protein booster along with my 16% protein feed.
You don’t need to give them the full quart every time–that’s just what I do sometimes. If I were to give it consistently (or have kefir consistently–I don’t), I would do about a Tbsp per day per chicken. There’s no real rule that I know of. I have read around that many others give their chickens kefir to boost their nutrition from places like BackYardChickens.com and blogs that I’ve read, but there’s not really a hard and fast rule or “dosage” that I’ve been able to find.
People Use Milk Kefir in Other Ways, too
My friend Stacey of Mr. Joe’s Farm even treats her livestock with it when they have GI issues–she says it “fixes them right up”. I also ran across this article that talks about how kefir saved someone’s dog. I’m starting to look at my milk kefir as a medicine as well as a great food for myself and my livestock.
If you are interested in trying to make some kefir for yourself and your chickens, here’s how I make mine.
Fill clean mason jar with milk, leaving 1-inch headspace. Stir in kefir grains. Lay paper towel over the top of the jar and secure it to the jar with a canning ring or rubber band. Store jar at room temperature out of direct sunlight, allowing it to ferment until thickened. If it runs around 70 degrees in your house, your kefir should be done in 24 hours. If it’s hotter, it will ferment quicker; cooler, and it will ferment slower. Check it after 24 hours to get a feel for how kefir ferments in your house/in your kitchen. When it’s thickened to your liking, strain kefir into a glass jar, stirring gently in plastic strainer until just the grains remain. Refrigerate your kefir and use within 2 weeks (I keep mine longer, just FYI) and stir your grains into a new jar of milk to make more kefir.
It is concluded that kefir may be used in poultry feed with an inclusion rate of 7.5% without imposing any adverse effect on the measurements of body structures, weights of visceral organs, and gut morphology.
For most people, fermented foods like kefir are considered safe. But when you first take probiotics, you may experience digestive issues like increased gas, bloating, or diarrhea. These usually settle down after a few days as your body adjusts.
The easiest way to tell if they've died is to pop your kefir grains in some fresh milk, leave at room temperature and then check back in 24 hours. If the thin milk has not fermented and taken on the thicker texture of kefir, then they may be dead.
If you use too much milk, the milk can go off before the kefir grains have a chance to ferment it though, so be sure to understand how much it can do, and gradually increase from there. To get lots of kefir quickly with just a few grains simply keep adding milk without straining.
After the feed has fermented, you will use the spoon to strain out the feed into a serving bowl for your flock. Some liquid will remain with the soaked grains, but for the most part you will be serving your flock a bowl full of moist, soaked, and fermented chicken feed.
If your digestive system isn't able to handle kefir, you might experience a variety of common side effects ranging from cramping to bloating and even diarrhea in some cases. You will likely deal with symptoms of nausea and abdominal pain if it is messing with your digestive system too much.
The liver to body weight ratio analysis revealed that both early and late Kefir treatment may be able to alleviate liver injury, where they showed significant decrease in the liver/body weight ratios (P < 0.001) compared to that of NASH group.
Nutritionists and healthcare professionals suggest that regularly drinking kefir may improve health in 2-4 weeks. The several health benefits of kefir include improving heart, gut, kidney, liver, and skin health. Kefir also has anti-cancerous, anti-inflammatory, and anti-bacterial effects.
If you see clear yellowish liquid and curds, it is over-fermented and has passed the thickening stage. It is now separating into whey and curds. Again, this is not bad - it's just a little more sour and may be less appealing.
There is no right or wrong answer. Some people prefer to use a clean jar for each batch, but this is not necessary. Some people simply rinse their jars between batches while others leave their jars until there is a build up and their jars start looking scummy.
Kefir has a fresh, tangy scent similar to a cup of yogurt. However, if you smell something rotten, acrid, and sour, it's time to replace your kefir. Fresh kefir is smooth, creamy, and silky in consistency, which means curdling and lumps and bumps are indicators of rot.
You should also notice that the kefir smells a little sour/vinegary and possibly cheesy/yeasty. The milk will have thickened and it will no longer look like milk.
Too many grains and/or not enough milk. These both go hand in hand. A brew with too many kefir grains or not enough milk make for short work. This will cause separation far earlier than expected.
The 'fizz' in authentic kefir is caused by the naturally occurring yeasts which produce CO2 during the fermentation process. When we make our batches we watch the bubbles rise to the top of the tank once we've started stirring... it's alive!
You can use plain kefir to replace buttermilk cup for cup as it has a similar runny consistency. Recipe: 250ml kefir (for every 250ml buttermilk required)
Sour milk is milk that has begun to acidify, causing it to thicken up and coagulate. It is not the same as spoiled milk, which should not be consumed by people or animals. If you have chickens or hens, sour milk is a great treat and a...
“When looking for a probiotic for your birds, look for one with Bacillus subtilis, a very hardy strain of beneficial bacteria which populates rapidly. Other probiotics are often mixtures of bacteria such as Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and other unknown strains,” says Olson.
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