100 Broilers and Fermented Feed Project

[CackedNut]

Quote:
HaHa -- I'm sure someone will come along and be offended -- I seem to get reported for breathing too deeply.

LOL...

 

[WalkingWolf1]

WW1......I don't mind you breathing deeply, but expulsion of air from somewhere else might.......

W e l l -- now that you mention it. Pause briefly -- TMI -- I've had more than my share of these issues over the years but am happy (HAPPY) to report that since I have started drinking ~ 6oz of Kefir each evening these ISSUES have been reduced by, IMO, 80% or so. Wife is HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY. She says, "hey let me try some of that stuff -- it seems to have worked wonders on you." I told you TMI.

 

[BCMaraniac]

W e l l -- now that you mention it. Pause briefly -- TMI -- I've had more than my share of these issues over the years but am happy (HAPPY) to report that since I have started drinking ~ 6oz of Kefir each evening these ISSUES have been reduced by, IMO, 80% or so. Wife is HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY. She says, "hey let me try some of that stuff -- it seems to have worked wonders on you." I told you TMI.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Hey everyone. Wanted to give a 2 day update on the broilers.

All are doing well. No problems. I'm seeing more pecking at the food, so they are definitely eating. I hadn't been seeing much eating activity, so I was worried. Here are pics of what the feeders are looking like. They are definitely putting a dent in the FF.

I mixed it all up again so that they can finish it off.

I took more weights from 3 of the broilers and they have gained a little bit of weight. Looks like there is a slight increase of 0.5 to 0.9 oz.

Here are pics of their weights.

The weights are from random broilers that I pick up to get a round about idea of the increase in weight. Starting tomorrow, I will pick 5 different broilers of different sizes and track their weight. I was thinking about either putting different colored zip ties on their feet or spraying their legs very lightly with Blue Kote so that I can easily recognize them from the others. The Blue Kote won't allow me to recognize all 5 individually, so I may have to go with the different colored zip ties.

I'm still trying to figure out the amount of feed that I should be putting in their feeder. I know that some people have their broilers/meat birds on feeding schedules and only put out food 2 times a day. I'm not sure what I should do. Right now they have access 24/7 but I don't see them eating all day.

Other than that, everything is going good so far.

 

[Ron Skekel]

Hey everyone. Wanted to give a 2 day update on the broilers.

All are doing well. No problems. I'm seeing more pecking at the food, so they are definitely eating. I hadn't been seeing much eating activity, so I was worried. Here are pics of what the feeders are looking like. They are definitely putting a dent in the FF.

I mixed it all up again so that they can finish it off.

I took more weights from 3 of the broilers and they have gained a little bit of weight. Looks like there is a slight increase of 0.5 to 0.9 oz.

Here are pics of their weights.

The weights are from random broilers that I pick up to get a round about idea of the increase in weight. Starting tomorrow, I will pick 5 different broilers of different sizes and track their weight. I was thinking about either putting different colored zip ties on their feet or spraying their legs very lightly with Blue Kote so that I can easily recognize them from the others. The Blue Kote won't allow me to recognize all 5 individually, so I may have to go with the different colored zip ties.

I'm still trying to figure out the amount of feed that I should be putting in their feeder. I know that some people have their broilers/meat birds on feeding schedules and only put out food 2 times a day. I'm not sure what I should do. Right now they have access 24/7 but I don't see them eating all day.

Other than that, everything is going good so far.

You could put different colored nail polish on their toe nails or a dot on the beak.

 

[Angelicisi]

The 1st week the feeders will look like they're picking at it...then all of the sudden they snap and every trough must be empty lol not sure why, maybe the FF fills them up super fast! Maybe they're too itty bitty the 1st few days...

Hey everyone. Wanted to give a 2 day update on the broilers.

All are doing well. No problems. I'm seeing more pecking at the food, so they are definitely eating. I hadn't been seeing much eating activity, so I was worried. Here are pics of what the feeders are looking like. They are definitely putting a dent in the FF.

I mixed it all up again so that they can finish it off.

I took more weights from 3 of the broilers and they have gained a little bit of weight. Looks like there is a slight increase of 0.5 to 0.9 oz.

Here are pics of their weights.

The weights are from random broilers that I pick up to get a round about idea of the increase in weight. Starting tomorrow, I will pick 5 different broilers of different sizes and track their weight. I was thinking about either putting different colored zip ties on their feet or spraying their legs very lightly with Blue Kote so that I can easily recognize them from the others. The Blue Kote won't allow me to recognize all 5 individually, so I may have to go with the different colored zip ties.

I'm still trying to figure out the amount of feed that I should be putting in their feeder. I know that some people have their broilers/meat birds on feeding schedules and only put out food 2 times a day. I'm not sure what I should do. Right now they have access 24/7 but I don't see them eating all day.

Other than that, everything is going good so far.

 

[Angelicisi]

another thing I've noticed...Water consumption. Even with my dinosaurs right now, not nearly the amount of water drunk as I was reading/warned about.
I have a gallon waterer that up to 4 weeks was a once a day and since then they've been using the auto water cups with a resivore of 20 gallons still haven't made a dent. Even with only 36 or so I was having dreams of dragging 5 gallons out multiple times a day lol.
I think the FF really keeps them hydrated. I also think come summer they'll automatically need more water/ice for heat. But happy that these batches are easier lol

 

[foreverlearning]

The general rule of thumb on feed is full access the first two weeks, 12 on 12 off the next three weeks, then full access for the rest of the time. The reason this is the rule of thumb is because if you allow them to eat 24/7 and don't give them room to roam they develop leg problems. This happens most in the people that raise 100 in a 10'X10' tractor. By ranging them they are exercising their legs and shouldn't have problems as much. Use your best judgement on when or if you need to restrict feed.

 

[kuntrygirl]

You could put different colored nail polish on their toe nails or a dot on the beak.

Great Idea! I will try that. I don't want to keep weighing different broilers and seeing weight gain in random birds when some of them may not be gaining weight like I think. There are a few small ones in the group, so if I'm only picking up the bigger ones, it will appear that all of them are gaining weight rapidly when the smaller ones really aren't. So that would make my experiment null and void because of inaccurate information.

So this is why I want to get a few test subjects/broilers and concentrate just on them specifically. I'm thinking I'll do a Small, Medium and Large group and mark them accordingly with the nail polish. I think I only have red and orange polish. LOL. Perhaps I can do a black markalot on the other one. lol

Thanks for the idea.

 

[Angelicisi]

I've been feeding them 3x's a day to 3 weeks old or so and then 2x's a day after that. But mine range loose during the day so they dig through leaves and get other food stuff I'm sure during the non feed times.

At the moment (6 weeks I think-have to check) they want food no matter what. Tipped a bucket of feed and picked it clean *just 15 minutes before had cleaned 4 full troughs. Lol. Do not leave feed top too loose!
But they're all still gaining weight. I've been nervous waiting for this "flip death" thing or bad hearts or the other stories I read but they're looking good so far

Filled trough they'd clean out in about 15 minutes lol