Fermented feed questions

[Sara Ranch]

Thank you for the replies!

I had to hit the "reset" button, take a deep breathe, and start fresh.

1. I now have ALL animals (except doggies) on the fermented feed.
2. I add soaked whole oats to the batches of food.
3. I reduced what I am giving some groups in the morning & increased what I was giving to some groups, based on numbers and how quickly they were gobbling it up.
4. The water consumption is still way down, but the poop looks fine, so I am to going to worry about it for now. Our temps are all over the place.
5. If the groups ask for more food, I am giving a little bit late afternoon.
6. The feed is the right consistency. Someone else & I had a difference of opinion as to what the feed should look like/feel like. The responses here are what I am going with. Some of the chickens have really big, long waddles that end up in the feed. Some of the chickens still take a bite of it and then shake their heads, sending some of the slop flying. A good rain helps clean them up. The slop is a creamy oatmeal texture...or soft serve texture. (HHhmmm...I should go have a bowl of homemade ice cream just for comparison....make sure I am doing it right, ya know?) I know I am doing it correctly. I had the 1:1 ratio before, adding more water as needed to keep the top of the feed covered.

The whole time thing? Hahahaa. I have tried the garden wagon idea before. It didn't work because of the terrain being too bumpy, too rocky, to steep, or to something. I ended up spilling much, if not all, before reaching my destination. Or the garden wagon would tip over. So it's easier for me to carry the loads out. (I live on a mountain. Very little "flat" space.) I use a 4 cup measuring cup to scoop out the feed and put it in a big tupperware. Put the lid on and go. For the smaller feeding stations, I take a separate tupperware container, put the slop in, cover, and take it out.

Tupperware = plastic container.

I have four feeding stations for the Senior Flock. That is the most difficult to get to (steep and rocky) and set up (getting into their space is challenging). Takes me three or four trips. In a month or so when I move them, it will be so much easier to get their feed into their new location.

I have one feeding station for the Roo Gang. Easy peasy.

I have one feeding station for the Cornie Flock. Almost easy peasy.

I have one feeding station for the Spice Flock. Almost easy peasy.

I have four feeding stations for the Baby Girl Flock. Easy peasy.

I have one feeding station for the Coop Flock. It's a bit of a trek, but overall almost easy peasy.

I have two feeding stations for the Turkey Flocks. That's a bit of a trek and not so easy.

I have one feeding station for the Newbie Flock. This varies and is only needed when I adopt new animals in.

Feeding the animals in the morning is easy. I set everything up and then let them out or move them to where they need to be. It still takes me 2-3 hours to get everything set up and everyone where they need to be. (The Senior Flock is in a building that I have secured on the outside and on the inside. So it's a bit of a task to let them out in the morning.) Feeding animals in the afternoon is harder if the animals are asking for the food.

If I went back to the old ways, I would just throw some feed in the areas and let them eat. Lol. Takes so much more time to bring the slop & the dishes to them & fill them up. And then there is washing the dishes... *insert eye roll*

My overall time, considering I have added more feed stations, has improved with my button reset. I think I just needed to take a very deep breathe and have confirmation that I was doing things correctly.

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I am in the process of combining three Baby Girl Flocks to one flock. Then I will only need two feeding stations.

I am in the process of combining the two Turkey Flocks to one flock. Then I will only need one feeding station.

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We will see how today goes with the feed. I've noticed the baby girls aren't interested in the fermented feed as they were with the dry feed. Tomorrow, I will cut back their feed and play it by ear.

I am still supplementing their feed with fresh foods and veggies from the orchard and the garden.

That's my update. Thank you very much for the feed back. It helped me know I was on the right track to making this work.

 

[Kusanar]

On the big fermented feed thread they recommend only feeding 1-2 times a day, if the birds are free ranging, they feed in the evening to get the birds back in. You could also easily give them an entire day's worth of food in the morning and let them work on it all day. Fermented feed won't go bad, technically it already has... Also, stop doing dishes for the birds! Give them an amount that they will clean up,they should be licking their dishes clean! Any left overnight can be dumped onto the ground next to the dish and they can eat it from the ground if they want it... And, if they leave a good bit in their dish, give them less the next time.

 

[Sara Ranch]

Thanks!

It's very rare that the feed isn't finished. As much as they would like to lick their dishes clean, they can't get every bit out. But oh man, they sure do try!

I bring the dishes back in, wash them, and use them the next day. If there is any ff left over , I put a cover on it and give it to them the next day. I'm definitely not throwing any out.

Quite a few of the birds have cut beaks (that will never grow back) and eye sight problems. They do the best that they can with what they have. The fermented feed is the best thing I have found for them to eat. I can easily measure how much food they are actually getting in that I provide. (Really tough to do before, with dry feed.)

I'd never dump excess on the ground. Roachs. Mice. Rats. Possums. Raccoons. Squirrels. Foxes. Dogs. And other varmints or predators that I don't want around!!!'

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I'll get there. I realize the chickens have "Hungry Hippo Days" (I do!) and other days when they don't eat much.

Everyone puts themselves to bed at night, except for the turkeys. And that's only because I don't have a safe path for them to walk to their turkey house. YET. If I am late getting to them, they put themselves to bed on the roost in their run. It's sweet. Just not safe to sleep outside.

 

[Sara Ranch]

PS - I did cut back on the feed I give the birds. Some of my birds gained quite a bit of weight in the beginning of the fermented feed start, round one.

They still have the weight on them, so I figured they must have really wanted to bulk up for the winter.

It may take some more tweaking, but I have faith that I will find the right balance for the birds and myself.

 

[Kusanar]

It also seems like a standard large fowl when free ranging gets about 1/2 cup of fermented feed once a day. A decent guideline to start with.

 

[Sara Ranch]

*hugs* Thank you!

This morning, I decided to see if the sky would fall if I didn't give everyone feed. *gasp* The world didn't end.

I had one flock that got down right flighty! (My "Cornies" wanted to leave the cornie field to go find food elsewhere... it wasn't safe for them to do that, so I brought them some feed.) The guys are only 3-4 weeks old.

The holiday turkey flock didn't notice immediately, but when they looked over at the other turkey flock, they gobbled that it wasn't fair that the OTHER flock got some, but they didn't. Then they went back to eating grass.

The coop flock went searching through two pastures for the feed. Lol. Then they came back to the coop and started to look to see if the Spice Pack and the Cornies got feed.

It started off as a much more peaceful, less stressful morning for me. But then farm life happened. Ya know, morning drama. My group likes to keep things lively!

I think that a bit later today, I may give the last groups some feed. Then everyone will have had some.

And tomorrow, it will be a split feed in the morning and the afternoon for the different groups.

And sometime, I will have to do the math to figure out how much feed I should be giving out. Thanks for the recommendation of half a cup! That really helps the organizer/planner in me.