I know this has been answered but I can't find it.
Can you use layer crumbles to ferment? How about feed mill layer food, its nothing like store brought layer food. The consistency is more like crushed bird seed.
You sure can. You can ferment any feed ration you may have or design. I like the rations that are 50% milled layer and 50% mixed whole grains the best and this is what I normally feed in the winter months to cut costs. It has a better consistency, drains off easily if needed and seems to keep them fuller for longer...more content, somehow, then feeding 100% layer.
Question for a friend:
She received 13 free BOs in July from a friend of my dad's. I didn't want to mess with flock mixing, and I'm glad I didn't. Her birds are supposed to be less than a year old (probably a year old now though) and they've hardly laid since she got them. The most she's ever gotten were 4 or 5 eggs - and then back down to the usual 1-2 eggs. Recently, she's down to one layer, she can tell by the egg that it's the same hen laying every day, but has no idea which hen is laying it. She's ready to cull and get chicks in the spring, and I think she may take my little cockerel that just hatched. She's planning to cull only the birds with pale combs, and let the "healthy looking ones" stay on for winter, then see whether the laying picks up in spring. They haven't molted either, so the age estimate is probably right I'm thinking. I'm sure these are hatchery birds. They look nothing like dragon lady's!
Suggestions that I can pass along to her about choosing which birds to cull? I'm afraid she's going to kill her one and only layer if she doesn't separate them into dog crates or something to narrow it down. Hopefully BOs taste good!
This is never a good time of year to cull for laying. I agree that she should have more laying as this is their first year but then...they are BOs and aren't exactly super dooper layer breeds when bought from hatchery stock.
Tell her not to cull any until around March, if this is her chosen breed. By the middle or the end of March all birds who are laying, should be laying. If they are not laying by that time, it is likely they will never be good, consistent layers and need to be culled.
She might want to explore why she is keeping chickens and then choose breeds that are optimal for that purpose. If it's for a hobby that produces a few eggs for consumption needs, then hatchery BOs may fulfill her needs, though she may not be satisfied with their overall hardiness and production levels.
If it's for eggs and meat as a side effect of extra roos or retired hens, there are better breeds for a first timer to have that will be easier to manage and yield more of what she wants. Could be she will want to order a more likely breed for this when she orders.
This is an interesting observation. We hear about the national crisis of childhood obesity, how children today have such a high intake of sugary foods, and that the onset of puberty begins at younger and earlier ages. For a parallel in the animal world, it makes sense that if you reduce the sugar intake for chickens, you will delay the maturity of the chickens and the chickens will begin to lay later.
We have RIR, and thanks to this thread, they have been on the FF for 2 months, or so. They are approx. 20 weeks and have not begun to lay, but are healthy and happy, and eat really very little feed. They roam our yard, and are outside all the time. Here, in temperate So. CA, the worst we get is a little rain, and they love being outside in the rain, eating all the worms and bugs. I am content to have healthy chickens that will have a later onset of lay, and nominal feed costs!
I noticed that as well and was completely satisfied that the hens would mature more slowly as well. I know to folks waiting on their first egg slow maturity is agony but it is healthier for the chicken and will keep her in the production flock longer.
I feel good about doing the ff. I am using a little less feed, not quite 30 % less but noticeable. My chickens are c onsistant layers and healthy and active. They have missed a respitory illness they were exposed to recently and only 1 or two have messy bottoms, but its not very messy only a little bit. My chicken poo is nice and firm with none of the flock leaving messy poo. This is the biggest difference I've noticed. Before ff the majority had wet poo. The chickens are hatchery so after seeing all the beautiful chicken pictures I'm a little dejected on how mine look overall. I am on a dusty road and the run is dusty so I dont notice the shine as much but they are always dust bathing too. Their colors are brighter and their eyes are also bright. The eggs are heavy with very solid shells. Some people tell me they have a hard time breaking my eggs because the shells are so hard. The yolks are large and bright orange with firmness. The whites dont run.
I have 23 chickens now and 2 roos. I get 14-17 eggs per day. I have one young leghorn that stopped laying and never started again. Two old girls that nearly stopped laying when the temp dropped and I see 1 -2 eggs each a week from them. One has a very pale comb and has had a pale comb since I got her. Those three are my problem girls but they are active and healthy otherwise.
My biggest complaint is my BO, Honey, and one of my PR have a bald saddle area that has been like that for about a month. The PR is not getting better and growing in at all and the BO is growing in but super slow.
Over all the advise I've gotten from BEE and Bruce and Al and others has helped me stave off the problems my friends seem to be having. I walked my friend's coop the other day. She has a heat lamp to keep the water from freezing and at this time keeps the windows closed too much. We talked about ways to predator proof the windows and leaving them open all the time. We also talked about a crock pot to keep the water from freezing because the coop is too warm. I also made a diagram and copied Bruce's recipe for ff. She has had one sick chick and a respitory problem this fall. Sick chick is her problem and we plan to cull this month if no serious improvement. She used antibiotics to cure the respitory thing and it made sick chick worse. I think sick chick has a yeast infection in her body. So ff will help her a lot once she gets it up and running. My other friend is adding another 50 to her flock because she cannot supply enough eggs to her markets. She will end up with 100 chickens. She likes her naked neck the best, a daily layer. She has a varmit stealing eggs and cannot catch him. She has caught a bunch of birds and squirrels though. She is getting her new chickens from Murry Mcmurry hatchery. She doesnt do anything do assist diet except organic feed. She sells her eggs to organic markets and farmers markets. She would really benefit from ff but does not seem to be interested.
I'm really glad that there was not a serious outbreak of the chickens...I forgot whose they were but I was pulling for you on that!
L
Folks get used to a certain way of doing things and they don't want to change anything. It's sufficient for them and that's enough. To me it's like being able to buy premium, high octane gas for my car for the same price as regular. Who in the world wouldn't want the high octane?
But some people don't like change and some folks feel that their methods simply cannot be improved upon. To me, there is always room to learn and improve
any animal husbandry method...I'm always searching for ways to improve what I already do and have, within the bounds of my budget.
Just like something as simple as using ACV in the water some of the time vs. using it all the time...that little move improved my egg's overall taste and clarity and my regular customers commented on it. My eggs were always good enough but that one little move put them over the top for taste and people could tell the difference, though I had not told them to expect a change. I didn't even know it could change things that drastically but was pleasantly surprised at the feedback and with my own impression of the improved flavor of the eggs.
It's those little things and improvements that, costing little money but yielding big rewards, that I love to add to my husbandry.
Some who are set in their ways will never try anything different and so will never see if it could change things...if good is good enough for them, then it just is. Simple enough and it is in their comfort zone...some folks have big difficulty moving out of that comfort zone.