Arizona Chickens

[Arizonachicken]

CITY FARM, I still have a few. Some broken, some disappeared. I had taken care of my mother for 5 years, then I could not handle it any longer. It is a very long story....... my nephew came here to SCW, and we lived in the same condo for a little over a year. He is still taking care of her.

Thanks. I have issues......

You made those? They're fabulous!

 

[flower]

Chickens love mice, if they can catch them.


Cool, I just noticed the problem so hopefully they will take care of it. I am seeing them mostly at night when they sleep though. Between the mice and the sparrows, I go through a lot of food!

When I find and entrance to a mice burrow, I flood it with the water from the hose and the chickens go crazy catching the mice as the scurry for safety. I read on another site that if a dead rodent is left in that burrow, all the mice will relocate. It is a constant battle to rid the coop of freeloaders. It would be ideal to be able to feed the chickens once or twice a day.

 

[kevs-chickadees]

i wanted to chime in on fermented feed. i read the same thread and parts of that blog and feed my chickens ff as well. nothing but good results here, their molt seemed less stressful and their feathers look very vibrant. i also feed a little in the morning and in the afternoon with less overall grain/scratch total and all the birds are well fed and growing. the yolks are actually much bigger, and more round - my friends have even commented on that. i encourage everyone to scan the info and see if it will work for your particular needs.

I started doing this but I don't know if I was having any luck. I know they would gobble it up but I wasn't sure if any of the fermenting was taking place. Is there a certain temperature that it needs to be kept at? I believe the blog said "warm" but what does one consider warm?

 

[City farm]

I first read about fermenting chicken feed here https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/644300/fermenting-feed-for-meat-birds

This blog has a page with a good summary for beginners if you don't want to wade through the long thread, tho it does have a lot of good info. http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/p/fermented-feed.html

In a nutshell you moisten the feed with water and add either unpasturized apple cider vinegar with it's mother or some whey from yogurt. The bacteria sort of predigest the food and in the process make some nutrients more available. The bacteria are also good for the gut and help with the digestive process, which also increases the amount of nutrients available to the bird. Folks are reporting reduced feed usage on average about one fourth to one third the usual amount.  ***You leave some feed in the bucket to innoculate the next batch, so normally you do not have to keep adding the whey or vinegar each time. After awhile your bucket of fermenting feed will smell like vinegar and the longer you keep it going the better it seems to get.

Fermented feed reduces pasty butt and cocci in chicks. It eliminates the diarrhea and stench of CornishX meat chicks. People are reporting an increase in the size of the egg yolk and many will be keeping records this spring to see if bigger yolks lead to bigger chicks.

Being moist it is harder for the birds to scratch the feed out of the feeder so less is wasted. Being moist also means that the finer bits swell up and stick together so they get eaten too.

You can ferment any kind of feed or grain.

Some chickens can be reluctent to eat it in the beginning, but if that is the only thing offered they will eat it at least in a day or two and after that they are pigs at the trough. I have birds swarming me when I open the gate, jumping into the bucket before I get all the way into the pen, even tho there is a little bit of feed left in the trough from the day before. My chicks get it from the first day.
Thank you so much!! I am excited to do this..

 

[City farm]

I have to say...LOL With all this talk of sparrows, I love sparrows. They actually make the best pets if you get them when they are young, imprint on them and hand tame them. I know, unbelievable but true. I had one I rescued and syringed fed that would sleep in my silk tree at night, full set of wings so he could fly. He would only go to the places in the house I exposed him to when young, never any other rooms or places. Never would he land on the kitchen counter, I didn't show him that it OK when young. When I had food he would sit on my shoulder staring at my mouth waiting for me to share. He was so interactive and moody at times because I didn't know the rules, sparrow bird rules. Like he has to be in his 'night night' spot at dusk. He would have a hissy fit if the door to the bedroom was closed because he slept in our bedroom at night. He would throw a fit until I opened the door. He sat with me in the evenings when I watched TV. I would sit with this pink pillow on my lap, my dog on one side and my sparrow on the other. It was so funny, they would spat about each staying on their side...LOL It was the coolest pet! I don't have him anymore, he got loose outside one day. He was in heat and mad at me because I wouldn't get in his nest (thought I was his mate) so he followed me out the door to chase after me. I know, weird. They are a crazy pet but fun when they are hand tamed. Wow love it... We had some family members find some ground squirrels.. They loved having the one that survived.. They would take it to Mexico & let it run in the sand.. They to took photos as well.. So cool.. <img alt="Sleep on your own side!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/content/type/61/id/5359467/

 

[MagicChicken]

Quote:
I started mine a few weeks ago in my kitchen, which is between 65 and 68 degrees this time of year. It took almost a week for the fermentation to get going to the bubbly point but it's been perking steadily ever since. Should be much faster in the warm summer temps. I've been fermenting feed in 1 quart yogurt cups (2 cup system - one with holes containing feed set into a cup without holes containing the fermentation liquid). It's been working great. I'm just using it to supplement their regular feed, since I had some feed they didn't like that I didn't want to go to waste. They won't eat it plain but they gobble it up when it's fermented.

 

[City farm]

I started doing this but I don't know if I was having any luck. I know they would gobble it up but I wasn't sure if any of the fermenting was taking place. Is there a certain temperature that it needs to be kept at? I believe the blog said "warm" but what does one consider warm?

Good question... Possibly 80'???

 

[parentwarrior]

OH!!!!! I would love a pet squirrel. That sound so cool! The trick is to get the wild animals young enough to imprint on them from my experience. I have rescued other birds but none have been as tame as my first guy. I think he was a gift from up above meant just for me.

 

[notinoz2007]

Quote:
if it smells sour it is fermenting. i thought i did mine wrong but the posters on the thread encouraged me to keep at it and it has paid off. i even started a bucket for my moms chickens. i kept mine outside until last week when i started a bigger bucket and did it inside. it took about 4 days to get nicely fermented, and that was in my heated kitchen. i'm not sure what "warm" is, but i think once it ferments it always will be, even through freezing temperatures (if i read correctly)

 

[flower]

I started doing this but I don't know if I was having any luck. I know they would gobble it up but I wasn't sure if any of the fermenting was taking place. Is there a certain temperature that it needs to be kept at? I believe the blog said "warm" but what does one consider warm?

It took three weeks or more in my cool house to get the brew to be nice a fruity smelling. But now it is working just fine and I keep adding to it to make sure that I have some in the pot.