Soaking and Fermenting Animal Feeds

Why do we soak dry beans before we cook them, or make overnight oats?  All grains and legumes contain compounds that act as digestive inhibitors. Soaking grains and legumes in water neutralizes these compounds, increasing bioavailability of the resulting food.

When we first started raising pigs on pasture, we had limited local organic feed options. We sourced whole wheat, barley, oats and peas, soaking them at least overnight, if not 48 hours (until almost germinated), to increase digestibility and palatability.  The result was increased feed conversion over dry rations, and a sweet, sourdough bread-y smelling feed shed.  We think that if you are wanting to eat the feed, the animals surely will.

What is a mash feed?

Mash particle size should be large enough to easily identify at least 75% of all of the grains used. Complete mash feeds are the right consistency to soak and ferment. Many feeds are actually directed to be soaked before feeding, including most commercially available pellets.  We make mash feeds on roller mills, which roll and shear the grains, producing less fines and "dust" in the feed than a hammer mill (more common).

Here are some considerations of different feeding styles that work with our feeds:

Easy: Dry

Less “messy” and fastest method, perfectly acceptable. You will notice the appearance of fines, which can lead to some of the minerals/supplements not being consumed, and some of the hulls that contain beneficial fiber may be left behind by more selective animals.  The good thing about our feeds is that they contain probiotics and enzymes that will activate during digestion.  These are the same enzymes (protease, amylase and lipase) that break down these grains resulting in bioavailability of the fatty acid building blocks of animal proteins.

Intermediate: Soak

All grains and legumes are more bioavailable when soaked, as all contain digestive inhibitors that are neutralized in water. Done properly, it can result in 20-30% increase in feed efficiency. All of the minerals and supplements adhere to the grains and the enzymatic culture is activated before feeding. All grains and hulls are saturated and more palatable to any animal.

Take a clean bucket or feed tub and add enough water to “float and bubble” the feed all the way to the bottom of the dry material.  You are looking for a balance where the feed after 12-24 hours is not soupy, and not caked, but a uniform moisture throughout the column.  In the soaking vessel, this is typically ⅓ to ½ more water (column height) than the volume of the feed in the container.  Place in a warm spot, ideally 60-80 degrees F.

Advanced: Ferment 

We recommend only for the experienced fermenter. Done properly, it can result in 30%+ increase in feed efficiency. Note that your tubs must be very clean so as to not introduce mycotoxins. The fermented feed needs to stay anaerobic (no oxygen) so as to not introduce molds (think of sauerkraut in brine). This means using enough water, and a lid in a very clean container. The resulting feed should be sweet-smelling and bready/yeasty in 72+ hours.

The other benefit to wet feed is that the increase in total volume fed makes the animal fuller at feeding time. This is a huge benefit for breeds or individual animals that need a restricted diet to maintain a healthy weight. Most of the time animal husbands overfeed, and create a myriad of problems due to animal obesity.

We encourage a vibrant, athletic composition for most any animal, achieved by careful observation. As animal husbands, we are experimenters by nature. The best recipe here is the one that balances your time and energy with the observations of animal behavior, and the input cost of your feed. We know that these feeds are successful in dry, soaked and fermented forms and encourage you to share your soaking or fermenting experience with us at faroutfeeds@proton.me.