Single hen

[Scottie]

May seem a daft question, but can you add ordinary bran to the chicken feed and get the benefits that people seem to achieve with bokashi bran?

 

Sheila

[Old Speckled Hen]

As far as I can figure Bokashi is fermented bran ..... like spent grain when you make beer? .. at least that's what it smells like. It's supposed to, amongst other things, I'm sure, make your chicken poo small less offesive or maybe just less. If yours free range then I guess that's not important but a lot of chooks are kept in smallish runs in suburban gardens where there are non chicken keeping neighbours to consider.

Maybe there is a crop/gizzard flora issue as well; like adding bio yoghurt?

Ordinary bran would just add fibre which chooks probably don't need if they are being fed layers pellets or mash.

 

I bought some bokashi after reading on the forum how great it was for chickens and mine hated it, tried it neat and mixed in the mash.

Garden birds ignored it as well and it ended up in the compost bin.

Lots of other people rave about it.

[Egluntyne]

The Bokashi bran has micro organisms in it which help with digestion, bulk up the poo etc.

[EileenH]

Doesn`t this show what individual tastes they have? I put the bolashi bran in a dish and mine see it as a treat. I can always get them back in the run with it.

[Egluntyne]

Mine love it too.

[Hen Watch]

If I put a handful of bokashi bran in with their pellets, then I end up with a grub with just bran in it and all the pellets picked out.

 

So I now mix it in with their weekly "pellet porridge" which is just pellets, warm water and bokashi. Then they eat it all.