FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Beekissed]

I just love you, ya know that?

Such a sweet spirit and an eagerness to learn...don't see much of that nowadays and it's refreshing! Last time I met someone that sweet and spontaneously eager to learn was Ms. Loveigee and she and I still email all the time. Thank you for appreciating what has been given, Rose Marie!

 

[wlhtx]

"Not a great pic since you can't really appreciate the acreage, but we live in the middle of about 100 acres made up of pasture, woods, and a large pond. These babies go all over!"

No predators?
That's amazing.

 

We have a VERY large dog that keeps the predators away for the most part. He's not a LGD. He's a South African Boerboel, which was bred specifically for homestead protection (we live pretty far out in the sticks). He outweighs me by nearly 30 pounds and makes for a great presence to scare away any local coyotes, fox, raccoons, etc.

To be honest, he has a high prey drive and we've lost more birds to him (during his puppy stage last year) then to anything else. I've only lost two birds to any predators other than the dog and both were during rare nights when we let the dog sleep inside our shop. I'm guessing owls...

We do have some really huge red tail hawks that live in our pasture, but so far they have never made a move for the chickens. They seem content to follow behind the tractor when we mow and swoop down on the field mice and snakes that come out of the grass. I'm not naive enough to think that they will never be a threat to the flock, but I just can't keep the birds cooped up 24/7 out of fear that I'll lose one or two...

 

[Beekissed]

Amen....it's all about quality of life vs. quantity of life.

 

[RoseMarie1]

I just love you, ya know that?

Such a sweet spirit and an eagerness to learn...don't see much of that nowadays and it's refreshing! Last time I met someone that sweet and spontaneously eager to learn was Ms. Loveigee and she and I still email all the time. Thank you for appreciating what has been given, Rose Marie!

Oh you are more than welcome!

and I just love you to!!! I want to do what's best for my chicks so they will live a long and happy healthy life.
I sure am enjoying learning from some one that knows what they are talking about and has been there and done that! I like book knowledge BUT common sense, wisdom, and experience it much much better in my opinion. Thank you Bee!!!

 

[RoseMarie1]

"Not a great pic since you can't really appreciate the acreage, but we live in the middle of about 100 acres made up of pasture, woods, and a large pond. These babies go all over!"

No predators?
That's amazing.

WOW mega nice to have THAT much acreage!!! We only have 11. something acres but mine hasn't even ventured out hardly away from their pen yet. lol Each time I allow them outside they're going a little farther and a little farther.

 

[Trina Bambina]

Quick question...what do you put your ff in for the birds to eat? I gave my month old chicks some porridge (fermented oats) the kids did not finish, and the chicks were jumping in it and getting stuck! I ended up spoon feeding it to them! It was funny to watch!

 

[wlhtx]

Quote:

WOW mega nice to have THAT much acreage!!! We only have 11. something acres but mine hasn't even ventured out hardly away from their pen yet. lol Each time I allow them outside they're going a little farther and a little farther.

Ha! - reading that back, I guess I should clarify. We do have a lot of acreage which does include various types of forage opportunities, and they can go wherever they want - BUT, in all honesty, the majority of the chickens mostly stay within a 1-2, maybe 3 acre area right around their pen (like yours)... (Even the goats tend to stay within about a 5 acre area... go figure...) But the younger bunch definitely roams further out then the bigger bunch! Because I have the two age groups separated, it's given one of my younger roosters the chance to develop more into an alpha flock leader. He's only right at 14 weeks, but so far I am very pleased with him because he showing a very protective nature over his bunch as they zoom around.



Quote:

Quick question...what do you put your ff in for the birds to eat? I gave my month old chicks some porridge (fermented oats) the kids did not finish, and the chicks were jumping in it and getting stuck! I ended up spoon feeding it to them! It was funny to watch!

Just your regular old chick starter/grower! You can add in other whole grains, or even some chicken scratch if you want to - but just chicken starter will get you going. Just put some in a 5 gallon bucket (about half way full), cover it all with water until the water line is just a bit above the food line (I use warm water, but cold would be fine), add in a few glugs of unpasteurized apple cider vinegar, and then let it sit for about a day or so. The water should soak into the food and it should end up being an oatmeal-like consistency.

It takes a few days of playing with it to figure out the best proportions for you, but even if you serve it too dry or too wet, the chicks will eat it. Reading the observations on here, some will immediately take to it and love it, while others (like mine) kind of turned their noses (beaks?) up to it for several days before deciding they like it. They will all jump in it and get it all over them, but then they usually end up cleaning it off each other as the day progresses.

 

[Beekissed]

Quick question...what do you put your ff in for the birds to eat? I gave my month old chicks some porridge (fermented oats) the kids did not finish, and the chicks were jumping in it and getting stuck! I ended up spoon feeding it to them! It was funny to watch!

You can build a very cheap and simple trough style feeder with a wire top on it that prevents them getting into it...this can be done with the use of PVC, rain guttering, or just simple wood. It's doesn't have to be pretty...merely functional.

 

[wlhtx]

Oops - Apparently I need to read the question better. I totally read that as "what do you put in your ff" instead of "what do you put your ff in."

 

[Trina Bambina]

Thank you both for your quick replies! Going to get a batch started tomorrow!