Fermented feed

[Henriettamom919]

My bantam has been flicking her head a lot lately and also her head is looking a bit pale. Her comb is purple because it's been dyed with gentian violet.

Here's a video of the flicking. Should I be worried?

My husband thinks the large egg is a triple yolker He's always guessing how many yolks are in the OE eggs. She's been giving us a lot of double yolker eggs. I can't wait until the rest of my flock is grown so I can have different colors. I have some white layers and more brown layers. Plus ducks should be laying green (I think)

Sounds like a great reason to get a couple Easter eggers You'd have the whole spectrum!

 

[chkva]

Sounds like a great reason to get a couple Easter eggers You'd have the whole spectrum!

I HAD an EE... A raven took it! It's lucky I saw it fly away as I was pulling down my driveway! It waited until I wasn't home to do it. I'll probably grab some next spring. I have Jersey Giants I bought to replace that chick. Let's see that raven pick those up in a few months

 

[NNYchick]

When you moisten feed, can you leave it out overnight if they didn't finish it or toss it? I was basically tossing full bowls of FF and my wallet was crying at the same time. I think that's what I may do in these warm months because more water getting in their system isn't a bad thing. They've been eating melons like crazy because it's so hot out!

I wouldn’t especially if it’s hot. I do a small amount (2.5 cups of crumble) for 17 Bantam and they clean it up by evening but now that we are getting warmer we’ve been mostly high of 50 degrees) I’m going to only make enough to last a couple hours so it doesn’t go bad as bad feed will kill them quick. I have all flock dry pellets available to them all the time. Now that the weather is getting better they get a few hours out in the evening for bugs and weeds.

 

[chkva]

I wouldn’t especially if it’s hot. I do a small amount (2.5 cups of crumble) for 17 Bantam and they clean it up by evening but now that we are getting warmer we’ve been mostly high of 50 degrees) I’m going to only make enough to last a couple hours so it doesn’t go bad as bad feed will kill them quick. I have all flock dry pellets available to them all the time. Now that the weather is getting better they get a few hours out in the evening for bugs and weeds.

I'll just keep giving dry then... It's too hot here and FF can't be left out long. My chickens like eating the weeds and such so I'll just keep it the way it is.

 

[15WildTurkey]

CHKVA
If your chickens aren’t all that interested in feed, spend their days foraging and produce lovely eggs for you then sit back, put your wallet away and smile smugly! That is perfect free ranging! You don’t need to ferment.
Don’t make yourself crazy over it. It’ll be way more efficient for you to offer dry crumbles that they can take or leave and you don’t have to worry about spoiling or wasting. I ferment and honestly who knows if it does a damn thing. But like everything, if it works for you then it’s all good.

 

[chkva]

CHKVA
If your chickens aren’t all that interested in feed, spend their days foraging and produce lovely eggs for you then sit back, put your wallet away and smile smugly! That is perfect free ranging! You don’t need to ferment.
Don’t make yourself crazy over it. It’ll be way more efficient for you to offer dry crumbles that they can take or leave and you don’t have to worry about spoiling or wasting. I ferment and honestly who knows if it does a damn thing. But like everything, if it works for you then it’s all good.

My chickens still want their melon at night though They come peek in the windows right after dinner to make sure I didn't forget their daily melon. So far their eggs are still good with them foraging and eating some crumbles. They seem to be getting a lot of bugs. My OE caught a wasp today while I was changing out their water, it was amazing to see how quick she grabbed it while it was flying.

 

[15WildTurkey]

I adore watching chickens forage. Mine frantically patrol their run every morning for bits of leaves and tree seeds etc that have fallen during the night and then later when they are out free it’s the best entertainment watching them forage and hunt. The games of keep away!!! I once watched a hen try in vain to swallow a decent sized frog. She would have benefited from a tug of war to make it smaller but nooooo. Instead she exhausted herself running around with her useless prize.

 

[chickenbarbara]

Me too, what is, and how do you make fermented food?! I imagine it's good for hens the way AVC is for us???

 

[Judy Todd]

What on earth is fermented feed? I'm having images of drunk chickens.

Thank you, Chebird, yes, what is ff. Iknow about ff food for me, but what is it that all of you are using, are you fermenting it yourself or buying it???

 

[chkva]

I adore watching chickens forage. Mine frantically patrol their run every morning for bits of leaves and tree seeds etc that have fallen during the night and then later when they are out free it’s the best entertainment watching them forage and hunt. The games of keep away!!! I once watched a hen try in vain to swallow a decent sized frog. She would have benefited from a tug of war to make it smaller but nooooo. Instead she exhausted herself running around with her useless prize.

my chicks play keep away all the time or fight over a piece of food when there's 50 other identical pieces to it! I just absolutely adore them! Great entertainment