Bokashi for Poultry

How to Make Bokashi

To make your own you need these ingredients.

• EM, effective microorganisms - some people try to save money by using their own microbe concoction. This does work to some extent but from what I see it looks like they get going with just the lactic acid bacteria. Yeasts may or may not be present and I pretty sure the photosynthetic bacteria are missing altogether. For me I recommend buying your microbes to ensure you get the three types of microbes including several strains of lactic acid bacteria, yeasts, and photosynthetic bacteria.

• Molasses - you can use either the type you'd find at the grocery store or the feed store.
• Water with no chlorine residues. You can use tap water as long as you leave it sitting out for at least 24 hours before using it.
• Wheat or Rice bran
• Mixing tub or tarp depending on how much you're going to make
• Airtight container to hold your bran while it ferments.
• Time

Recipe for 10 Pounds of Bokashi

• 4T - 60 ml EM-1 or equivalent microbes
• 4T - 60 ml Molasses
• 10 cups - 2.5 liters water - no chlorine residues
• 10 lbs - 4.5 kg bran

Dissolve the molasses in the water. Add the EM microbes. Put the bran in a container big enough to hold it. Add the liquid and stir it up well with your hands. The mixture should be damp enough to hold together when you squeeze it into a ball but not so wet liquid is dripping from it. Adjust the moisture by adding either a bit more liquid or more bran.
Put the damp bran into an airtight container.A dark garbage bag in fine. Squeeze out all the air and fasten the top securely. Let it sit in a warm place out of the way for a minimum of two weeks. It's okay to leave it longer.
There may be some white mold on the fermented bran at the end of the two weeks. This is good. If however the mold is black or green it means either some air got in or the material was too wet.
For storing long term dry the bran well. Ten pounds of bokashi would last the average family 6-10 months. Properly dried it can be stored for several years. Store in an airtight container out of direct light.
You might decide to get together with friends and make a big batch at once. Here are the amounts you need to make 50 pounds of the bran. For a family this would be enough for several years.