100 Broilers and Fermented Feed Project

[kuntrygirl]

I was out at my buddy's place the other evening adjusting the brooder heater and admiring the growth on the birds. Couldn't help but think of you with your present lot. You're about 1/2 way there. Hoping the weather over the weekend holds up so the birds can have some good time outdoors. My buddy started out with 220 birds and lost maybe six birds to various maladies. Took a quick (bad) pic with my phone to reference back.

Holy smokes!! 220???? Kuntry girl, you have it easy!! lol

Easy is right . Easy Peasy. I will not complain ever again. Well, maybe not as much.

 

[kuntrygirl]

 
Holy smokes!! 220???? 
Kuntry girl, you have it easy!! lol 

 -- Easy is not the word she would use at the moment.  He is prepared for 220 and his facility and practice model will accommodate.  It is a LOT of work but for a relatively limited amount of time.  I think KG learned a great deal in this adventure and will be better served as she moves forward.

You are so right. I can't tell you how much I have learned. With all of you chiming in and offering suggestions, ideas, comments has really really really helped me see things straight. I am so thankful for everyone's help during this stressful time.

I think I will try this again next year and I will have compiled a small notebook of pointers as a reference. I have an area in my yard where I can have build a small shed and run light to it for heat. I have in my plans to do that and have the ground/grass as the floor with an attached chicken tractor so that they can go out into during the day and then go into the shed at night for warmth and safety. I have in mind the feeder design and how I will have their water setup. I have almost a year to collect recycled materials, etc for this project.

Now if I can get my builder to get the chicken plucker going. :/ We finally got the motor wired up right. We bought it from Harbor Freight and he wired it up wrong, so I had to contact my brother to ask his friend, who knows how to do that kinda stuff, to wire it up. Only thing now is that the plastic base of the plucker is spinning unevenly when turned on. He has 4 weeks to get this thing up and running or else I will be a crazy woman with no plucker. :/

 

[Arielle]

Quote: I love that KG is kid enough to keep us posted with all the details.But 100?? That is a lot-- 220 is a far bigger challenge. lol

Quote: Sure, that is possible. All depends on if you are happy with the current growth rate. If you are, don't change the water content.

Recipe = the amt of grain you measure out to the amt of water you add. Didn't mean to cause an overload. sorry.

No overload. Just joking.

I have just been dumping ingredients in and not measuring too much of anything.
THat's ok-- keep going with that method. You know how many bags of grain you are using, so all is well.

Quote: I'm just kinda eye balling things and dumping them in until I get the right consistency. I guess I better start measuring again.

Measuring can be easy if done by the pail. A small pail a big pail. Measure by the pail. If you start with leftover liquid, it is less precise. If you mix for the same consistency then all is good too.

I tried running a little experiment last summer, and it didn't last long. Too much effort to measure everything. ANd by then I had come to accept that FF is valuable and I no longer needed to proove it to myself thru the experiment.

 

[WalkingWolf1]

WOW!!!! I have NOTHING to complain about being as though he as 220 birds.

Losing 6 is not bad at all. That is great!!!! When will your friend be processing them and what are his plans? Is he selling any? How many will be going in his freezer? Does he have a chicken plucker?

I'm looking forward to this weekend's weathers. I will have to take every single birds out of the brooder and walk outside and put them in their outside pen. I"m not looking forward to it but I'm excited at the chance that they will be out of that brooder, outside and doing what they should be doing and that is eating grass and bugs. I will leave them out all day. Some of those cold nights in the brooder were as long as 45, so they will be ok being out.

He will typically let them get a bit bigger 10-12 weeks (same age as yours). He has an established customer base and they are sold out quickly. He will keep some for their own use. Yes, he has a whizz-bang and has access to two more whiz-bangs if he can round up enough man-power for the rest of the steps.

Go to the dollar store and get some bigger boxes (even a laundry basket) so you can carry at least 4-5 in a trip -- U're gonna wear the bottoms out of your shoes.

 

[kuntrygirl]

WOW!!!! I have NOTHING to complain about being as though he as 220 birds. Losing 6 is not bad at all. That is great!!!! When will your friend be processing them and what are his plans? Is he selling any? How many will be going in his freezer? Does he have a chicken plucker?


I'm looking forward to this weekend's weathers. I will have to take every single birds out of the brooder and walk outside and put them in their outside pen. I"m not looking forward to it but I'm excited at the chance that they will be out of that brooder, outside and doing what they should be doing and that is eating grass and bugs. I will leave them out all day. Some of those cold nights in the brooder were as long as 45, so they will be ok being out.

 

He will typically let them get a bit bigger 10-12 weeks (same age as yours).  He has an established customer base and they are sold out quickly.  He will keep some for their own use.  Yes, he has a whizz-bang and has access to two more whiz-bangs if he can round up enough man-power for the rest of the steps.

Go to the dollar store and get some bigger boxes (even a laundry basket) so you can carry at least 4-5 in a trip -- U're gonna wear the bottoms out of your shoes.

I wish that I could afford a whiz-bang. Perhaps if I save up all year from the birds and eggs that I sell, I may get half of the money for a whiz bang. I would love to be at your friend's place on process day just to see actually what happens. I bet that is exciting.

I"ll have to get some bigger boxes like you mentioned. I can't afford to wear out the bottoms of my shoes because I can't afford to buy any more because those little buggars are eating me out of house and home. This evenings feeding will be the last of the 50lb bag from the other day. Time to start scooping from the next batch. :/

 

[WalkingWolf1]

I wish that I could afford a whiz-bang.

I would love to be at your friend's place on process day just to see actually what happens. I bet that is exciting.

When I say whiz-bang I simply mean pluckers built on the whiz-bang model. These are all pluckers that were built by the these guys out of parts they scrounged (and purchased) to get these units up and running. They definitely did not go out and buy finished units. It sounds like you have something in the works. Even the pluckers that are run with drills are much better (and quicker) than trying to do it by hand. The biggest benefit with the drum-pluckers is three at a time and 20 seconds their done. This is not the one they use but is a model just like it.

Butcher day is quite chaotic as you can imagine. I'd like to say is structured and ordered but it is anything but.


Here is a table-top model that works pretty well.

 

[aoxa]

I love that KG is kid enough to keep us posted with all the details.But 100?? That is a lot-- 220 is a far bigger challenge. lol

THat's ok-- keep going with that method. You know how many bags of grain you are using, so all is well.

Measuring can be easy if done by the pail. A small pail a big pail. Measure by the pail. If you start with leftover liquid, it is less precise. If you mix for the same consistency then all is good too.

I tried running a little experiment last summer, and it didn't last long. Too much effort to measure everything. ANd by then I had come to accept that FF is valuable and I no longer needed to proove it to myself thru the experiment.

Yes that's how I measure as well. By the pail or scoop. If I don't, the consistency is off and I pay for it later.

I don't know why my wife can't get it right. It's always either way too dry or way too wet. Every single time I do it it's perfect. But then again, I can't cook with any real talent - and she is a force in the kitchen, so we are even.

I did make the perfect chicken soup and ruined it. I thought I had that burner turned on low for simmering and it was high.. ruined a 2 day soup.. I cried a little. The chickens liked it though

 

[kuntrygirl]

[COLOR=333333] I would love to be at your friend's place on process day just to see actually what happens. I bet that is exciting.[/COLOR]

When I say whiz-bang I simply mean pluckers built on the whiz-bang model. These are all pluckers that were built by the these guys out of parts they scrounged (and purchased) to get these units up and running. They definitely did not go out and buy finished units. It sounds like you have something in the works. Even the pluckers that are run with drills are much better (and quicker) than trying to do it by hand. The biggest benefit with the drum-pluckers is three at a time and 20 seconds their done. This is not the one they use but is a model just like it.

Butcher day is quite chaotic as you can imagine. I'd like to say is structured and ordered but it is anything but.

The plucker that is built for me is exactly like that but when it's turned on after a few minutes, the bottom plates spins a little sideways. He said that he knows how to fix it. :/

 

[Arielle]

Quote: THank goodness for chickens!! I have made a few batches that my kids won't eat. ANd I live low carb so I won't eat it either-- off to the chickens. That is NOT waste. It is recycling. Glad I was not the one that had to scrub the scortched material off that pan!! THat's the part I hate. ( Sorry you lost such a lovely soup.)

Quote: The plucker that is built for me is exactly like that but when it's turned on after a few minutes, the bottom plates spins a little sideways. He said that he knows how to fix it.

I pluck by hand, and my fingers get worn out and sore, so I limit processing to about 3 , maybe 6 at a time. I have tried using playtex gloves but they are NOT durable.

You will be glad that you have the home made plucker. (Have a bin for all those feathers. We dump them into the compost). I"m sure the base will be situated properly before processing time-- or else someone will be sleeping in the barn!! lol

 

[aoxa]

THank goodness for chickens!! I have made a few batches that my kids won't eat. ANd I live low carb so I won't eat it either-- off to the chickens. That is NOT waste. It is recycling. Glad I was not the one that had to scrub the scortched material off that pan!! THat's the part I hate. ( Sorry you lost such a lovely soup.)

Yep, it was not fun scraping it.

I had it simmering perfectly for 2 full days. Right before my wife was due home from work, I wanted it just to keep warm so we could test it for supper, but instead I put it to max heat and went out to do chores. Came in to smoke.. Was so bummed! It tasted amazing!

We remade it together, and I won't do that again!

It was for Christmas presents too!

Can you tell I'm still not recovered from it? lol