Consolidated Kansas

[mikeksfarmer]

Oh I totally forgot! Came home with a friend after picking up one of his cars from the other side of KCMO to find my neighbor plowing my garden!

Oh how sweet. I am so lucky to have a young man next to me who has testosterone poisening!

That plow went 3 times as deep as my tiller could! Wish you all a farm tractor guy!
Mike

 

[Ivywoods]

Quote:
Oh, my! Send him my way!.....with his tractor, that is!

I'll probably be tilling my garden the way I did when I was a kid..........with a shovel.

 

[bnjmik]

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Sadly no.

The folks who lived here were elderly and when they passed away the children sold the house... to us. I think there were a little peeved when they didn't get what they wanted out of the place because they took everything not nailed down and some things that were. Luckily for us, old Floyd liked ring-shanked nails

They even dug up the flower bulbs from around the house.

So we are starting from scratch minus the empty chicken houses, which is actually a pretty darn good start. The building I'm using is about 10' X 18'. I've sectioned off about 5' at the entry for storage and electrical controls, plus this gives me another door for added protection. The building is already wired for electricity with a dedicated 20 Amp circuit also so that is one less thing as well.

Instead of running water lines and solenoid valves, I am considering the watering nipples like these using just a drum and gravity. Anyone have experience with these?

 

[Ivywoods]

I ordered some water nipples like that, but so far have not installed them. As usual, our plans have changed once again, so now I am waiting until I get our old barn renovated (completely rebuilt) into my poultry barn. Once I have that done and the individual breeder pens and runs finished I will install the nipples.

I bet you will have experience with yours before I even get mine installed! Let us all know how they work.

Oh, and BTW-

 

[Myabcs3]

Quote:
I have been gone a few days for spring break and this thread explodes! Welcome to the newcomers!

Renee - is this your scratch recipe or the feed recipe? I thought you said feed, but then was confused when you mentioned mixed with UltraKibble.

Sounds like everyone had a great week!

 

[ByN8ureHomstead]

Quote:
Yep.

I am using this 2, you might like the price best.
http://www.qcsupply.com/420011-push-in-style-nipple.html
http://www.qcsupply.com/420002-360-stainless-steel-nipple.html

I started using the red ones just before the temps went below 0* this winter. I used the stainless steel last summer. Chickens, turkey and geese. I have they in my outside brooder and I will be putting some in my inside brooders.

 

[ChooksChick]

This is the scratch, but I'm bringing the UltraKibble in to mix it in...I'm soooo tired of doing it myself. It won't cost any to have them put it into the mixer, so I thought that was a great way to go! I'm already bringing the quinoa, cayenne (thank you!) and some dried cranberries. It's definitely not like the scratch grain from Purina. More like a whole-grain and supplement mix.

The 'scratch' alone is 12.5% rather than the 8% of Purina, with a low corn content and many extras for amino acids and micronutrients.

I'm crashing now, but will be on after teaching the classes at Tractor Supply tomorrow: Predator Prevention at 10, Raising Chicks at 11. Send anyone who needs to come! Free for anyone.


Quote:
I have been gone a few days for spring break and this thread explodes! Welcome to the newcomers!

Renee - is this your scratch recipe or the feed recipe? I thought you said feed, but then was confused when you mentioned mixed with UltraKibble.

Sounds like everyone had a great week!

 

[Kansaseq]

Quote:
I have been gone a few days for spring break and this thread explodes! Welcome to the newcomers!

Renee - is this your scratch recipe or the feed recipe? I thought you said feed, but then was confused when you mentioned mixed with UltraKibble.

Sounds like everyone had a great week!


Sooooooooooo, is this in place of 'scratch', or in place of regular layer feed? Sounds a bit like a 'hybrid' of the two.

 

[ChooksChick]

This is a mix I use in place of feed- if one uses commercial feed like Purina, there is no need for scratch: it merely lowers the protein content of their diets. We all know they love it and it makes them happy. I also feel strongly that the birds should have a less processed and more whole food, thus the whole grains- clearly they agree with their love of scratch.

Mixing the UltraKibble, which is a zoo quality feed of nearly 40% protein with spices, probiotics and nutrients is the way I've fed for some time now. When one uses scratch and UltraKibble together, they get a high-quality feed that they actually have to digest (it wasn't already ground and formed into pellets or crumble) and they enjoy what they're eating. You could mix it with water and they would go nuts. You can even sprout it.

In my opinion, this is a feed that stays in their digestive system for a long time and they derive a larger quantity of nutrients from it, so they poop less and eat less.

Again, I'm not trying to sell it, I'm just mixing it up and want to let others in on it if you are interested. For a long time a lot of locals ordered a mix from Perry using Pinwheel Farms' recipe, but it had tons of fine powder that sifted down and got wasted- that was the 'HOG44' and the other powders that had to be added to make it a balanced feed.

I liked the feed okay, but it didn't seem to be good on their systems...they had sticky poop that was very stinky...the HOG44 wasn't very good for their systems...I guess.

I've done a lot of research and came to the recipe using others' experiences and nutritional information about the various grains. Most scratch is over 50% corn, with a bit of milo, oats, and wheat. This is Buckwheat, Barley, Oats, Quinoa, Sesame Seeds, Flax, Safflower, Peanuts, fruit, Millet, Wheat, Canadian Peas, Maple Peas, Austrian Peas, all the supplements I mentioned, and so on...with only 15% corn. It's just how I prefer to feed.

In the end, it costs me less this way, whereas it seems to be more expensive if you look at the weight of the bag alone.

I was for some time using store-bought scratch again, and even All-stock, and just looking at the protein content alone...it doesn't seem to work nearly as well, though it's a lot better than just plain layer pellets. I'm tired of mixing it myself, and just want it the way I want it...

I'm happy to get it for everyone else at the same time! I have nearly 700# in the order now, so I'll be making a grand run!

Quote:

Sooooooooooo, is this in place of 'scratch', or in place of regular layer feed? Sounds a bit like a 'hybrid' of the two.

 

[Myabcs3]

Renee -

You have perfect timing with this feed idea. How often do you plan on ordering? Please count us in for 2 bags, at least. I don't have a lot of storage...

For everyone else, I started using Ultrakibble mixed with scratch and all stock back in January. We have been happy with the results in both the birds as well as our pocketbook. It does take a bit of extra effort to buy the Ultrakibble and then mix it with the scratch and all stock, but it is worth it.