BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Fire Ant Farm]

Yep, those are the same prices here at the feed stores. Gosh, two 40 lb bags of Nutrena Meatbird feed cost me $52 the other day. The Starter-Grower runs $20. I haven't priced the Gamebird feed and I only saw a 5 lb bag which I'm sure is astronomically high. I'll look for the 40 or 50 lb bag when I go there next time and report back. But yeah, I can't believe there's no feed containing animal protein - I haven't been able to find any that had it either. I'm certainly no scientist but if you ask me it's an essential ingredient based on the way they go hog wild whenever I bring any type of real meat, bugs, or trapped (dead) mice into the run. They're worse than people from my hometown at the lottery counter when the jackpot is over a million dollars.

Mine go berserk whenever I give them meat protein.

Quote: Hard to beat fresh (esp. with animal protein) - I wish I needed enough feed to have it custom milled - just not in that boat right now.

Quote: Well, I'm glad you have the flexibility to take care of them if you need to. Also glad to hear you have a supportive neighbor - that's like gold!

(I think I'm convinced to go find some ground pork sometime soon - Mystique has started molting - later than everyone else, of course. She's starting to look awful...)

Quote:
I tried organic, and I also tried Non-GMO (that's how I get stuff for myself, after all). The chickens wouldn't eat it. Tried several brands - good ones. I really don't believe they were just being picky. In the end, I figured out that because the organic/non-gmo stuff was more expensive, it was therefore not as fresh as the stuff with frequent turnover. I even had to return a bag once - it was a good company - just couldn't easily get fresh stuff. If I could get stuff fresh milled like DesertChic, I would totally do it. It would need to have animal protein in it, though. Feather Fixer is working well for now, though (with the supplements - BOSS a few times a week year round, and lately, cat food every couple days).

Meanwhile, I got a headache trying to shop for kitten food today. @Kev , I'm not a member at CostCo or Sams (never felt like I got my membership money's worth) - is the brand you got proprietary, or something I could look for elsewhere?

(Gotta get me some ground pork!!!!)

- Ant Farm

 

[FaerieChicken]

Mine go berserk whenever I give them meat protein.
Hard to beat fresh (esp. with animal protein) - I wish I needed enough feed to have it custom milled - just not in that boat right now.

Well, I'm glad you have the flexibility to take care of them if you need to. Also glad to hear you have a supportive neighbor - that's like gold!

(I think I'm convinced to go find some ground pork sometime soon - Mystique has started molting - later than everyone else, of course. She's starting to look awful...)


I tried organic, and I also tried Non-GMO (that's how I get stuff for myself, after all). The chickens wouldn't eat it. Tried several brands - good ones. I really don't believe they were just being picky. In the end, I figured out that because the organic/non-gmo stuff was more expensive, it was therefore not as fresh as the stuff with frequent turnover. I even had to return a bag once - it was a good company - just couldn't easily get fresh stuff. If I could get stuff fresh milled like DesertChic, I would totally do it. It would need to have animal protein in it, though. Feather Fixer is working well for now, though (with the supplements - BOSS a few times a week year round, and lately, cat food every couple days).

Meanwhile, I got a headache trying to shop for kitten food today. @Kev , I'm not a member at CostCo or Sams (never felt like I got my membership money's worth) - is the brand you got proprietary, or something I could look for elsewhere?

(Gotta get me some ground pork!!!!)

- Ant Farm

My DH works at a not-so-fast restaurant chain, Baja Fresh, and they trim the meat before cooking. He is able to bring home the trim and cook it up for the chooks, and dogs...cats too! I am wondering if we should just give it raw, is raw better for them?

Maybe you could go to your local restaurants and ask if they would be willing to give you the trim, as they would just toss it anyway~!

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Quote:
How awesome! Not sure if I can swing that, worth a look...

I DID have the same question, anyone - raw or cooked?

- Ant Farm

 

[ejcrist]

How awesome! Not sure if I can swing that, worth a look...

I DID have the same question, anyone - raw or cooked?

- Ant Farm

I give the ground pork to mine raw. I've given them cooked pork before and they loved it too but they definitely prefer the raw ground best. Maybe it's just because they're more familiar with it but they'll run me over to get to it.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Quote:
I'm totally going to try this!!!! Thanks!

 

[FaerieChicken]

I give the ground pork to mine raw. I've given them cooked pork before and they loved it too but they definitely prefer the raw ground best. Maybe it's just because they're more familiar with it but they'll run me over to get to it.

I wouldn't think that Pork raw is good to give because of the parasites in their blood....

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

What is considered a reasonable price for ground pork? (It's been so long since I've bought meat in the grocery store!!!)

- Ant Farm

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Quote:
It's in their muscles - trichinosis. But the pork supply in the US is trichinosis free now. That's an old issue from a few generations ago...

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

That being said, I wouldn't feed feral hog/wild boar or javelina raw, and definitely not bear meat. Regular old US agricultural pork doesn't have this issue any more.

 

[FaerieChicken]

That being said, I wouldn't feed feral hog/wild boar or javelina raw, and definitely not bear meat. Regular old US agricultural pork doesn't have this issue any more.

Bear? Why not Bear, how about Venison? Or Elk?