FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[LeslieDJoyce]

I ordered some yellow clover too because it was cheaper than both the white and red and I've never planted it before.  Wanted to see how that went, so I'll have both yellow and white in the small meadow....more white than yellow though as the yellow has much lower nutrition and digestibility, white dutch in the garden rows and the rest of the yellow will be broadcast up on the hill for our deer plot we want to renew up there. 

It's going to be very pretty! The critters will love it.

I'm going to look for at least some comfrey. And I'm resubmitting my exotic fruit tree list before shipping season is totally over and people burn their unsold trees ... And I'm going to ask the mill and the guy who grows grains in our property about getting our hands on some seed screenings for variety for the scratch grains ...

So much to plan! Now I just need a "do" season or two.

 

[Beekissed]

Yes! The doing is where the fun begins! I think most suburban folks on self sufficiency sites do a lot of planning and talking for many years without actually doing anything about their plans...they are always waiting until they can afford it or afford to "do it right", but homesteading isn't about perfect and quaint buildings,coops, gardens, yards, etc. Homesteading is about getting out there and DOING something...getting dirty, making do, making it up as you go along, making mistakes, redoing it, slapping some paint on it and standing back to see what you've done. So often people get stuck in the planning stage and start to get overwhelmed by all the many plans, so they never get any of them done.

They say that life is what happens while you are making other plans and I believe it...I've seen folks who forget to live their lives because they are always planning for someday.

 

[neopolitancrazy]

Just a question on this.  I'll be getting Dorkings also and realize that I might have to feed more.  But you feed your entire flock 2 c FF ea.  Isn't that excessive?  Total newbie here so am just asking. 

It certainly seems excessive to me! However, multiple attempts at feeding less and the adult birds losing obvious amounts of weight in less than a week finally convinced me they actually need that much. Now, that refers to the adults (6.5 lb hen, cock ~8 lbs) I bought from Mr. Urch. The pullets raised from chicks purchased last summer from McMurray's eat ~1-1.5 cups each per day, and weigh about 4 lbs now. I think/hope they will make adult size by their first birthday in July.

There are very few people raising Dorkings in the USA, even fewer raising their Dorkings to be true to type (historically correct shape.) I feel it incumbent upon me to caution all new Dorking enthusiasts to be certain your purchases come from a flock that is consistently the proper SIZE and TYPE.

I am a big softie for anything in need of rescuing, so the Dorkings are a good project for me. My first goal is to develop a healthy, vigorous flock that reaches the proper size in a reasonably few months. Then I will improve their feed efficiency and fancy points.

I believe the ff is one of the ways I can provide optimum nutrition to my flock for minimum out-of-pocket costs, and the culled chickens provide optimum nutrition for us, as a delicious by-product. When the Livestock Guardian puppies are mature enough to be trusted around free-ranging poultry, we will also enjoy heart-healthy fresh eggs. (I am feeding the hens an omega-3 supplement now, but the eggs are a deeper orange and in my opinion, taste/smell better when the hens free-range.)

Best wishes for you and your flock,
Angela

Eta:I got some mixed clover, annual ryegrass and black-eyed peas to plant in the chicken runs last week 'cause those puppies won't mature overnight, lol.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

It certainly seems excessive to me! However, multiple attempts at feeding less and the adult birds losing obvious amounts of weight in less than a week finally convinced me they actually need that much. Now, that refers to the adults (6.5 lb hen, cock ~8 lbs) I bought from Mr. Urch. The pullets raised from chicks purchased last summer from McMurray's eat ~1-1.5 cups each per day, and weigh about 4 lbs now. I think/hope they will make adult size by their first birthday in July.

That struck me as a lot of feed ... so out of curiosity, I just "measured" out a 1/2 lb of the dry feed I'm using, to see what the volume is. I'm using a pelleted feed, with a small pellet size, so it will "pack" very well and theoretically should be less volume than some of the fluffier feed choices. By my measure, 1/2 lb of this feed is 1.25 cups. And iIt expands quite a bit when moisture is added for fermentation.

Therefore ... 2 cups of FF might not be as much as it sounds ... certainly no more than 1/2 lb of dry feed.

 

[Beekissed]

That struck me as a lot of feed ... so out of curiosity, I just "measured" out a 1/2 lb of the dry feed I'm using, to see what the volume is. I'm using a pelleted feed, with a small pellet size, so it will "pack" very well and theoretically should be less volume than some of the fluffier feed choices. By my measure, 1/2 lb of this feed is 1.25 cups. And iIt expands quite a bit when moisture is added for fermentation.

Therefore ... 2 cups of FF might not be as much as it sounds ... certainly no more than 1/2 lb of dry feed.

Exactly. Fortunately, what it lacks in total volume it also gains in total nutritive digestibility, and therein comes the feed savings....you are feeding less but feeding the same amount or more of the nutrition of feeding more. When I scoop out for my flock it seems to work out to the same number of scoops I used to give when I fed dry for that number of birds....but everything has changed. Same number scoops, less feed used, same or better nutrition given.

That's why when people ask me how much to feed now that they are feeding wet feed, I tell them the same amount of scoops you used when dry...it seems to be the right amount.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Exactly. Fortunately, what it lacks in total volume it also gains in total nutritive digestibility, and therein comes the feed savings....you are feeding less but feeding the same amount or more of the nutrition of feeding more. When I scoop out for my flock it seems to work out to the same number of scoops I used to give when I fed dry for that number of birds....but everything has changed. Same number scoops, less feed used, same or better nutrition given.

That's why when people ask me how much to feed now that they are feeding wet feed, I tell them the same amount of scoops you used when dry...it seems to be the right amount.

One of our big procedural mysteries is how/why we don't have a very good estimate for how many pounds of feed "the flock" consumes in a day. If my life were a TV show, the how/why of that could be a double episode.

 

[johnlogan]

Does anyone add a probiotic to their ff? If you do, which one and why?

 

[Searsmom]

It's going to be very pretty! The critters will love it.

I'm going to look for at least some comfrey. And I'm resubmitting my exotic fruit tree list before shipping season is totally over and people burn their unsold trees ... And I'm going to ask the mill and the guy who grows grains in our property about getting our hands on some seed screenings for variety for the scratch grains ...

So much to plan! Now I just need a "do" season or two.

That sounds intriguing. Before they burn their unsold trees.... Can you PM me how you do that and what price you pay? I don't want to disrupt this thread.... ....or point me to a thread that tells more?

 

[Beekissed]

Does anyone add a probiotic to their ff? If you do, which one and why?

FF makes its own prebiotic and probiotics, so it would be sort of redundant to add any. Some folks use a starter that has prebiotic/probiotic property to jump start the fermentation but that's about it.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Does anyone add a probiotic to their ff? If you do, which one and why?

Probiotics are expensive. And I agree with BK ... they are redundant with FF. As is Apple Cider Vinegar in the water, IMO.