FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[RoseMarie1]

I'm no expert, not by a long shot! Even if confined to pen and run, cutting back a little and only feeding once a day should be fine. Especially then..they get very little exercise in a coop and run situation, so they don't need a ton of food to keep a good body condition. You'll have to experiment with it and see how they do when you cut back...on body condition, not on signs of appetite. If you go by how hungry they act you'll be tube feeding them continuously just to fill their gullets.

Take them down to half a bucket and see how long it takes for them to eat it. They should have enough for one good meal and a snack later on...if not, take it a little lower until they do. Give them some good deep litter in the coop and run to give them something to do while they are in jail and they will adjust to the lower activity/lower feed levels.

Now that my flock are not finding bugs out on forage, I'm increasing their daily allotment up to 2 1/2 c. of feed per day from 1 1/2 c. and will monitor it from there. Will be adding some BOSS this weekend for some fats and fiber in the FF.

Don't let her fool you. She is an expert.

 

[KrazyChromatics]

well im STILL reducing what i feed... i mix a lot of alfalfa in mine right now, and i also hang a hay bag in their pen, i fill the bag up about once a week. I guess my bigger layers must be going though a moult ... one of them looks like a dog got her

but her pins are coming in quickly. The other bigger birds have not even started to lay yet, but it should be soon, they are about 6 months old now, the bantam crosses that are 5 months have begun to lay though, and their eggs are great... before i fed FF(and for a couple months after) my shells were always poor, some of them would break in the box or in my hand when washing, now i actually have to hit them twice to crack them even with my bigger birds eggs its so much better.... the white is not runny and clear anymore, its got more substance and is a nice sunny yellow tint, the yolks were twice the size of the free range birds, but they were weak and not too thick... now that ive fudged around with what I make my FF out of im seeing the benefits even more, but just fermenting layer did not really help, nor adding other grains to that, but the alfalfa and hay theyve been getting was deff the missing thing.

I'm feeding 10-12 quarts FF to 50 something confined birds, and many of them are still growing! i feed them in the AM then check on them later in the day and they still have stuff to pick through, i poke most everyones crop and they are always full when i do... Before i added the alfalfa, their crops just did not stay full very long (I also think i made it too wet... trial and error)

ALSO STRANGE... the egg shell colors look different... ill take a pic later and show.... i have a New Hampshire/ OEG cross hen (thats mostly white btw lol) and shes been a good little layer for a long time, i hatched her out of a large brown egg, her fathers genes call for a tinted or white egg, when she fire started to lay, they were brown, but then quickly i got a mess of tinted eggs... with my wedding and such their food schedule got flubbed, and they didnt get enough, i found their water was empty, it was only 3 days but i still felt bad for my biddies

after a week of getting their normal schedule of rations..water... and i added more alfalfa kinda on accident, i had some pellets left over like 10lbs or so and dumped the whole bag in.... well they swelled more than i thought and took over the mix lol... so i had been feeding that out adding some scratch and more water to try and loosen it up.... well that little hen has given me an egg a day ever since, and they are bigger! and they are brown again!!... i had 3 left over from before the wedding and now more than a weeks worth of the "new" eggs so ill take pics and we're gunna use them for breakfast so ill take comparative pics.... but has anyone heard of that? I know alfalfa will make blue and green eggs brighter, but... i didnt think brown worked the same way

 

[LOVEIGEE]

Don't let her fool you. She is an expert.

AMEN! Can't fool us BF!

 

[Beekissed]

God's the only chicken expert I know...I'm still very much a novice at chickens and I learn something new each day that lets me know just how stoooopid I really am on the subject.

BTW...finally stopped being stubborn and switched to the dry mix of homemade laundry detergent...what was I thinking by using the liquid???

All that fuss and all those jugs...what an idiot!

Now my laundry detergent is in one container..an ice cream bucket...on the shelf above the laundry site. It took all of 2 min. to make and required little to no effort to accomplish.

Throwing out all those jugs now....loving the little bucket of dry stuff.

 

[LOVEIGEE]

God's the only chicken expert I know...I'm still very much a novice at chickens and I learn something new each day that lets me know just how stoooopid I really am on the subject.

BTW...finally stopped being stubborn and switched to the dry mix of homemade laundry detergent...what was I thinking by using the liquid???

All that fuss and all those jugs...what an idiot!

Now my laundry detergent is in one container..an ice cream bucket...on the shelf above the laundry site. It took all of 2 min. to make and required little to no effort to accomplish.

Throwing out all those jugs now....loving the little bucket of dry stuff.

 

[skitzkle]

God's the only chicken expert I know...I'm still very much a novice at chickens and I learn something new each day that lets me know just how stoooopid I really am on the subject.

BTW...finally stopped being stubborn and switched to the dry mix of homemade laundry detergent...what was I thinking by using the liquid???

All that fuss and all those jugs...what an idiot!

Now my laundry detergent is in one container..an ice cream bucket...on the shelf above the laundry site. It took all of 2 min. to make and required little to no effort to accomplish.

Throwing out all those jugs now....loving the little bucket of dry stuff.

yeah! I did the same thing after my first batch of liquid and love the dry. Just made a run to the mexican store to get my huge bars of zote soap to make my powder laundry soap. Smells so good!

 

[Beekissed]

We didn't like the Zote..but we still love the Fels Naptha and the smell of it. I love it that the clothes smell of nothing when it's all said and done. Just smell like cloth and no perfumes. Hate perfumey clothing on people and in my dryer. My son comes to do his laundry and, even though we don't allow dryer sheets in our dryer, the stench of their clothing from using all that perfumey detergent and dryer sheets will permeate our dryer for days and days.

It seems to be permanently inside their clothing and it makes me nauseous.

 

[jockeyeba]

 
God's the only chicken expert I know...I'm still very much a novice at chickens and I learn something new each day that lets me know just how stoooopid I really am on the subject. 


BTW...finally stopped being stubborn and switched to the dry mix of homemade laundry detergent...what was I thinking by using the liquid???     All that fuss and all those jugs...what an idiot!    Now my laundry detergent is in one container..an ice cream bucket...on the shelf above the laundry site.  It took all of 2 min. to make and required little to no effort to accomplish. 

Throwing out all those jugs now....loving the little bucket of dry stuff. 

yeah! I did the same thing after my first batch of liquid and love the dry. Just made a run to the mexican store to get my huge bars of zote soap to make my powder laundry soap. Smells so good!

skitzkle & beekissed: would ya'll share your detergent formulas please

 

[Beekissed]

I do a bar of Fels Naptha(grated), 2 cups of Arm & Hammer washing soda(not baking soda), 2 c. of Borax, 1/2 c. of Oxyclean. I just use 2 T. of the detergent per load, though some say to use only one...I always put extra soap and cleaner in things due to that old adage of "if a little is good, more is better"....though I know that's not always true.

 

[skitzkle]

RECIPE

Each batch yields approximately 32 ounces (between 32-64 loads based on how many Tbsp used per load).

• 1 bar of shaved bar soap (Ivory, ZOTE, Fels-Naptha, etc.)
• 1 cup of borax
• 1 cup of washing soda

LET’S MAKE LAUNDRY SOAP!

Read more at http://www.ourkidsmom.com/2011/01/save-some-green-while-going-green-homemade-laundry-soap/#pChmsyMoEhTrzlJC.99


I use Zote. I buy it at the mexican store. or you can get it at Amazon. I use 1 tablespoon per load. I cut the bar of soap up into ice cube size chunks and put it in my ninja food processor/blender.​