Whey as food

(Original message of mine, copied from the Marek's threads)

Speaking of gut flora. . . earlier in 2012 I had read somewhere that probiotics were beneficial to newly-hatched chicks. We have free access to whey ( a great source of probiotics) from a local cheesery, and had previously found that our birds really enjoy eating it (lots of protein!); we had generally started feeding it to them when they were a couple of weeks old. On the basis of this new finding, we started feeding it right away to our day-old meat-bird (Cornish Cross) chicks.

We had the highest weight gain/day and the lowest mortality in our meat birds ever! Also, I think it really cut down on food costs.

Cheeseries generally have trouble disposing of whey, and sometimes have to pay to dispose of it, so you can often get it free.

Why does the title of a thread need to be at least 10 characters? I tried "Whey" and it didn't work. Anyhow. . .

Whey is simply a by-product of cheesemaking. The curds settle out and are processed to make cheese; the whey is poured off. It is difficult for the cheesery to dispose of, so some, at least, try to make it easy for farmers to pick up, and make efforts to keep it pure (you don't want it contaminated by cleaning fluids, for example). You can read more about its composition, etc. on google; no point in my reproducing it here. High in protein, for sure.

It's liquid (with cheesey lumps, if you're lucky). I'm sure it would freeze just fine, but we've never tried; we get new batches every week. It keeps at ambient temperatures for long enough for the chickens to eat it all - I'm sure we've had some outside for up to a couple of weeks. It can be served in any waterer; we gave it to the new chicks in one of those chick waterers with the red plastic base. Interestingly, in the first couple of weeks, they preferentially consumed three times as much whey as water (both freely available)! Of course, whey IS mostly water.

We think, but are not sure, that it enhances meat flavour as well - we have a waiting list for our meaties. Of course, they also get seaweed, kale and garden scraps, as well as an acre of pasture.

Very interesting. Wish we had a cheesery nearby.

Interesting! I occasionally make my own cheese, and it produces TONS of extra whey. I have frozen it and use some of it when I make bread, but there is always way more than I can use. I will keep this in mind for my future chickens!

Cynthia have you already ruled out Armstrong Cheese Factory? What about Gort's Gouda?

As mentioned previously, the trick is to give it to them right away, post-hatch, for maximum benefit re gut flora. We've been feeding both meaties and layers whey for years, starting at age 4 weeks or so. then I read a research article suggesting that for benefits it should be a starter food. And it works!

For Cynthia's question about Whey as a preservative in mayonnaise:

Per 1.5 cups of Mayo ad 1tbsp whey.

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, pg. 137 wrote: If you have added whey, let the mayonnaise sit at room temperature, well covered, for 7 hours before refrigerating. With whey added, mayonnaise will keep several months and will become firmer with time. Without whey, mayonnaise will keep for about 2 weeks.

Sweetened wrote:For Cynthia's question about Whey as a preservative in mayonnaise:

Per 1.5 cups of Mayo ad 1tbsp whey.

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, pg. 137 wrote: If you have added whey, let the mayonnaise sit at room temperature, well covered, for 7 hours before refrigerating. With whey added, mayonnaise will keep several months and will become firmer with time. Without whey, mayonnaise will keep for about 2 weeks.

thank you Sweetened. When I make my mayonnaise it requires 4 cups of oil and four eggs, along with a couple of other ingredients. So, ya, would need 2.5 tbsp of whey. I think the added whey would be health beneficial though, so a gooooood idea regardless. There are two cheese factories in our vicinity, all within .5 hours from me. Think I am on a mission to check out if they have whey. Perhaps.

Something I am not sure of though is...why would mayonnaise, homemade only last two weeks in the fridge. Eggs will live for a very long time before they go bad, there is vinegar in my mayonnaise and oil. I woulda thunk that the product would certainly last longer than 2 weeks. But as I said, we would never have that stick around for longer than 2 weeks regardless. I tried making the mayonnaise with peanut oil and vegetable oil, instead of all vegetable oil. It was wonderful and I think even more thick Have an awesome day, CynthiaM.

CynthiaM wrote:Something I am not sure of though is...why would mayonnaise, homemade only last two weeks in the fridge. Eggs will live for a very long time before they go bad, there is vinegar in my mayonnaise and oil. I woulda thunk that the product would certainly last longer than 2 weeks. But as I said, we would never have that stick around for longer than 2 weeks regardless. I tried making the mayonnaise with peanut oil and vegetable oil, instead of all vegetable oil. It was wonderful and I think even more thick Have an awesome day, CynthiaM.

Hmm... that made me think, but I'm wondering if it's due to separation? Maybe at the 2 week mark it all comes apart. Not sure. Good points though.

Note to CynthiaM... I was recently at an evening of wine and cheese. Old friend from my highschool days contacted me. He is back in the area after being gone and is taking up small scale cheese production.

If you are seeking whey, I might be able to set you up. Man, I am SO connected! Give me a shout if this interests you.

uno wrote: I might be able to set you up. Man, I am SO connected! Give me a shout if this interests you.

Oh man, oh man, you sound like an ol' hippie. Of course, you just let me know when you get more connected . If he has extra whey, bring it!! Have those awesome days, CynthiaM.

Clarification - whey in its natural form is a liquid. However It is frequently dried and sold as a food supplement; in this form it is (I think) a powder. I'm guessing that's what the recipe above is referring to.

ipf wrote:Clarification - whey in its natural form is a liquid. However It is frequently dried and sold as a food supplement; in this form it is (I think) a powder. I'm guessing that's what the recipe above is referring to.

Nope. Liquid whey.

I have some powdered whey I was given I am going try feeding that to them and see what they think, I have to figure out a way to give them the whey so it just doesn't all blow away, any ideas

mix it in water?

We have started to make our own cheese and I am going to try feeding the Whey to chicks this spring. Thanks for posting this ipf.

For the record, last Wednesday I went to the Armstrong Cheese Factory and got whey. The fellow opened the side door, brought out a big bucket of whey and filled up both my three gallon buckets. He asked me if I wanted more, smiling. It seems that they have so much, and yes, they throw it down the drain the girl was asking. Evidently, Wednesday must be the good day to get whey. Have an awesome day, CynthiaM.

From other post:

CynthiaM wrote:Ya, so getting back to whey. I went and got two big pails of it from the Armstrong cheese factory. Do you think my chickens will drink that stuff, nope. Brats. Maybe if I just put a cup into their drinking water they will have no choice, smiling that evil smile. What's with them anyways, it tasted pretty good to me...gonna see if my dogs like it, think it would do us all good. Do humans drink whey? Oops, sorry off topic, really am, but just can't help myself. Going to the whey thread now have a wonderful and awesome day, CynthiaM.

Body Builders often drink whey, I know, for the protien and muscle building qualities.

My birds go NUTS for whey/cheese/any dairy or dairy byproduct. Just nuuuuuts. They'll fight over the bowl if it's not 40-chickens-at-a-time friendly and just love it. The chicks have taken to the yogurt water as well.

Harumph. What is wrong with my chickens. Seriously? Wonder what. Oh well. I am going to make them drink it, one way or another, gonna get them, one way or another....

I think that I will put it in their drinking water, so they have no choice, smiling. I KNOW it would be good for them. Don't they know that?

Ya, so body builders drink it eh? Now I am on to discovering more about this product. Not today, but gonna let google be my pal when I have some lee time, maybe tomorrow morning. Not today. Got really good things to do today, and that begins pretty soon, heading out the door in a while, for a first part of day celebration.

I think my dogs might like some too. Have beautiful days, CynthiaM.

Made another batch of cheese today and froze some of the whey in ice cube trays, so I can give my spring chicks just as much as they need. Hopefully it's just as good when it's been frozen.

Cynthia, I always give the dogs my extra whey - they seem to love it!

I am assumeing it's in a liquid form ? if so it could be mixed in with some Chop and allowed to ferment a bit and then feed as a slurry ? We used to do this with our chop to feed pigs .

Yep, liquid. Lots of lots of liquid.

Takes 4 litres of milk to make +/- one pound of mozzarella cheese. So you get roughly 3 to 3.5 litres of whey out of that.

You can then go on to make ricotta from the mozzarella whey, and then the ricotta again produces whey - not sure if the ricotta whey would be as good and nutrient-rich?

I think that birds, like people, are creatures of habit, and suspicious of new things, at least for a while.

Maybe you could/should try it first with your new chicks (to convince yourself as well as them); then, as those chicks join your main flock, they will carry over their appreciation of whey.

The things that really impressed me were the improved survival and weight gain, and that "we gave it to the new chicks in one of those chick waterers with the red plastic base. Interestingly, in the first couple of weeks, they preferentially consumed three times as much whey as water (both freely available)! Of course, whey IS mostly water."

Also, not the most important thing, it's free, and reduces waste.

Ya, I'm going to start this batch of chicks on whey for sure. It has been kept cold, in the chicken house, has not frozen, so should be good. My chickens slowly drank it, I think it was just the new to them for sure. I see the water fonts in their yards were empty yesterday. So took a couple of days, but maybe just not used to it. We'll see. I'll keep the fonts in the outside yards for them, should they drink, smiling. They'll be headed out to the brooder tomorrow and that liquid will be whey.

I wonder how long whey would keep refrigerated? I would imagine a long time, cheese lives a long time, why not whey. Ya, going to start to give some to my pooches too. Whey not eh? Smiling. Full of good things for surely. Have an awesome day, CynthiaM.

authenticfarm wrote:Yep, liquid. Lots of lots of liquid.

Takes 4 litres of milk to make +/- one pound of mozzarella cheese. So you get roughly 3 to 3.5 litres of whey out of that.

You
can then go on to make ricotta from the mozzarella whey, and then the
ricotta again produces whey - not sure if the ricotta whey would be as
good and nutrient-rich?

How would one get started making cheese? I can get milk! lolol