Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[bnjrob]

Food question for you experienced people - I'm a newbie - am waiting for my call from the breeder that my Java chicks have hatched and are ready for me to pick up...

In researching, I noticed that the ALBC recommended that "Heritage Breeds" get fed a ration that has 28% protein for the first 16-18 weeks, like a game bird starter. They said that Heritage chicks needed more protein than commercial chickens.

Regular chicken commercial feed is around 20%.

Do you guys feed the 28% protein diet to your chicks, use the commercial "regular" starter with the lower protein level, make your own????

 

[NYREDS]

I feed a high protein feed but not that high.
I used to feed starter then grower then layer like most people do. A number of years ago I visited one of the best Black Rosecomb Bantams in the country. His birds are always in perfect condition with amazing feather quality. He told me he feeds a 22% game bird grower from hatch on. He never changes feed. One of the benefits he reported beyond the fact his birds did well on the feed was the simplicity of only having to deal with one feed.
I switched to the same feeding program & would never switch back. My birds grow well, feather quickly, lay well & are healthy. The simplicity is a bonus. If I'm away at a show my wife feeds for me. She used to have to make notes on which pen gets which feed. Now there's only one feed.

Food question for you experienced people - I'm a newbie - am waiting for my call from the breeder that my Java chicks have hatched and are ready for me to pick up...

In researching, I noticed that the ALBC recommended that "Heritage Breeds" get fed a ration that has 28% protein for the first 16-18 weeks, like a game bird starter. They said that Heritage chicks needed more protein than commercial chickens.

Regular chicken commercial feed is around 20%.

Do you guys feed the 28% protein diet to your chicks, use the commercial "regular" starter with the lower protein level, make your own????

 

[Robert Blosl]

All the good or top large fowl breeders that I know today or interviewed years ago did not do this. I give mine a game bird starter made in Georgia by a Company called Flint River Mills. FRM feed has the best grains that he can buy in his region and he is a good mixer of feeds. I start my large fowl and Red Bantams out with FRM Game Bird Starter and or Standard chick starter. It is about 20% protein and its medicated that is more important than % of protein. Then when they are about four months old I switch them off to a feed called FRM Show bird a new feed with Mara gold Extract in it. This is new but this stuff will help the leg color of the birds.

I give my breeders a feed called FRM Game Bird Pellets and it is 20% protein.

One thing I learned about 30 years ago in Body Building you can take in all this extra protein but the human body can only digest so much and the rest is waisted. The same goes for chickens. 20% is about all they can absorb the rest goes out in manure.

I have seen guys give large fowl 28% turkey grower their birds are huge but it burns up their guts and they can not reproduce.

So Heritage or production feed store birds not much difference give them at least 15% protein as layers and 20% for young chicks and make sure its medicated. Fresh water every day and lots of room to grow. Free range is tops unless you have hawk or dog or varmint issues.

Hope this helps you. Now find a good ration for your young bird and put a finish on the young chicks. bob

 

[X2Farm]

Question, Bob... why medicated? I raised well over 200 chicks on the non-medicated and didn't see any difference vs a few I had raised on medicated. Shouldn't breeding strong birds not succeptable(sp?) to things such as cocciodosis be part of the breeding program?

 

[bnjrob]

Good to know, and simple - simple is good Thanks!

 

[Chris09]

Food question for you experienced people - I'm a newbie - am waiting for my call from the breeder that my Java chicks have hatched and are ready for me to pick up...

In researching, I noticed that the ALBC recommended that "Heritage Breeds" get fed a ration that has 28% protein for the first 16-18 weeks, like a game bird starter. They said that Heritage chicks needed more protein than commercial chickens.

Regular chicken commercial feed is around 20%.

Do you guys feed the 28% protein diet to your chicks, use the commercial "regular" starter with the lower protein level, make your own????

I don't know any breeder of "Heritage Fowl" that uses a 28% protein feed, that is just plain way to much protein for them.

I recently changed my feed recipe around a bit last year but always fed less than a 22% protein.
This is the protein amount in the feed I mix.

Chick Starter - 21.5% protein (for first 4 weeks of life)
Grower - 18.5% protein (from 4 weeks to laying)
Layer/Breeder - 19.7 % protein


Chris

 

[bnjrob]

Fortunately I still have time to check out what brands and types of chicken rations are readily available where I am.

For their safety, our chickens will be housed in tractors with enclosed runs and moved around on our 5 acres of pasture. Not only do we have coyotes that are unafraid of our big dogs, but both hawks and owls frequent our place out here in the country. Between them and the snakes, the rodent population isn't too bad, but I'm sure they would like nothing more than chicken dinner if they could get it.

 

[bnjrob]

Thanks for the time frames you gave, every little bit of info helps.

I am worried a bit about too much protein stressing their kidneys. My husband is actually a veterinarian, but not a poultry vet, and he got VERY little poultry medicine in his classes in vet school. He said he thinks they touched on poultry for about an hour in one class, talking about vaccinations. Apparently they didn't even give them a poultry textbook to read or I would have dug it out and read through it. So we have been debating this subject the last couple of days.

 

[catdaddyfro]

All the good or top large fowl breeders that I know today or interviewed years ago did not do this. I give mine a game bird starter made in Georgia by a Company called Flint River Mills. FRM feed has the best grains that he can buy in his region and he is a good mixer of feeds. I start my large fowl and Red Bantams out with FRM Game Bird Starter and or Standard chick starter. It is about 20% protein and its medicated that is more important than % of protein. Then when they are about four months old I switch them off to a feed called FRM Show bird a new feed with Mara gold Extract in it. This is new but this stuff will help the leg color of the birds.

I give my breeders a feed called FRM Game Bird Pellets and it is 20% protein.

One thing I learned about 30 years ago in Body Building you can take in all this extra protein but the human body can only digest so much and the rest is waisted. The same goes for chickens. 20% is about all they can absorb the rest goes out in manure.

I have seen guys give large fowl 28% turkey grower their birds are huge but it burns up their guts and they can not reproduce.

So Heritage or production feed store birds not much difference give them at least 15% protein as layers and 20% for young chicks and make sure its medicated. Fresh water every day and lots of room to grow. Free range is tops unless you have hawk or dog or varmint issues.

Hope this helps you. Now find a good ration for your young bird and put a finish on the young chicks. bob

I totally agree with this post here I'll add to it just a little in my part about the excess protein too, not only does it do no good but it hinders the growth of the bird because of the energy used as the body is having to rid itself of such an overload, kinda a double edged sword. There is a place where too much of something is a bad thing, hard on the birds and harder on your pocket book too. LOL

Jeff

 

[Robert Blosl]

Why medicated feed from day old chicks to say three months it was Cocidious. I have had a couple of fellows who did not do it and ended up with loosing over half of their birds. One guy drove 400 miles one way to get 4 dozen Colombian Plymouth rock eggs from Canada. He hatched I think about 30 chicks then they started dieing. He ended up afterwords with about 6 birds.
r.
Another friend got some free feed broiler type and did it then he lost almost half of his chicks for the year.
s
I am a big be leaver of the Fit of the Fittest Principle but I have always given my c hicks medicated feed.

I have heard guys giving o.onLy one feed for their birds.

I kind of do that with the FRM game bird pellets. I start them on that as soon as I think their immune system is ready

New York Reds. Is your feed medicated for the chicks?

Is it a crumble or pellet?

Does it have Cali cum for egg building during breeding season?

Do you give Oyster Shell as a supplement?

Thanks for the post. bob