Consolidated Kansas

[CHIKENROOKIE]

@ Prairie Fleur,

I will try and take some more pics, different angles for you and post them, or pm you.

Someone asked, forgot who, if this was pallets.....yes, as well as a large crate that housed a transmission for the dump trucks in a mine. My bro in law has a nearly endless supply for me, its me lacking the time to create things. Right now am building a bathroom vanity out of reclaimed wood for


Another pic, dif angle taken same time as last pic.

 

[Trish44]

Quote:Originally Posted by chicken danz

I made a couple of the wreaths Trish posted about. Trouble was though they fell apart when I tried hanging them . I may have needed more gelatin. As it was I just took chunks of them and put them in the various pens. I used peanut butter instead of grease and the birds loved it. Turned out cute though. If I try it again I may change things so they will be more solid. As I said earlier I made too much so I put one in an angel food cake pan instead of a bundt pan.

danz those are cute! I wonder if the peanut butter is what made them too crumbly instead of holding together. I'll bet the birds loved them though. I still would like to make some, i just haven't had the chance yet. Yesterday we were in OKC seeing my son, grandson, & fiancee & took the girls down with us. We finally got to have our Christmas, it was hard to schedule this year.

zigzag, no the Cinnamon Queens I raised didn't have that much white on them, that's a pretty bird. Yeah she got the front row seat didn't she, I have some that do that when I'm feeding chick starter. With fermented feed it's a balance with the liquid, you want it wet enough not to turn to cement when it soaks up but not too runny. My birds don't like the food when it gets too runny. They will eat it but not as vigorously as when it's a bit firmer. I put both my layer feed & scratch in my FF. I don't even really worry too much about the vinegar any more, it seems to do all right after awhile without it.

ChickenRookie you are so lucky with that supply of building materials. I would give anything to have a source for some cheap or free materials. I'm always needing something to build or fix something with & I have to go scrounging. I love that little coop, it's so charming. I've joined this group on FB who upcycle pallets & boy do they make some nice things with them. I love seeing the pics of their finished projects.

I was thinking of moving my young Jubilee pullets in with the rooster today but got side tracked moving hay from the goat pen they had stepped on to one of my chicken pens outside. After the hay hits the ground they just waste it, they won't eat it so I figured I might as well use it as bedding & for the birds to scratch through than just throw it away. I wish I had a better feeder solution for the goats especially because they're way more wasteful than the sheep. I saw this feeder made out of a 30 gallon trash can with a hole cut out where they eat towards the bottom but you would have to hook it to the fence or they would just knock it over. I may try that if I can get another one of the Rubbermaid cans with a lid cheaper. We have a Rubbermaid store here since we have the plant. It's just a matter of getting over there when they're open.

 

[chicken danz]

Trish I used a hog panel wrapped in a circle for hay that held it and they could only get it by pulling it out. You could set the bales on a pallet to keep them off the ground. We actually had ours suspended a foot or so above the ground but that took a lot of bracing you probably don't want to mess with. I literally made our hay last 10 times longer. We had round bales but you could do the same thing with square bales by building a frame work just big enough for the bale to sit in so they have to eat through the holes. We used the big holes on the panels toward the bottom so they could eat through them, then as they ate the bales would slowly slide down lower. We never had a caught horn or anything either. I wish we still had it up so I could take a picture and show you. We kept a tarp over the top so it stayed dry.
No Trish the peanut butter is actually thicker than the grease. I used to make suet cakes and stopped using lard or grease cause the peanut butter worked better and the birds liked it better. I bought the huge industrial size at Walmart cause it was so much cheaper that buying jars. I think I was just too short on the gelatin. Like I said I got carried away and mixed up way too much. I probably should have added even more grain and seeds because I never used gelatin in the suet cakes and they never fell apart. But there is absolutely no trace of anything left. Those birds devoured that stuff instantly. I might do it again and just make a big cake pan full of it and cut it in squares so I can give the birds some in every pen. The peafowl and turkeys didn't get any of this last batch. I had a bunch of raisins that I added to the mix and a lot of fancy seeds. They really ate those up in a hurry. And they loved the cranberries. They're a bit too pricy to feed on a regular basis though. It actually took no time at all to put them together. What took time was letting them chill and harden. I just put them in a seat outside that has a lid rather than taking refrigerator space.

 

[zigzag45]

@Trish44 -- Yes, mine is like cement right now. I used crumble, I read that others prefer to use pellets. I'm out of scratch but have some old wheat berries that don't work for cooking so I have thrown some of those in there. On the moisture level, I read that I want to have the grains/feed covered with the water, don't let it soak in to where the top is showing. I have some ACV in it now as well as kefir whey - that should be plenty of cultures.

What I'm not picturing is how you keep it from getting to watery while still keeping it covered. Also, this is a dumb question, what do you use to scoop it out with? My hands get covered in the stuff, something like a huge ladle?

 

[chicken danz]

Zig I used to feed fermented feed all the time. When I initially mixed it each day there was water on top. Maybe a half inch or so. But by the next day it had all soaked up in the grain. It only took about 24 hours before it was fermented from beginning the process. The cider vinegar would reproduce itself in the mix. I had a big scoop I picked up that I scooped mine out with and the excess moisture just ran out. It worked great. I used to feed so much of it I mixed it in a 55 gallon barrel. But I had problems keeping it working in winter due to freezing so I quit. I may go back to it someday cause I did like how the birds did on it and there was less waste.
Here is one similar:
http://www.amazon.com/Miller-M90B-Plastic-Feed-Scoop/dp/B00DMDP7MI

 

[Trish44]

@Trish44 -- Yes, mine is like cement right now. I used crumble, I read that others prefer to use pellets. I'm out of scratch but have some old wheat berries that don't work for cooking so I have thrown some of those in there. On the moisture level, I read that I want to have the grains/feed covered with the water, don't let it soak in to where the top is showing. I have some ACV in it now as well as kefir whey - that should be plenty of cultures.

What I'm not picturing is how you keep it from getting to watery while still keeping it covered. Also, this is a dumb question, what do you use to scoop it out with? My hands get covered in the stuff, something like a huge ladle?

I use layer pellets in mine because they take a bit longer to break down & give the mix some more substance it seems like. We have been putting enough water to cover & then let it sit overnight because we mix ours up for the next day the night before. Then in the morning when my DH feeds, later morning anyway, he adds a little water if needed if it's too hard & I do the same when I'm feeding. You don't want it so stiff you can't work with it but not too runny either. I have a big ladle thing I got when we were at a cooking utensil store in KC last time that we use. The one I had was great, it had holes in it but this one is solid except for holes at one end that you can drain it with. It is I would say about a cup size & that's what we use for measure for each pen. I give a half to a whole scoop per bird. The smaller ones eat less like the leghorns so it evens out. Sometimes I will add something else in there if I have it like oatmeal or whatever in winter. Oh & I don't completely cover my FF, I leave the lid ajar because it needs air. I have mine in a plastic tub that is clear & it has a lid but it's never closed down. I keep mine just inside the door in the house because it can't freeze or get too hot. Every so often if I feel like it is getting stale or I'm getting mold on the sides in the warmer weather I will wash the whole thing out & start a new batch.

 

[zigzag45]

I need to get a better scoop. Mine is just a small one and it's not adequate. How many birds per pen? I think I'm overfeeding right now as I'm giving them 3-4 cups a day (only been doing this for four days or so) and I only have 15 birds.

I think I'll try less fluid in there and see how it does.

Thanks for help.

 

[CHIKENROOKIE]

@ Prairie Fleur,

Additional shots, coop needs a good cleaning, so dont fault me. I will try to narrate the pics.

Screen door, sits inside of the dutch door, I like the dutch because depending on weather, can choose how much to close up.

This area is a LARGE back window, directly across coop from screen door, runs nearly length of coop and u can see the hurriedly scabbed plywood cause the cold came before I was ready. In spring, summer, fall it is completely left uncovered, area is approx 8 sq ft.

External nesting box, large door on left side, and the smaller door on right is for project this spring. Going to create alternate run area, it will be located under the bald cypress tree for lots of shade.

Current roosting areas, I choose to move them every 3-4 months. Right now it blocks the door to enter into coop and am not happy with the current position.


Let me know if you have any questions!

 

[chicken danz]

Zig don't worry about how much you feed. The chickens will eat what they need and leave the rest. You just let them decide how much. Initially using FF you usually actually use more because once they get a taste they go kind of crazy. Then in time they actually end up eating less of it.

 

[hardscaper87]

So were you backslopling the excess water or adding fesh water every day when you did your ff danz?