Recent content by Red-Stars-in-RI

  1. Red-Stars-in-RI

    Isn’t fermented feed alcoholic??

    I've made my share of alcohol over the years (beer, wine, harder things). Give or take, in a closed container ferment, beer will end up 4-8% alcohol. Wine like 10-15%. Anything stronger requires distillation. In a sealed container, chicken feed might get up to 3-4% alcohol. In an open...
  2. Red-Stars-in-RI

    Rhode Island

    If @tigger19687 isn't still looking. I have room for a couple of more hens (no roosters, please). I'm in West Greenwich, RI.
  3. Red-Stars-in-RI

    Harvesting my Chicken Run Compost - Black Gold!

    Landscape timbers is what I did as well. If you want a "finer sift" you can always put some chicken wire or hardware cloth along the bottom foot or so of the fence line. At another part of my run, I have hops vines that grow up the fence. It provides some shade and hides some composty parts of...
  4. Red-Stars-in-RI

    Harvesting my Chicken Run Compost - Black Gold!

    Can't speak for @gtaus, but I have a similar setup and I just have a flower bed right outside the coop...I consider it "self mulching". :D
  5. Red-Stars-in-RI

    Husband thinks it's ok to compost IN the chicken run. I disagree, who is right?

    The hardest part of having a chicken compost system might be keeping enough browns/carbon on hand. A couple more photos...one of the run compost (in the fall, this was all a LOT of leaves) and then adding an influx of carbon around Memorial Day. A few weeks later, you can barely tell I added...
  6. Red-Stars-in-RI

    Husband thinks it's ok to compost IN the chicken run. I disagree, who is right?

    Yes, that's the final sifted compost. It really is gorgeous stuff and a sizable run produces compost faster than I can even use it. It's very low effort as the chickens turn it more than any human could ever manage, and add their own "high nitrogen additions" regularly.
  7. Red-Stars-in-RI

    Husband thinks it's ok to compost IN the chicken run. I disagree, who is right?

    Obviously, you have to size it your situation, but absolutely you can compost in your chicken run. As others have said, the key is to have a nice base of browns (I have lots of fall leaves). A few pictures attached of chicken-run compost piles I have built. You can also "slow compost" in a...
  8. Red-Stars-in-RI

    Sour Watermelon

    Yes, food that's "fresh" enough for people and "fresh" enough for a chicken are quite different. As someone who's raised chickens on compost piles, they'll happily/healthily eat food that long ago become unrecognizable.
  9. Red-Stars-in-RI

    Using up bulk ingredients for chickens

    I'd bake a basic "bread" for them and feed it to them sparingly as a treat as it will have lower protein than their regular feed. If you had any spare seeds or other bits and pieces, you could bake them in too.
  10. Red-Stars-in-RI

    Coffee grounds!

    I throw coffee grounds into the compost pile I have in my chicken run. Never had any issues.
  11. Red-Stars-in-RI

    Oyster shell deal

    If you have the storage space, oyster shell is a good candidate to buy in bulk. You can probably find 30, 40, and maybe even 50 lb bags. It doesn't go bad, so can be stored for year.
  12. Red-Stars-in-RI

    Giving chickens corn that is soaked in 5 gallon bucket of water good??

    Just bring some corn, it's the same thing. ;) :D And thanks folks for good conversation. Yes, I know it's nitpicky, but corn is not like cookies, scratch grains aren't like candy. Now, if you'll excuse me...
  13. Red-Stars-in-RI

    Giving chickens corn that is soaked in 5 gallon bucket of water good??

    Corn is not particularly high in fat. Again, it feels like hyperbole to me. Eating only corn is like eating only corn. Eating only cookies is like eating only cookies. Both are bad for both people and chickens.
  14. Red-Stars-in-RI

    Giving chickens corn that is soaked in 5 gallon bucket of water good??

    I think you're exactly making my point. Why give a false metaphor (corn is like cookies) when in fact, corn is like corn. It has, as you say, nutrients, just not all the nutrients you need to be healthy. Maybe it's intended to be hyperbole. Maybe it's a lack of understanding of nutrition. I'm...
  15. Red-Stars-in-RI

    Giving chickens corn that is soaked in 5 gallon bucket of water good??

    People always say "if you only feed them corn, it's like you only eating cookies". In addition to putting the idea of eating cookies into some of our minds (mmm), it doesn't feel entirely accurate to me. Wouldn't feeding a chicken only corn be just like if WE ate only corn? I mean, nutritiously...
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