FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[beverly evans]

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Wow, I didn't know they could accumulate that much fat! A real pain in the neck to get all off. Or do you just cook it, cool it and then pick the hardened fat off the top of the pot? My girls are suddenly cleaning their bowls and I wonder if I am giving them enough. They eat the youngsters food whenever they can get it too. But they aren't fat to carry. I mostly prefer small chickens. I have an Australorp and a Maran that are total pigs and eat way more than the others. I plan to trade them out at some point. I like what Bee says about keeping only breeds that are more feed efficient. BTW Bee, what are the breeds you find to be the most feed efficient? THX. : )

 

[Beekissed]

Well, you can see how much weight and muscle these WRs have on so little feed. They are the most feed thrifty breed I've ever had....huge, dense meaty carcasses and even good fat, on minimal feed. BAs are also very feed thrifty, as are NHs, RIRs and the other Rock varieties(BR, PR, etc.

Those that I have found that have very poor feed thrift: BOs, Wyandottes, EEs, sex links, SS, Delaware.

 

[beverly evans]

Quote:
Last week we had 82 degrees on Monday, then 25 Tuesday nite, and it has been gradually getting warm again. Today it was 70 and tomorrow will be warmer still. Crazy, huh? But that is Texas. They always say, "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute!" But you guys with snow don't envy me. You don't want to be here in the summer, with weeks of three digit temperatures. It's a tradeoff I guess. I sure couldn't handle all that cold for so long. All of our trees leafed out this week. Last week we had all the ornamental flowering fruit trees in bloom. My chickens have always been able to forage, just mighty slim pickin' til here lately what with all the weed grass sprouting up in abundance. Also for the first time I am not bothered by the hundreds of wild onions taking over my yard. The chickens have eaten them all! I notice every day when I handle them that they smell like onions. Will their eggs taste funny I wonder?

 

[ak rain]

I know Texas lived in the Big Bend country for years I don't miss the heat but the canyons on the Rio Bravo are beautyful
Ak rain

 

[beverly evans]

Well, you can see how much weight and muscle these WRs have on so little feed. They are the most feed thrifty breed I've ever had....huge, dense meaty carcasses and even good fat, on minimal feed. BAs are also very feed thrifty, as are NHs, RIRs and the other Rock varieties(BR, PR, etc.

Those that I have found that have very poor feed thrift: BOs, Wyandottes, EEs, sex links, SS, Delaware.

Hi there Bee, How are you doing? As you can see, I am catching up! I get busy and the world passes me by! Let's see, a BA is a black Australorp, a BO an orpington, and I think I know the others, but what's a WR? My Americaunas don't eat so much but give me an egg every day except in the middle of winter. Are they considered non thrifty because they aren't a meat bird? And about my chick with the sour crop....I went to my feed store and showed her to the guys there who said don't do anything, just watch to see if it wouldn't right itself since she was fine in every other way. So I spent the better part of a day researching the malady and found that the general concensus is to medicate them with Monistat suppositories for female yeast infections. Isn't that a hoot? So I went to the pharmacy armed with the name of the same ingredient but for poultry. We found it in all the treatments for jock itch and athletes foot. So instead of paying 15-22 dollars for Monistat, I paid $5 for a foot spray. She gave me some small syringes and I gave the chick a dose of the stuff. I lay in bed realizing I had given it a bunch of propelant that may have been tolulene or such other carcenagin. I wondered if I'd find a dead chick when I went to check this morning. She was fine, crop smaller. Next dose I let it aireate (sp) for the propellant to evaporate and added water and yogurt. They also used the cream which was also for itch and had a lot of other ingredients so didn't go for it. Lots of reports of success, but a vet said the yeast infection was a result of something else wrong like impaction, etc. We'll see what happens. Her crop is so large after a day of eating it is practically dragging on the ground. : )

 

[chickengirl1193]

Last week we had 82 degrees on Monday, then 25 Tuesday nite, and it has been gradually getting warm again.  Today it was 70 and tomorrow  will be warmer still.  Crazy, huh?  But that is Texas.  They always say,  "If you don't like the weather,  wait a minute!" But you guys with snow don't envy me.  You don't want to be here in the summer,  with weeks of three digit temperatures. It's a tradeoff I guess.  I sure couldn't handle all that cold for so long.  All of our trees leafed out this week.  Last week we had all the ornamental flowering fruit trees in bloom.  My chickens have always been able to forage, just mighty slim pickin' til here lately what with all the weed grass sprouting up in abundance. Also for the first time I am not bothered by the hundreds of wild onions taking over my yard. The chickens have eaten them all!  I notice every day when I handle them that they smell like onions.  Will their eggs taste funny I wonder? 

Sometimes I'm jealous of people that have short mild winters but then I remember how bad the summers are and stop complaining lol. For me its just we had so much snow then such cold temps so my paths are all solid ice, my ff freezes solid before they finish it, all poop and compost is frozen... I am just tired of it but I guess I shouldn't complain cuz my winters could be worse...

 

[beverly evans]

Beverly- my EE laid the blue and my crested cream legbar x New Hampshire laid the greenish gray one

Thanks for your answer. I have a baby legbar I got Sat. Maybe she'll do me the favor of a pretty egg. What color does a NH lay? Dark brown like a Maran?My last hatch gave my a bunch of crosses that should result in olive eggs. I hope anyway. I kept from the 20 chicks a light blue Lavendar Americauna-Black Australorp cross and a dark blue Lavendar Americauna-Black Maran cross. I hope one of those gives nice olive eggs. I have a long time to wait!

 

[beverly evans]

I know Texas lived in the Big Bend country for years I don't miss the heat but the canyons on the Rio Bravo are beautyful
Ak rain

I know just where you mean and agree. I went there many years with the Sierra Club for the Thanksgiving holiday. : )

 

[Beekissed]

Hi there Bee, How are you doing? As you can see, I am catching up! I get busy and the world passes me by! Let's see, a BA is a black Australorp, a BO an orpington, and I think I know the others, but what's a WR? My Americaunas don't eat so much but give me an egg every day except in the middle of winter. Are they considered non thrifty because they aren't a meat bird? And about my chick with the sour crop....I went to my feed store and showed her to the guys there who said don't do anything, just watch to see if it wouldn't right itself since she was fine in every other way. So I spent the better part of a day researching the malady and found that the general concensus is to medicate them with Monistat suppositories for female yeast infections. Isn't that a hoot? So I went to the pharmacy armed with the name of the same ingredient but for poultry. We found it in all the treatments for jock itch and athletes foot. So instead of paying 15-22 dollars for Monistat, I paid $5 for a foot spray. She gave me some small syringes and I gave the chick a dose of the stuff. I lay in bed realizing I had given it a bunch of propelant that may have been tolulene or such other carcenagin. I wondered if I'd find a dead chick when I went to check this morning. She was fine, crop smaller. Next dose I let it aireate (sp) for the propellant to evaporate and added water and yogurt. They also used the cream which was also for itch and had a lot of other ingredients so didn't go for it. Lots of reports of success, but a vet said the yeast infection was a result of something else wrong like impaction, etc. We'll see what happens. Her crop is so large after a day of eating it is practically dragging on the ground. : )

WR=White Rock or Plymouth White Rock...the bird with all the fat is such a one. Feed thrift refers to how well a bird grows and maintains conditioning on certain amounts of food. Also is referred to as good feed conversion. I count it a poor feed thrift if a bird eats more than she lays and provides meat and if she has to eat a considerable amount just to keep her body in good condition...this loses you money on feed. So, to save money on feed, you choose birds that forage well so as to obtain a good bit of their food supply on forage. You choose birds that gain weight and maintain good conditioning without having to feed too much.

You also consider if they eat a lot but lay very little and have an average carcass...this is a bird that is wasting you money when there are other breeds out there that can lay better, finish out a better carcass and do it on the same amounts of feed as your average layer with small carcass weight.

 

[Ariel188]

Wow! I'd eat that! How wonderfully spoiled your girls are! Kudos to you. If they aren't the healthiest chickens alive on that feed I don't know what are? jAny time you can't figure out what to eat for dinner just go to your grain bin and scoop up a cup or two, add some ham hocks and some green veggies and you'll have the best soup in the world. Or for breakfast, just soak overnite, cook in enough water, add honey and milk , and enjoy! : )

Haha Thanks! Ill skip the ham hocks though, I am vegan except for my eggs and honey!