FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[skitzkle]

well im STILL reducing what i feed... i mix a lot of alfalfa in mine right now, and i also hang a hay bag in their pen, i fill the bag up about once a week. I guess my bigger layers must be going though a moult ... one of them looks like a dog got her

but her pins are coming in quickly. The other bigger birds have not even started to lay yet, but it should be soon, they are about 6 months old now, the bantam crosses that are 5 months have begun to lay though, and their eggs are great... before i fed FF(and for a couple months after) my shells were always poor, some of them would break in the box or in my hand when washing, now i actually have to hit them twice to crack them even with my bigger birds eggs its so much better.... the white is not runny and clear anymore, its got more substance and is a nice sunny yellow tint, the yolks were twice the size of the free range birds, but they were weak and not too thick... now that ive fudged around with what I make my FF out of im seeing the benefits even more, but just fermenting layer did not really help, nor adding other grains to that, but the alfalfa and hay theyve been getting was deff the missing thing.

I'm feeding 10-12 quarts FF to 50 something confined birds, and many of them are still growing! i feed them in the AM then check on them later in the day and they still have stuff to pick through, i poke most everyones crop and they are always full when i do... Before i added the alfalfa, their crops just did not stay full very long (I also think i made it too wet... trial and error)

ALSO STRANGE... the egg shell colors look different... ill take a pic later and show.... i have a New Hampshire/ OEG cross hen (thats mostly white btw lol) and shes been a good little layer for a long time, i hatched her out of a large brown egg, her fathers genes call for a tinted or white egg, when she fire started to lay, they were brown, but then quickly i got a mess of tinted eggs... with my wedding and such their food schedule got flubbed, and they didnt get enough, i found their water was empty, it was only 3 days but i still felt bad for my biddies

after a week of getting their normal schedule of rations..water... and i added more alfalfa kinda on accident, i had some pellets left over like 10lbs or so and dumped the whole bag in.... well they swelled more than i thought and took over the mix lol... so i had been feeding that out adding some scratch and more water to try and loosen it up.... well that little hen has given me an egg a day ever since, and they are bigger! and they are brown again!!... i had 3 left over from before the wedding and now more than a weeks worth of the "new" eggs so ill take pics and we're gunna use them for breakfast so ill take comparative pics.... but has anyone heard of that? I know alfalfa will make blue and green eggs brighter, but... i didnt think brown worked the same way

what form of alfalfa are you using? pellets/cubes/hay?

 

[KrazyChromatics]

mostly cube, its got a better long stem fiber content, next year i plan to do a small mixed grass/legume plot and use a hand powered push mower and store the dried stuff in burlap sacks for winter fermenting... hopefully next year my guys will be free ranging and ill plant stuff for them to graze down themselves but pellets or cubes work

 

[skitzkle]

What is everyone's opinion of adding alfalfa and peanuts/peanut butter (for livestock) to my may layer feed that I am fermenting. Will it be too high in protein. Peanuts are real cheap right now.

 

[Beekissed]

Could be. I'd go very low and slow on adding anything that rich, same with the alfalfa...just small percentages are fine but I wouldn't get free handed with it. It's the same approach I take to BOSS...not much, just a portion to add a little fat and fiber, but not go overboard. Out of 100-150 lbs of feed, I might add 10 lbs of BOSS.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Could be. I'd go very low and slow on adding anything that rich, same with the alfalfa...just small percentages are fine but I wouldn't get free handed with it. It's the same approach I take to BOSS...not much, just a portion to add a little fat and fiber, but not go overboard. Out of 100-150 lbs of feed, I might add 10 lbs of BOSS.

Bee I'm looking into getting me some heritage Aussie eggs to hatch out. This guys Aussies are awesome and I love his and have decided if I go ahead and get them going now by the summer time I should be getting eggs from them. PLUS I needed me a good roo since I didn't keep one. Going to keep mine that I have right now until my other ones start laying. Just don't want to mix them since this aren't heritage and it cost the same to raise either but I can probably make more on my heritage Aussies so I want to do that I think. I'm excited.
I was thinking about my food bill and how I'd have to buy the starter food for a little while so I'd have to buy 2 kinds of feed for a little while.

 

[Beekissed]

Lucky bum! I'd love to have some heritage stock Aussies! My perfect flock would include heritage stock White Rocks, Black Aussies, RIR and New Hamps. I wouldn't need any other chicken breeds than those to have the best flock ever.

You'll have to keep us posted with pics, of course, so we can slobber and drool...

 

[RoseMarie1]

Lucky bum! I'd love to have some heritage stock Aussies! My perfect flock would include heritage stock White Rocks, Black Aussies, RIR and New Hamps. I wouldn't need any other chicken breeds than those to have the best flock ever.

You'll have to keep us posted with pics, of course, so we can slobber and drool...

Oh Bee I will you know that. I have a person really close by here that has them and I'm talking to him about buying some eggs to hatch out.He sure has some gorgeous birds! Yep me on on those heritage rir's to. Had thought about those as well but hubby seems to think I need to stick with just one breed.

 

[rawheid]

Don't let her fool you. She is an expert.

Good to know!

I'm no expert, not by a long shot! Even if confined to pen and run, cutting back a little and only feeding once a day should be fine. Especially then..they get very little exercise in a coop and run situation, so they don't need a ton of food to keep a good body condition. You'll have to experiment with it and see how they do when you cut back...on body condition, not on signs of appetite. If you go by how hungry they act you'll be tube feeding them continuously just to fill their gullets.

Take them down to half a bucket and see how long it takes for them to eat it. They should have enough for one good meal and a snack later on...if not, take it a little lower until they do. Give them some good deep litter in the coop and run to give them something to do while they are in jail and they will adjust to the lower activity/lower feed levels.

Now that my flock are not finding bugs out on forage, I'm increasing their daily allotment up to 2 1/2 c. of feed per day from 1 1/2 c. and will monitor it from there. Will be adding some BOSS this weekend for some fats and fiber in the FF.

I'll learn from your mistakes so I can reduce mine (hopefully)

God's the only chicken expert I know...I'm still very much a novice at chickens and I learn something new each day that lets me know just how stoooopid I really am on the subject.

Absolutely!!


So I reduced there feed yesterday to about the 3-4 cup portion since I didn't want to go from one extreme to the other. Today I did about 1 1/2-2 inches in the bottom of an ice cream pail. They attacked it like crazy. they LOVE it. I think they will have finished that portion in about the 10-15 min mark. So then that should be good for the day? This one portion/day feeding is taking a bit to get used to. I'm feeling like they need something else. I had no idea that they'd like it this much. I have to say that my 2 ISA's that were looking scraggly/mangy are starting to fill out and look 1/2 decent now. Which shocks me since this is only day 5 of FF. It may be the fact that they've had ACV in their waterer for a couple weeks too. Either way. I'm glad that I started FF. My bucket of feed is starting to have that sweet tangy smell now. So I'm sure it's full of goodies now too. I'm just using a small colander for scooping but it's not getting all the water out, is this a problem?

Thanks for helping this newbie out!

 

[Beekissed]

Good to know!


I'll learn from your mistakes so I can reduce mine (hopefully)

Absolutely!!


So I reduced there feed yesterday to about the 3-4 cup portion since I didn't want to go from one extreme to the other. Today I did about 1 1/2-2 inches in the bottom of an ice cream pail. They attacked it like crazy. they LOVE it. I think they will have finished that portion in about the 10-15 min mark. So then that should be good for the day? This one portion/day feeding is taking a bit to get used to. I'm feeling like they need something else. I had no idea that they'd like it this much. I have to say that my 2 ISA's that were looking scraggly/mangy are starting to fill out and look 1/2 decent now. Which shocks me since this is only day 5 of FF. It may be the fact that they've had ACV in their waterer for a couple weeks too. Either way. I'm glad that I started FF. My bucket of feed is starting to have that sweet tangy smell now. So I'm sure it's full of goodies now too. I'm just using a small colander for scooping but it's not getting all the water out, is this a problem?

Thanks for helping this newbie out!

It can be pretty dramatic once they get the amino acids from the feed that can be used on a cellular level to provide better, more complete nutrition. If you ever get a chance there is a thread called The Road Less Traveled that shows some pretty astounding changes that happened real fast...I was surprised and there isn't much that surprises and impresses me nowadays when it comes to livestock. I was duly impressed and so I will never go back to dry feeding.

I don't strain my feed, but just mix it thicker so that it's easy to dish out. Any residual moisture is drained out of the trough, as I have holes drilled in my trough. I also have holes drilled in my scoop and any fluid just slops out on the floor of the coop, there to inoculate my deep litter.

Now that you have them down on the feed...just increase it a little bit each day until they are leaving some behind in the trough, maybe just enough for a light snack. If there is any left over at the end of the day, back it off a little until you get the amount right. Come spring, that amount will change again as their nutritional needs change, so it's always just small adjustments according to body conditioning and their production levels. Pretty soon you'll get to know it so well that you will make the adjustments without even thinking about it...sort of like when you feed your kids and adjusting how much you place on their plates as the seasons and their growth changes.

 

[skitzkle]

Ok, I have a question about pecking order and feeding. I tried feeding the chickens once a day with two separate troughs because the 4 youngest birds are not allowed near the first trough by the older girls. I put one in the yard and one in the coop. The younger ones can eat inside the coop until an older ones notices, maybe a couple minutes, then they get chased off. I actually never see the younger ones at the trough without being chased away. They do not look at all like they are starving but I don't want the older ones to get too fat because I am leaving extra food out for the younger ones. Should I just assume that they are getting the food when I am not around because they look just as fat as the older ones. I want to cut back on the food because I am pretty sure I am feeding them way too much. I think it is at least 6 cups of fermented feed going out there for 10 hens. My younger ones are more flighty also and I assume it is because they are trying to get out of the run away from the older ones who pick on them. (Run is pretty large I don't know the dimensions put it has trees and shurbs and still has green grass in it and in one section I put all the yard debris. Easily 10 sq ft per bird. I keep them in a run because I am surrounded by roads and close neighbors and would like to keep them protected from the loose dogs in our neighborhood.)