Meatie Experiment: FF 'vs' Crumbles

[bruceh]

I am pretty sure I just ordered 30 from you, should be picking them up from the PO later. I can't wait to see how this goes!

how do you like the birds ?

 

[bruceh]

bruche,

I assume you are not breeding and selling, where do you get the chicks and are they still day old when they are shipped?
Thanks

i did pm you. i ship them when they are hrs. old.

 

[SunnySkies]

how do you like the birds ?

They are doing great! Looking good. Only one looked kind of off, but that one has perked up and is running around with the rest of them.

I can attest that these were day olds. Some still have an egg tooth.

 

[jrsckn]

Sorry I haven't been on, I've had a summer internship in poultry research and just got home! I'm so happy others are finding my experiment use full and interesting.

jrsckn, when you measure 1 lb of FF, is that the weight before soaking or after soaking? I've found that my feed expands to about 2x its original weight due to water absorption.

Therefore, 1 cup CC ≠ 1 cup FF (I think?)

I loved reading your experiment, it was so cool to see all the numbers!

Thanks! Yes, you are right, I measured everything dry so I knew exactly how many pounds they were eating. If I could do it all over again, I'd measure water consumption too.

 

[Michelle82]

Ok - I'm just catching up here.
Questions

1.)How many chickens died of which groups?

2) Giving the data of the experiment, is there any obvious difference in the vitality and general health between the 3 groups ? In the last heat wave some elderly and some sick people died and no children and no normal healthy adults. I'm not asking for a scientific analysis, I'm asking your opinion.

3) In the group that was fed the fermented crumbles and grain.
a)What was the grain used and what is it standard protein content ?
b)Was this grain crushed or kept whole.?

It is just that Beekissed reported 500lb for 50birds and 200lb of meat (dressed) at 8 weeks.That is with pasture.

 

[Michelle82]

Now I'm just putting this out there

Does anyone produce mealworms or earthworms for their chickens?
Does anyone feed sprouted seeds to their chickens ?

If you knowledge or can refer me to a website or thread. Please do.

Lastly I just want to thank jrsckn for taking the time to be this awesome.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Earthworms are stupid easy.

Step one; buy earthworms
Step two; put earthworms in a big bucket full of dirt. Maybe punch some drainage holes.
Step three; Put it in the sun and a lid on at night so they don't crawl out for the first week
Step four; Feed and water with leftovers from your chickens, rabbits, garden, whatever. Dump in water when you change your waterers. Throw in some compost or veggie scraps. Only stir it into the top inch or so.
Step five; Wait. Then feed earthworms to chickens. They'll double their numbers in something like three months.

Sprouted grains are about as easy. We sprouted things a lot as a kid.

Get 5-8 clear plastic trays. The best ones should stack with 2-4 inches between to bottom of one and the bottom of the next but kinda whatever should be fine.
Punch holes in the bottom of the trays for water to drain.
Fill one tray with seeds enough to cover the bottom, and run water over it 2-5 times a day for 2-5 minutes.
Repeat, stacking the trays so the newest seeds are at the bottom and the water from one tray runs into the next tray.
On day 5-8 when you are out of containers, feed the grains (now sprouted and a few inches tall) out to the chickens, goats, rabbits, whatever.
Rinse and repeat.

Mealworms are slightly more complicated and I know there's a few threads on it around. I don't raise mealworms because so far nobody has given me an alternative food source other than oatmeal/rolled oats, and around these parts, oats are s'pensive.

 

[ronniewayne]

thanks for taking the time to share your research with us.

 

[Arielle]

Now I'm just putting this out there

Does anyone produce mealworms or earthworms for their chickens?
Does anyone feed sprouted seeds to their chickens ?

If you knowledge or can refer me to a website or thread. Please do.

Lastly I just want to thank jrsckn for taking the time to be this awesome.

I give my chickens meat scraps from the kitchen, too. I have a compost pile to dig and the girls harvest.Also zuccini, and summer squash are easy. Lots of threads covering these things!! Just find and read.

 

[nicalandia]

I am bringing this thread back to life because my birds love their feed wet, but I think that the merits of fermented feed are also great.

@Compost King have you tried feeding fermented feed to your birds?