Arizona Chickens

[kpgoldstar]

What size bags are required to buy from Big Sky? I just may consider it when my girls are ready for layer feed. I use a single bucket for my ff. Since I have a small flock and they are still chicks (14 wks) my bucket is 6 qts and it swells to about 3/4 full with a refreshed batch. That lasts me 4-5 days and I start out with a pretty dry mixture. Toward the end I have a good scoby fermented water to start the next batch. I refresh either in the morning or eve after feeding and the new mixture is fully fermented and ready to feed out in 12 hrs for the next feeding. They get a full ration first thing in the morning, then a small snack of about 1/4 their ration in the eve when they are out to free range. I have had the same bucket since I got my girls at 2 weeks.
Here are some new pics of my girls and our run expansion.

What is left of my spaghetti squash crop after the freeze a couple weeks ago.


My 4 hoodlums trying to figure out how to get to the other side of the fence for succulent lettuce and beets!


The expanded run is the raw pine and cedar portion.


Fuzzy Butts!


My flock getting plenty of grit from an unused overturned garden area!


Best friends just hanging out!

 

[RockNSuccess]

The Great Fermented Feed Incident of 2013

So I am new to the whole fermented feed thing. I have been reading up on it and it sounded like a great idea. So yesterday I grab this 2 gallon plastic jug I have thinking it would be a good place to start.

I go out to the barn throw in about 6 cups of grower and a cup of scratch. Bring it back to the house and fill it about 2/3 with water. I throw in some vinegar (regular because I am out of ACV) and give it a good stir.

A couple hours later I check it and it is a solid mass of feed. Okay, no biggie, I add more water, give it a good stir and leave it to its own devices. A few hours later I check it again. It has absorbed the water and, while not a solid mass anymore, definitely needs a bit more water. I add more until it is covered by an inch, give it a good stir and leave it for the night.

I wake up this morning, go to the kitchen for a peek, and it is filled to the top and bubbling. Okay, well, the bubbling part is good, right? I take a few cups out to the girls, give it a good stir and add a bit more water so it is covered by about an inch.

I go to check on it a bit ago, and, HOLY CRAP! Clearly it is about to make a bid for freedom. Visions of The Blob are racing through my mind. M'kay, obviously it needs more room to grow. I run to the mud room and grab a bucket. Not a whole lot bigger, but bigger than what I was using. Surely it will be big enough, right?.

I take the bucket to the kitchen to transfer the ff. I grab the plastic jug and lift it out of the sink. Splash! It slips out of my hands and goes EVERYWHERE! I kid you not. It is splashed up the walls, down the diswasher and all over my shoes. W T F?, before I can do much more than stare, I realize that the plastic jug is rapidly emptying its contents into the sink. Does this stuff have a life of its own? I swear it winked at me!

I grab the plastic jug and dump what is left into the plastic bucket wondering all the while if my pug, who had been sitting at my feet, is okay or am I going to have to explain to my son how his dog was eaten by a bucket of renegade chicken feed. I scoop as much as I can from the sink before it can completely escape. Okay, I have this under control.

I start hosing down the walls and the sink, but wait, now the sink and garbage disposal are backing up!! Seriously, W T F is this stuff! I hit the disposal button and start spooning out the drain in an attempt to clear the remainder of the feed. Phew, success, the disposal starts to clear and so does the drain. Down goes the rest of without any more struggle.

Yikes, what an ordeal! Moving forward I will use the 5-gallon buckets people on here have described. I also will be walking into my kitchen a baseball bat in the future. I think it is Miller time.

 

[Arizonachicken]

My buttercup laid her first egg today!

She's the only one I have that will lay cream colored eggs. She's just over 6 months. Yay!

 

[chicksurreal]

My buttercup laid her first egg today!

She's the only one I have that will lay cream colored eggs. She's just over 6 months. Yay!

Congratulations!!!!

 

[chicksurreal]

The Great Fermented Feed Incident of 2013

So I am new to the whole fermented feed thing. I have been reading up on it and it sounded like a great idea. So yesterday I grab this 2 gallon plastic jug I have thinking it would be a good place to start.

I go out to the barn throw in about 6 cups of grower and a cup of scratch. Bring it back to the house and fill it about 2/3 with water. I throw in some vinegar (regular because I am out of ACV) and give it a good stir.

A couple hours later I check it and it is a solid mass of feed. Okay, no biggie, I add more water, give it a good stir and leave it to its own devices. A few hours later I check it again. It has absorbed the water and, while not a solid mass anymore, definitely needs a bit more water. I add more until it is covered by an inch, give it a good stir and leave it for the night.

I wake up this morning, go to the kitchen for a peek, and it is filled to the top and bubbling. Okay, well, the bubbling part is good, right? I take a few cups out to the girls, give it a good stir and add a bit more water so it is covered by about an inch.

I go to check on it a bit ago, and, HOLY CRAP! Clearly it is about to make a bid for freedom. Visions of The Blob are racing through my mind. M'kay, obviously it needs more room to grow. I run to the mud room and grab a bucket. Not a whole lot bigger, but bigger than what I was using. Surely it will be big enough, right?.

I take the bucket to the kitchen to transfer the ff. I grab the plastic jug and lift it out of the sink. Splash! It slips out of my hands and goes EVERYWHERE!

I kid you not. It is splashed up the walls, down the diswasher and all over my shoes. W T F?, before I can do much more than stare, I realize that the plastic jug is rapidly emptying its contents into the sink. Does this stuff have a life of its own? I swear it winked at me!

I grab the plastic jug and dump what is left into the plastic bucket wondering all the while if my pug, who had been sitting at my feet, is okay or am I going to have to explain to my son how his dog was eaten by a bucket of renegade chicken feed. I scoop as much as I can from the sink before it can completely escape. Okay, I have this under control.

I start hosing down the walls and the sink, but wait, now the sink and garbage disposal are backing up!! Seriously, W T F is this stuff! I hit the disposal button and start spooning out the drain in an attempt to clear the remainder of the feed. Phew, success, the disposal starts to clear and so does the drain. Down goes the rest of without any more struggle.

Yikes, what an ordeal! Moving forward I will use the 5-gallon buckets people on here have described. I also will be walking into my kitchen a baseball bat in the future. I think it is Miller time.

Oh, wow. Lol!

 

[CrazyChixLady]

The Great Fermented Feed Incident of 2013

So I am new to the whole fermented feed thing. I have been reading up on it and it sounded like a great idea. So yesterday I grab this 2 gallon plastic jug I have thinking it would be a good place to start.

I go out to the barn throw in about 6 cups of grower and a cup of scratch. Bring it back to the house and fill it about 2/3 with water. I throw in some vinegar (regular because I am out of ACV) and give it a good stir.

A couple hours later I check it and it is a solid mass of feed. Okay, no biggie, I add more water, give it a good stir and leave it to its own devices. A few hours later I check it again. It has absorbed the water and, while not a solid mass anymore, definitely needs a bit more water. I add more until it is covered by an inch, give it a good stir and leave it for the night.

I wake up this morning, go to the kitchen for a peek, and it is filled to the top and bubbling. Okay, well, the bubbling part is good, right? I take a few cups out to the girls, give it a good stir and add a bit more water so it is covered by about an inch.

I go to check on it a bit ago, and, HOLY CRAP! Clearly it is about to make a bid for freedom. Visions of The Blob are racing through my mind. M'kay, obviously it needs more room to grow. I run to the mud room and grab a bucket. Not a whole lot bigger, but bigger than what I was using. Surely it will be big enough, right?.

I take the bucket to the kitchen to transfer the ff. I grab the plastic jug and lift it out of the sink. Splash! It slips out of my hands and goes EVERYWHERE! I kid you not. It is splashed up the walls, down the diswasher and all over my shoes. W T F?, before I can do much more than stare, I realize that the plastic jug is rapidly emptying its contents into the sink. Does this stuff have a life of its own? I swear it winked at me!

I grab the plastic jug and dump what is left into the plastic bucket wondering all the while if my pug, who had been sitting at my feet, is okay or am I going to have to explain to my son how his dog was eaten by a bucket of renegade chicken feed. I scoop as much as I can from the sink before it can completely escape. Okay, I have this under control.

I start hosing down the walls and the sink, but wait, now the sink and garbage disposal are backing up!! Seriously, W T F is this stuff! I hit the disposal button and start spooning out the drain in an attempt to clear the remainder of the feed. Phew, success, the disposal starts to clear and so does the drain. Down goes the rest of without any more struggle.

Yikes, what an ordeal! Moving forward I will use the 5-gallon buckets people on here have described. I also will be walking into my kitchen a baseball bat in the future. I think it is Miller time.

The picture I put together while reading is too funny. I needed a laugh buy hey you live and you learn right.....

 

[Timskins]

What size bags are required to buy from Big Sky? I just may consider it when my girls are ready for layer feed. I use a single bucket for my ff. Since I have a small flock and they are still chicks (14 wks) my bucket is 6 qts and it swells to about 3/4 full with a refreshed batch. That lasts me 4-5 days and I start out with a pretty dry mixture. Toward the end I have a good scoby fermented water to start the next batch. I refresh either in the morning or eve after feeding and the new mixture is fully fermented and ready to feed out in 12 hrs for the next feeding. They get a full ration first thing in the morning, then a small snack of about 1/4 their ration in the eve when they are out to free range. I have had the same bucket since I got my girls at 2 weeks. Here are some new pics of my girls and our run expansion. What is left of my spaghetti squash crop after the freeze a couple weeks ago. My 4 hoodlums trying to figure out how to get to the other side of the fence for succulent lettuce and beets! The expanded run is the raw pine and cedar portion. Fuzzy Butts! My flock getting plenty of grit from an unused overturned garden area! Best friends just hanging out!

The bags are all 50lbs.

 

[mom-to-5]

Thanks for the suggestion everyone! I watered the feed, and it did take a bit of water and my girls gobbled it up after just a few minutes of staring at it wondering what it was they dove in.
Yeah! No more waisted feed.
I think I will be trying the FF thing soon but keeping in mind the larger bucket...that was a good laugh RockN!!
Thanks again!

 

[kacklinkelly]

I have been away for a few days and am glad to be caught up on posts. Looks like lots of exciting things going on around here. Thank you for the Merry Christmas wishes. We were in Disneyland for 2 days with our grandson and ONE employee said Merry Christmas. (well, technically, Christmas was over. We got there on the 26th) There were lots decorations and It looked very festive.

Congrats LKD on your new babies - they are adorable.

Demo, your detailed explanations have been most helpful to me. Your straight forward approach has made me realize that I am perfectly capable of doing the things that I thought were too "involved" You have a great way of breaking things down into bite size pieces and I appreciate that.

We are thankful for the ability to have spent fun time as a family and even more happy to be back home. It may be my imagination, but I think our girls missed us

. For animals that don't like being petted, I have two that jumped into my lap this morning and were positioning for the best petting spot. Our Black Australorp is just the most interesting. She jumps right up for a little conversation and a few rubs on her chest. Then she's off to tell the others about it. Our Easter Egger has a new trick. My DH told me she jumped on our dogs back last week. He couldn't get it on video. Today she did it again and I got to see it. Our sherphard/collie was less than thrilled. Have to get the video ready next time.

Well, wishing everyone a Blessed Holiday Season and the Happiest New Year.

 

[Chickeneggineer]

Quote:
Thanks for the info! My daughter will be overjoyed when I do get them in.