FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Beekissed]

I'm going to give you a nugget I've learned over the years through experimentation in different seasons, ages and breeds of chickens...one cannot make them lay by increasing nutrients past a balanced ration. Laying is dependent upon hormones and only in severe cases does it have anything to do with nutritional deficiencies..and I don't think anyone's chickens are starving around here. Because people feel helpless about egg cycles, they will start providing more lighting in the winter(this can fool hormone levels and stimulate some lay) or increasing proteins and calcium in an attempt to MAKE those chickens lay...right NOW.

Been there, done that...it doesn't work. They will lay when they are hormonally ready and not until and those hormones fluctuate according to the seasons. I can feed all my hens right now until feed comes out their nostrils but it will not make those who are not laying start to lay. Conversely, I cannot decrease nutrition and feed amounts and keep a chicken who is laying from laying unless I were to starve her into such a state she was too anorexic to lay...and even then, some birds will keep trying to crank out eggs and literally lay themselves to death as vital nutrients are diverted to reproduction.
*******************************************************************************
The Dave Leghorn Story is a thread that started from another thread where one posts random pics of chickens and other people write appropriately funny captions to describe what the chicken is thinking...and a story started to shape itself there and became a funny story about deceit, betrayal, jealousy, rage and, finally, murder...and then it went into a full on crime spree in a small community of chickens the likes of which one has never seen except maybe in India or Bogota, Columbia. It cannot be fully explained but must be read...slowly and with tissues in hand so you can laugh 'til you cry because it's really punny!

Members are encouraged to add to the story if they keep it around the original theme and above all else, keep it funny. Some do not understand that concept or they simply do not understand what is meant by "funny" but most are joining in the spirit of it all and have turned out some extremely funny stuff.

It's one of those threads you have to read from the beginning or you will miss "key" points and lose the line of the story...but you won't mind reading the whole thread over and over..it's that worth it. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-murder-mystery-of-epically-punny-proportions

 

[Trina Bambina]

So glad I went back and read some of the posts I had missed...all caught up and now I know that:

1) My FF was stinkin' because I was not stirring it and it was going anarobic

2) My birds are in great condition and have beautiful breasts

3) If you don't have a sense of humor, maybe this in not the place for you....

4) ...but if you do...you should get out the Depends before you start reading, 'cause Bee and her cronies will keep you running for the outhouse!

Thanks y'all!

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:

Yer a hoot!! So THAT'S why the FF stinks!!! Good to know.....

 

[beverly evans]

I'm going to give you a nugget I've learned over the years through experimentation in different seasons, ages and breeds of chickens...one cannot make them lay by increasing nutrients past a balanced ration. Laying is dependent upon hormones and only in severe cases does it have anything to do with nutritional deficiencies..and I don't think anyone's chickens are starving around here. Because people feel helpless about egg cycles, they will start providing more lighting in the winter(this can fool hormone levels and stimulate some lay) or increasing proteins and calcium in an attempt to MAKE those chickens lay...right NOW.

Been there, done that...it doesn't work. They will lay when they are hormonally ready and not until and those hormones fluctuate according to the seasons. I can feed all my hens right now until feed comes out their nostrils but it will not make those who are not laying start to lay. Conversely, I cannot decrease nutrition and feed amounts and keep a chicken who is laying from laying unless I were to starve her into such a state she was too anorexic to lay...and even then, some birds will keep trying to crank out eggs and literally lay themselves to death as vital nutrients are diverted to reproduction.
*******************************************************************************
The Dave Leghorn Story is a thread that started from another thread where one posts random pics of chickens and other people write appropriately funny captions to describe what the chicken is thinking...and a story started to shape itself there and became a funny story about deceit, betrayal, jealousy, rage and, finally, murder...and then it went into a full on crime spree in a small community of chickens the likes of which one has never seen except maybe in India or Bogota, Columbia. It cannot be fully explained but must be read...slowly and with tissues in hand so you can laugh 'til you cry because it's really punny!

Members are encouraged to add to the story if they keep it around the original theme and above all else, keep it funny. Some do not understand that concept or they simply do not understand what is meant by "funny" but most are joining in the spirit of it all and have turned out some extremely funny stuff.

It's one of those threads you have to read from the beginning or you will miss "key" points and lose the line of the story...but you won't mind reading the whole thread over and over..it's that worth it. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-murder-mystery-of-epically-punny-proportions

It sounds very long so I will read it instead of TV tonite - - got too much to do before light goes away. Thank you for letting me in on the fun. I will catch up soon! : )

 

[fenwickchic]

Well...I'm not one for cooking anything for a chicken, so I'm going to vote NO on cooking meat meant for humans for a feather duster.

Just simple feed, fermented in a bucket...it does a chicken good. That's all. I know it just sounds too simple and there must be a catch to it, but there isn't. The source I have shows distillers and brewers grains(pretty much watered down FF grains) sitting at 25 and 24% protein, respectively, and that's way higher than I ever recommend...if it wasn't a more perfect protein in the form of amino acids, I'd never recommend protein higher than 16%. This fermentation takes your simple chicken feed and supersizes the proteins, minerals and vitamins so no further supplementation is needed at that point. And that's the point of the fermenting...to take something weak and make it strong, something cheap and make it luxurious..but still cheap, something simple and keep it simple.


You think that's funny...the Dave Leghorn story is worthy of wearing incontinence pads..for real.

So sorry you are sneezing..but as long as your eyes and nose are a runnin', go laugh 'til you cry about ol' Dave. You'll love the one about Dolly Carton and her list of songs that have topped the country and poop charts.

Well I don't really call what I'm doing cooking but it comes very close. My husband does the cooking because I hate to do it. So he can't believe that I'm using a food chopper to chop up the insides of green peppers, tomato scraps, turnip greens, zucchini, kale, carrot scrapings, apple cores, older fruit (not rotten), etc. to put in their feed bins because I don't want to just throw it on the ground and get their poop on the veggies in the chicken tractor. I do ferment their feed and they seem to really like it, though my daughter will not feed them "that slop" LOL. She gives them dry in the early a.m. I feed the chopped raw foods early afternoon and then I feed them the fermented feed an hour or so before it gets dark and they go into the sheltered area of the tractor for the night. I must say that they want those chopped raw foods more than any of the pellets or grains we give them.
I have a sand box inside the tractor but they are still digging holes in order to get to bugs/worms. They are so funny when they find one. They squawk and chase each other around. I sure hope my lawn recovers for spring from their holes. I am going to move their tractor up onto our concrete patio for the winter so they can be near an outlet and we can keep their water warmed with heater tape on the pvc waterer if necessary and I'll just deep liter. I don't really think they are going to like it though. They are spoiled and like being in the grass and like when I let them out of the tractor to roam the yard. I can only do that when I put up portable fencing and am working outside so I can watch them. I'm planning my garden/compost area for next spring so that I can let them work the compost and weed the garden perimeter. Hopefully, DH will help do the double garden fencing and compost fencing area. I know he thinks I've gone off the deep end. LOL

 

[beverly evans]

Well I don't really call what I'm doing cooking but it comes very close. My husband does the cooking because I hate to do it. So he can't believe that I'm using a food chopper to chop up the insides of green peppers, tomato scraps, turnip greens, zucchini, kale, carrot scrapings, apple cores, older fruit (not rotten), etc. to put in their feed bins because I don't want to just throw it on the ground and get their poop on the veggies in the chicken tractor. I do ferment their feed and they seem to really like it, though my daughter will not feed them "that slop" LOL. She gives them dry in the early a.m. I feed the chopped raw foods early afternoon and then I feed them the fermented feed an hour or so before it gets dark and they go into the sheltered area of the tractor for the night. I must say that they want those chopped raw foods more than any of the pellets or grains we give them.
I have a sand box inside the tractor but they are still digging holes in order to get to bugs/worms. They are so funny when they find one. They squawk and chase each other around. I sure hope my lawn recovers for spring from their holes. I am going to move their tractor up onto our concrete patio for the winter so they can be near an outlet and we can keep their water warmed with heater tape on the pvc waterer if necessary and I'll just deep liter. I don't really think they are going to like it though. They are spoiled and like being in the grass and like when I let them out of the tractor to roam the yard. I can only do that when I put up portable fencing and am working outside so I can watch them. I'm planning my garden/compost area for next spring so that I can let them work the compost and weed the garden perimeter. Hopefully, DH will help do the double garden fencing and compost fencing area. I know he thinks I've gone off the deep end. LOL

I don't have a nice lawn in the back yard, only weed grass but it was FLAT. Now I have holes everywhere! Even when the ground is wet they dig it up and not the scratching for bugs but to wallow in. I made them a lovely dust bathing area near the coop with nice store bought sandbox sand and lots of DE. Do you think they would use it? Hell, no! The brats! Sorry, your lawn won't recover.
I think this is one of the times, "stupid as a chicken" applies - - - When a hen finds a juicy bug she invariably says in chicken talk, "Ooooo, I've got a bug!" and instantly everybody comes running to try to get it from her. It's really funny when it is something big she can't eat immediately eat like a gecko and then it changes hands many times all over the yard before it gets so mushed up that someone manages to swallow it whole.
Your babies are indeed spoiled. How many do you have? : )

 

[skitzkle]

Ok I have a new question! Lol
I feed my chicks ff, they r 3 weeks old now. Of course they walk through it and then they get balls of sand stuck on their toenails bc the brooder is filled with sand. I try to keep them clean but it seems impossible. Then today I was trying to get some of these sand balls of ones tie & it started to bleed. I use chicken nipples so there is no water to walk in but the moist feed. They also get it all over thier chests & heads. Should I just leave it?

 

[Beekissed]

Leave it and change out from the sand to shavings as those are too big to cling to their feet. You might also arrange a feeder situation where they don't get into it so very much...at 3 wks they should be able to eat out of a trough style feeder and you can place a wire net over the feeder so they cannot walk into it so easily. Mine at 3 wks were out on range, so the dew from the grass would wash the feed from their feet, as well as the deep litter in the coop kind of cleansing their feet via pure friction, so I never had the issue of feed clinging to the chick past the 2 wks mark.

Just some simple adaptations are needed to adjust the chick to the feeding method so that these things don't become a problem.

 

[kpgoldstar]

My chicks are still able to walk in the feed, but that is not my biggest issue. The fact that the wet feed spews about when they are eating and splashes on their heads and chests so they are on the crispy side when you pick them up. I have sand as bedding in my coop and nothing clings to their feet. Still OK to just leave crusted feed on their body parts?

 

[Beekissed]

You might see them plucking one another for the feed but if they don't do that, no worries. Might try making the feed thicker as well. Placing a wire over the feeder will help with flicking of feeds also. They may be slinging their heads to clear their beaks and I'm not sure how birds do on sand, but mine wipe their beaks on the bedding, so no slopping on their bodies even at that young age.