FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[kile529]

I just picked up some pullets from TSC and added them to my 3 that hatched this past weekend. I've beed feeding FF since hatching....and they're quite a bit bigger than the ones I got today that are a couple days old. Am I just overly excited about FF and this difference is actually normal? lol

 

[kile529]

I guess that photo doesn't show it very well....lol

 

[Beekissed]

I just picked up some pullets from TSC and added them to my 3 that hatched this past weekend. I've beed feeding FF since hatching....and they're quite a bit bigger than the ones I got today that are a couple days old. Am I just overly excited about FF and this difference is actually normal? lol

No...you are starting to see why we love the FF....so many great benefits from this free method of improving chicken feed. Yep...your chicks are larger.

 

[kile529]

Ok awesome! I was shocked because the ones that I hatched are almost twice the size of the new ones! lol

 

[kpgoldstar]

I know they are a chain, and probably on a big box store similarity, BUT..... there is a TSC being built in my town!!!

Now granted, I live on what we call a desert island. We are 200 miles equidistance from Phoenix, Las Vegas and Palm Springs in a Bermuda triangle. We are not a city or a subdivision from anything. We are alone out here and the nearest closest towns are 45 minutes to an hour and they are smaller than us.

We have a Walmart which is 26 miles roundtrip from my house, no Sam's or Costco. I am just amazed with the minimal of agriculture we have in this area that TSC is even building. We have one VERY small feed store and most of the feed is special order for poultry and equine. She has quite a following for superior dog food.

I will always support the local retailer and will buy my feed from her as long as I give her notice to get it ordered, but everyday supplies it will be great to have TSC here.

 

[pdirt]

If you observe horses in the wild though they are browsers though they live off grasses they also eat various herbs.  A study was done on Mustangs to determine their parasite load.....  Surprisingly very low.  They would come across one that had a hight load of womrs.  Follow him and check him in a month and the worm count would be very low.  HERBAGE...

I think that is true for Chickens and goats that are allowed to forage for part of their diet.  YEp some of those bugs chickens eat might carry a parasite or two but those same chickens may be tasing some sort of herbage that kills off or stops the development....  This is my opinion  I have no research for it.... Just a gut feel..... LOL No pun intended  

Also Worms dont always infect the gut....  the go into the muscle tissues....  the eggs though are layed in the gut so they can be transferred to the next vector....

deb

On worms...I heard a story on NPR last year about a guy who has some sort of autoimmune disease, I forget what particular one. He did his own research and concluded that acquiring worms into his gut (I think it was hookworm) would provide some sort of benefit. He ended up traveling to Africa and visited several pit toilets and walked barefoot around them. He returned home and tested positive for the worms. Iirc, he had before and after tests that showed some sort of measurable difference in his autoimmune condition, being favorable post worms. And he started to feel a lot better and had far fewer symptoms. It's called helmthemic therapy and apparently has some medical facilities (not in the USA, of course) backing it. The theory is that we have historically, until the last 100 years or so, had a symbiotic relationship with some parasites, such as hookworms. I haven't read enough about it to know if "they" know exactly what it is the worms are doing to help people.

I suppose that worms have gotten a bad rap similar to bacteria. Especially those of us who ferment our feed know there are good bacteria and bad ones. I imagine it might be the same for worms.

Here's the story I heard: http://www.radiolab.org/story/91689-parasites/

And while I also do not consider myself a Christian, I do consider myself a friend of Jesus and other enlightened masters and some just great people of our time like MLK and Ghandi. I can relate with just about anyone spiritually if I focus on the essence or feeling of the matter rather than getting tangled up in words or the way different folks may interpret the same words. I accept help, lots of it, from the Great Beyond. I believe we are all cut from the same stone and are fundamentally all equal. I like that there is an openness to spirituality here on this thread as its an important part of my life but I generally keep it rather mum for simplicity sake.

 

[luvblues7]

I was gone for 3 days and was 77 posts behind as well! Luvblues I hope your health issues are resolved and that you are on the road to recovery. I am not even going to talk about worms or parasites... I live in the parched desert, and my very small flock of 4 is healthy and thriving. I don't think they have them or can get them and I have no plans to ever treat for them. Just my personal opinion. After reading these last few posts, I just may add some garlic and ginger to their feed occasionally.

As for religion, I have different beliefs from many of you but that does not deter me from being a part of this thread. I enjoy the conversations, banter, and the interaction and I respect anyone's belief in their devotion to their chosen deity. Don't think badly of me if I don't share your views and I will never do the same likewise.

Back to our chickens...what an adorable pic!!! How many did you order? For that volume I would say that 2 dead within a day is not too bad of odds. How are your iffy ones? Did they make it? I am counting 21 in the brooder box!

My girls were just starting to lay the week before I had to leave town. I left early Wednesday morning and just got back this afternoon. The 2 weeks leading up to our trip we were not getting an egg a day yet. Maybe every other day, pretty sure we had one consistent layer and a new one just started with not seeing the 2nd egg from her yet. My chicken babysitters got two eggs Wednesday night then had an egg Thursday morning!! I have never had a morning egg yet! They got another 2 eggs Thursday evening with one from what they think may be another new hen laying - so now I probably have 3 of 4 laying - yippee! They got another one Friday morning and we got 2 eggs this afternoon. I hope I am well on my way to 3-4 eggs a day! Could be that they fed WAY more than I normally would have over the couple days but oh well. I am happy I have reliable chicken watchers!

Welcome home KP. I noticed you hadn't posted in a couple days. So thrilled to read about your increase of eggs. I've had chickens for several years and I get so excited each day when I collect the eggs. It's such a simple pleasure given to us from our loving Father. Wish all things in life could be so pure and simple.

I ordered 26 chicks from Welp hatchery. 15 Speckled Sussex and 11 Partridge Rocks. Welp has always treated me fairly and I really like their customer service. This is the first time I have had any issues with their chicks and I don't blame them this time either. The day the chicks shipped the temperatures dropped down into the teens that night and only warmed up to the 40's during the day. So far I have lost 3 Sussex and 1 Partridge Rock but I'm surprised that any made it alive in those temps. Called Welp and they said just call Monday and tell them how many died and they would refund my money. I think that is very fair. One of the Sussex chicks has a "cow lick". Never seen anything like it.

Ok awesome! I was shocked because the ones that I hatched are almost twice the size of the new ones! lol

That's amazing Kile. What type of chicks did you purchase?

Bee I feel like I owe you an apology for stirring up such a controversy on the subject of worming chickens. Didn't know it would start such a stir. But I have seen the term "DE" what is that?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

...

As for religion, I have different beliefs from many of you but that does not deter me from being a part of this thread. I enjoy the conversations, banter, and the interaction and I respect anyone's belief in their devotion to their chosen deity. Don't think badly of me if I don't share your views and I will never do the same likewise.
...
My girls were just starting to lay the week before I had to leave town. I left early Wednesday morning and just got back this afternoon. The 2 weeks leading up to our trip we were not getting an egg a day yet. Maybe every other day, pretty sure we had one consistent layer and a new one just started with not seeing the 2nd egg from her yet. My chicken babysitters got two eggs Wednesday night then had an egg Thursday morning!! I have never had a morning egg yet! They got another 2 eggs Thursday evening with one from what they think may be another new hen laying - so now I probably have 3 of 4 laying - yippee! They got another one Friday morning and we got 2 eggs this afternoon. I hope I am well on my way to 3-4 eggs a day! Could be that they fed WAY more than I normally would have over the couple days but oh well. I am happy I have reliable chicken watchers!

I missed the crux of the religion discussion but you make a good point. Everyone doesn't raise chickens the same, doesn't mean one is right and everyone else is wrong.
It's a shame that some faiths are tainted by intolerance of others. Many religions I've learned about teach that theirs is the only way. IMO, the problem with religion over faith.
How is it possible that every religious person is correct that theirs is the one true faith and every one else is wrong? That's a mutually exclusive situation and the math doesn't work
...
Longer days are here and every 3 or 4 days, another older hen and a new pullet start laying.

I just picked up some pullets from TSC and added them to my 3 that hatched this past weekend. I've beed feeding FF since hatching....and they're quite a bit bigger than the ones I got today that are a couple days old. Am I just overly excited about FF and this difference is actually normal? lol

TSCs chicks were shipped so could have gone 2 days longer without food than yours.
I recently did a comparison of 3 groups; FF and de-chlorinated water, dry feed and de-chlor probiotic water, dry feed and chlorinated water.
The test went well for the first couple weeks and group 1 was ahead, group 2 was only slightly ahead of 3. After that (long story) my research went downhill because of the incredibly cold weather and, among other problems, I couldn't keep enough FF on group 1 and basically they were on restricted feed while 2 and 3 were on full feed. The result is that the FF chicks are MUCH smaller than the other 2 groups.
I'll be doing the same experiment on the next hatch but with better weather, they'll have more space, sunlight and the ability to keep all groups on full feed - both dry and FF.

Ok awesome! I was shocked because the ones that I hatched are almost twice the size of the new ones! lol

Keep in mind how fast chicks grow so yours are almost a week older and should be much bigger.

On worms...I heard a story on NPR last year about a guy who has some sort of autoimmune disease, I forget what particular one. He did his own research and concluded that acquiring worms into his gut (I think it was hookworm) would provide some sort of benefit. He ended up traveling to Africa and visited several pit toilets and walked barefoot around them. He returned home and tested positive for the worms. Iirc, he had before and after tests that showed some sort of measurable difference in his autoimmune condition, being favorable post worms. And he started to feel a lot better and had far fewer symptoms. It's called helmthemic therapy and apparently has some medical facilities (not in the USA, of course) backing it. The theory is that we have historically, until the last 100 years or so, had a symbiotic relationship with some parasites, such as hookworms. I haven't read enough about it to know if "they" know exactly what it is the worms are doing to help people.

I suppose that worms have gotten a bad rap similar to bacteria. Especially those of us who ferment our feed know there are good bacteria and bad ones. I imagine it might be the same for worms.

Here's the story I heard: http://www.radiolab.org/story/91689-parasites/

And while I also do not consider myself a Christian, I do consider myself a friend of Jesus and other enlightened masters and some just great people of our time like MLK and Ghandi. I can relate with just about anyone spiritually if I focus on the essence or feeling of the matter rather than getting tangled up in words or the way different folks may interpret the same words. I accept help, lots of it, from the Great Beyond. I believe we are all cut from the same stone and are fundamentally all equal. I like that there is an openness to spirituality here on this thread as its an important part of my life but I generally keep it rather mum for simplicity sake.

That is another example where keeping things perfectly sterile can actually work against optimal health.
Just as prophylactic use of antibiotics and wormers is a bad idea.
A baby chick raised by a healthy broody hen benefits by picking up bits of her feces, thereby inoculating its own gut with the same beneficial bacteria that is in hers.
A baby chick in a brooder that is kept sterile will never get that and unless one includes probiotics early in brooding, there is better opportunity for pathogens to populate the intestines.

Bee I feel like I owe you an apology for stirring up such a controversy on the subject of worming chickens. Didn't know it would start such a stir. But I have seen the term "DE" what is that?

Diatomaceous Earth. But for chickens or other animals, be sure it is food grade and no other is acceptable for use.

 

[chickengirl1193]

My girls favorite kitchen scrap is leftover sweet potato, butternut squash skins and flesh! We eat lots of winter squash and always feed the scraps the next morning. By that night, not a speck left!

I don't know about beer. Everything I have read says alcohol is a complete no-no for chickens. I personally wouldn't add beer to the ff process. Once your bucket is fermented you really have no need to add any more to it. Just continue to refresh your bucket when it gets low and the feed left behind will inoculate your new batch.

This.may be my ignorance again, but when fermenting feed dont you naturally create some alcohol anyway? Or is this a different kind of.fermentation?
Sometimes my feed has a slight alcohol smell

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They're not the same thing.
sauerkraut doesn't have alcohol for instance.

Alcohol fermentation is from anaerobic growth of various species of the yeast Saccharomyces.
http://faculty.unlv.edu/landau/alcohol.htm