FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Beekissed]

Yes..they look like they could use some more conditioning. They look a just a little slender to me and could use some more fat under their skin even if they haven't developed breasts yet due to being too young. Just a little...they aren't too far off normal and fit....but just a cup or so extra feed for a few days could be the deciding factor~then, if that changes things just hold it there.

What are you currently feeding?

 

[rawheid]

i've got 17% layer going on right now. I'd have to go to the shed to see what the breakdown on the bag is. But honestly I've wondered for awhile if the protein was high enough. Even with my 24hr continuous feeder and dry feed the ISA browns have always been skinny and poorer looking. I was getting one kind of feed from my feed store and about 2 mths ago they merged with another company and I'm not sure if I like the quality now.

The younger birds didn't have the overlapped feathers on the 24 hr feeding plan.

Today they got 1/2 an ice cream pail of FF.

 

[Beekissed]

That's a good percentage. My layer ration is 16% and I cut it with barley, so the percentage is even less than that and my birds stay fat on it....WAY too fat sometimes.

Could be time to incorporate a natural dewormer and see if your flock will benefit from it. Pumpkin seeds are really easy to get right now and you can put them right into the FF..one of our members just mixed raw pumpkin seeds with some castor oil and got some great results. Fresh garlic in the FF wouldn't hurt either. You could add a little BOSS in the ration to get some fats into the mix and see how these little tweaks bring them up to another level.

 

[OHhappychicks]

That's a good percentage. My layer ration is 16% and I cut it with barley, so the percentage is even less than that and my birds stay fat on it....WAY too fat sometimes.

Could be time to incorporate a natural dewormer and see if your flock will benefit from it. Pumpkin seeds are really easy to get right now and you can put them right into the FF..one of our members just mixed raw pumpkin seeds with some castor oil and got some great results. Fresh garlic in the FF wouldn't hurt either. You could add a little BOSS in the ration to get some fats into the mix and see how these little tweaks bring them up to another level.

I've never wormed my flock. Would it hurt to to give them the raw pumpkin and castor oil? Do you mix it in with the ff or by itself? I don't think they have worms. They look pretty healthy. I was going to ferment some pumpkins this winter like you suggested, to give them around February.

 

[kpgoldstar]

I know I can probably find the answer but it would take too long to search. I gave my girls an exam this evening since one swallowed a whole dead tarantula wasp this morning and I thought she was going to choke! They finished all of their morning feed by the time I got home from work but remember it hasn't had time to fully ferment after my disaster.
What is the crop supposed to feel like when they are hungry vs. what it feels like after they've eaten? Mine are just 4 weeks today so still quite young.

 

[Beekissed]

It wouldn't hurt a bit. I've never officially dewormed my flocks either but about once a year or so I'll throw something in them like the pumpkin seeds or garlic, just for kicks and giggles. Awhile back I was putting castor oil on the rooster's legs to treat some scale mite and decided to dose him orally with it as well, then I gave the whole flock an oral dose. Just to see what happened. Never saw any worms come out...but their combs got real red a few days after that, so who knows what that means?

Mine always look healthy too and the recent birds I butchered out of my flock showed no worms in the intestines, so I'm thinking they are fine just by the lifestyle and the FF...but the garlic, seeds or castor oil can't really hurt them at all.

You can put the pumpkin seeds in the FF but I wouldn't put the castor oil in there...I just took a dropper full and put in directly in their beaks. Bruce, a BYC member, mixed the CO with the P. seeds...he really did have a worm infestation going on. I haven't gotten to speak with him about the long term results of his treatment but he reported the red combs too and also stated seeing worms come out in the feces afterwards, so who knows?

 

[kpgoldstar]

Another stupid question, what is BOSS?

 

[Beekissed]

Black oil sunflower seeds!

 

[kpgoldstar]

beekissed did you see my question about the crop too? And where would one find BOSS? Thank you again for your enormous shared knowledge!

 

[Beekissed]

I know I can probably find the answer but it would take too long to search. I gave my girls an exam this evening since one swallowed a whole dead tarantula wasp this morning and I thought she was going to choke! They finished all of their morning feed by the time I got home from work but remember it hasn't had time to fully ferment after my disaster.
What is the crop supposed to feel like when they are hungry vs. what it feels like after they've eaten? Mine are just 4 weeks today so still quite young.

Depending on what you are feeding, a full crop can either feel like a change purse full of coins(you can often feel the bumps of whole grains through the skin) or one of those little squeezy things full of sand that are supposed to exercise your hand when you grip them.

An empty crop doesn't feel like much of anything and lies pretty flat to the chest muscles.

You can find BOSS at feed stores, Walmart or anywhere else that sells birdseed.