Fermented grains winter style

In the beginning when I first learned about fermenting grains a lot of people did it in a 5 gallon bucket.  I decided not to go this route because it gets so hot here in the summer, I was worried it would spoil. I've been making daily containers for years. It can be a pain in the rear, but it works, my chickens are very healthy and the eggs are great. They seem to enjoy them above everything except meal worms.
This winter I have had so much going on, and it takes several days in the cold for the grains to ferment. I was filling the weeks feed containers on my day off, so probably half the week they were really getting soaked grains instead of fermented. I decided to give the bucket a try. It's been so much easier. Once a week I add more grains to the bucket, and add enough water to cover. I think the grains are fermenting faster because the liquid in the bucket is kind of like a sourdough starter. it keeps things going. Evey day I stir the grains, and use a strainer to scoop it into there trays.
I will continue to do this method as long as I can. I don't have high hopes for it in the summer, but we will see. It's definitely easier, and I'm all about one less job to do.

It makes a lot of sense, to me. Seasonal changes happen in pretty much everything, for us. Our truly cold parts of winter are relatively short (here), and our truly hot season is longer. My sourdough, kefir, hubby's saur kraut, kimchi, & beer all ferment at different rates, depending on the season and how we are keeping the house temps regulated. And, I'm ALLLL about making things as easy as possible.

Well it's time and I'm really dragging my feet. It's been so nice to just keep a running bucket.  Unfortunately something keeps growing on the top of my grains. It doesn't really smell different from the fermented grains, just a little stronger. It's white, and if I leave it for a few days I can scoop it up like cottage cheese, only not lumpy, more like a solid smooth consistency.  I scooped it off and still fed the grains to the chickens, with no noticable ill effects.  I Started over, stirred more vigorously and even tried blasting water in once a day and still the white stuff kept showing up. So I guess I have to go back to individual containers for each day. I'm kind of bummed, it's just more steps and more work.
I'm trying to cut down on plastic. I'm thinking about buying 1/2 gallon jars, and using them. I hope drilling a couple of small holes in the lids with be enough for off gassing. I think they will be easy to clean, and maybe big enough to allow me to get two days per jar.
If anyone has thoughts on the white stuff, glass jars, or anything else I would love to hear it.  Thanks

I was really excited to try fermenting my chicken feed a couple years ago. It is very humid and hot here and it molded. I make bread, have made sourdough bread for years, I make homemade vinegar, I make fermented things...have a decent feel for and understanding of those processes. But the fermented feed thing just wouldn't work for me! I ended up wasting feed and I also never felt like they ate less feed or anything. I'm sure I was doing something wrong and was bummed about it. I ended up just growing a lot of things for them so I could supplement a lot. I hope you figure out what is growing on yours!