FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[bramblefir]

Ha! Some of mine like to lay in it to eat it. Life is just so hard, ya know?

 

[Beekissed]

If one raises chicks with the flock, they won't get as much feed. I'm not saying it's all bad. They just won't grow as fast and perhaps that isn't all bad either.
Feeding chicks twice a day to fill their crops, they won't eat as much as if feed was available constantly. If they foraged all day, they'd be filling their crops more than twice a day.

I disagree with that theory...because I've done it over and over and my chicks grow apace with everyone else's chicks of the same breed and age. Feeding twice a day actually encourages more eating, than less, as the birds are more aware of food competition and will eat more at one setting than they will if they graze small amounts all day long. Salatin found this out when he was going rotational grazing, that stocking more to a smaller area and moving them more frequently resulted in "mob" grazing in which they will eat more and eat everything, instead of picking over the graze, out of sheer food competition.

They report food competition can cause more and better eating habits in livestock than offering continuous feedings, for this very reason. It's really six of one, half dozen of the other, IMO....if they are offered the same amounts of food per day~one group has it continuous and free feeding, and the other has it only in meals~both groups will have eaten the total amount of food given by the end of the day, just one group will have consumed it in larger amounts each time.

How does everyone keep their chicks from stomping the FF down into a "crust". Mine don't want to eat it once they've mashed it down and they all seem to think the only way to eat it is to stand on it. Currently we're using a round serving tray because we couldn't find any of the trough-style with the lid. I imagine the lid would help? Otherwise I think I should start baking cheesecakes on top of all these wonderful crusts.

If there is beaten down feed at the end of the day, stir it up and throw it in the bedding....they will act like it's food from Heaven and scramble to eat it. None will go to waste.

 

[beverly evans]

Everybody, I've got a new one I have yet to read about on here! I have two young roosters that I have been handling a whole lot in an effort to make them more sellable or placeable since no one wants a mean rooster. (They are crosses which makes them less desirable still). Well, I guess I've overdone it! Because they both do the wing dance all around my feet and follow me everywhere talking to me. They jump in my lap and on my shoulders and the WORST today........one of them grabbed onto my pant leg and made love to my foot!! I had rooster cum on my toes! I guess I should be philosophical about it and think, "Gee, it's nice to know that somebody still finds me attractive." Pretend there is an emotacon dying laughing on the floor. (I don't know how to do it.) : )

Also I have a young chicken that I thought had sour crop but Monistat changed nothing and she never had bad breath so I gave up. She still has a swinging crop but is healthy, fiesty with others and runs from the roos without a problem. I named her "Booby", and don't think I'll buy her a bra. She's a Copper Maran. I can't believe how much yuk was removed from that crop! It would have been nice if something had been placed by it in the picture to get a perspective of how much it was. She said it was as large as two fists. That's a "wow"!

 

[Beekissed]

 

[Tikkijane]

Everybody,  I've got a new one I have yet to read about on here!  I have two young roosters that I have been handling a whole lot in an effort to make them more sellable or placeable since no one wants a mean rooster. (They are crosses which makes them less desirable still).  Well, I guess I've overdone it! Because they both do the wing dance all around my feet and follow me everywhere talking to me.  They jump in my lap and on my shoulders and the WORST today........one of them grabbed onto my pant leg and made love to my foot!!  I had rooster cum on my toes!  I guess I should be philosophical about it and think,  "Gee, it's nice to know that somebody still finds me attractive."   Pretend there is an emotacon dying laughing on the floor.  (I don't know how to do it.)    :  )

Also I have a young chicken that I thought had sour crop but Monistat changed nothing and she never had bad breath so I gave up.  She still has a swinging crop but is healthy, fiesty with others and runs from the roos without a problem.  I named her "Booby", and don't think I'll buy her a bra. She's a Copper Maran.  I can't believe how much yuk was removed from that crop!  It would have been nice if something had been placed by it in the picture to get a perspective of how much it was.  She said it was as large as two fists.  That's a "wow"!

Rooster juice on a foot is a new one. But hey, he's in love!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I disagree with that theory...because I've done it over and over and my chicks grow apace with everyone else's chicks of the same breed and age. Feeding twice a day actually encourages more eating, than less, as the birds are more aware of food competition and will eat more at one setting than they will if they graze small amounts all day long. Salatin found this out when he was going rotational grazing, that stocking more to a smaller area and moving them more frequently resulted in "mob" grazing in which they will eat more and eat everything, instead of picking over the graze, out of sheer food competition.

They report food competition can cause more and better eating habits in livestock than offering continuous feedings, for this very reason. It's really six of one, half dozen of the other, IMO....if they are offered the same amounts of food per day~one group has it continuous and free feeding, and the other has it only in meals~both groups will have eaten the total amount of food given by the end of the day, just one group will have consumed it in larger amounts each time.

Here we go again.
It's not a theory.
I just grew out 3 batches of the same breed randomly selected as they came out of the hatcher, pullets and cockerels were evenly distributed. 12 chicks in each batch.
1 group was on FF twice a day from the start, 1 group had probiotics in the water but were free fed dry food, the control group, was free fed dry with chloramine tap water.
I meticulously weighed the food that went into each group down to the gram. Their feed was 16% organic grower mixed 10:1 with fishmeal to equal 20% protein.
I weighed all feed dry for the 3 groups before fermenting so the total input to each flock was documented daily.
I weighed each bird twice a week on a gram scale. The experiment went on for 8 weeks and there was a significant difference.
The first week the FF birds grew faster but as time went on the others not only caught up but eventually grew to be much larger by about 20%. I have to say I was surprised and disappointed. The FF group did use much less feed but after 8 weeks, those free fed looked to be weeks older. These chicks weren't on forage because it was 10 below zero outside with frozen ground covered with snow, so their only food was the 20% grower.
I can post the actual numbers if you want.
Or maybe I just better stop following this thread since you choose to disagree with everything I say.
I have to go to bed anyway. I'm teaching a chicken class at college in the morning.

 

[Aacre]

Everybody,  I've got a new one I have yet to read about on here!  I have two young roosters that I have been handling a whole lot in an effort to make them more sellable or placeable since no one wants a mean rooster. (They are crosses which makes them less desirable still).  Well, I guess I've overdone it! Because they both do the wing dance all around my feet and follow me everywhere talking to me.  They jump in my lap and on my shoulders and the WORST today........one of them grabbed onto my pant leg and made love to my foot!!  I had rooster cum on my toes!  I guess I should be philosophical about it and think,  "Gee, it's nice to know that somebody still finds me attractive."   Pretend there is an emotacon dying laughing on the floor.  (I don't know how to do it.)    :  )

Also I have a young chicken that I thought had sour crop but Monistat changed nothing and she never had bad breath so I gave up.  She still has a swinging crop but is healthy, fiesty with others and runs from the roos without a problem.  I named her "Booby", and don't think I'll buy her a bra. She's a Copper Maran.  I can't believe how much yuk was removed from that crop!  It would have been nice if something had been placed by it in the picture to get a perspective of how much it was.  She said it was as large as two fists.  That's a "wow"!

I've got a 6 week old too that follows me and will do what he can to be right by me.. If he ever makes love to my foot, I'll die!

 

[Beekissed]

That's your choice!

Folks aren't going to agree with everything you say, just like you don't agree with everything I say, but that doesn't really matter to me, nor should it matter to you. That's the beauty of having a community, with each person's experiences being displayed so that anyone can pick and choose from the information. So, you did an experiment and you feel the birds don't grow as quickly or as much and you are satisfied that this completes the totality of the information on that experiment.

But, I don't feel satisfied with that experiment, as I've tried this on a few different breeds now and find their growth patterns right on track, their size comparable with others raising the same breeds of the same age but feeding them free choice, so my information doesn't jive with yours.

Folks are free to choose what they would like to do and no one has to agree with you on every single little thing, no more than they have to agree with me on every single little thing.

We are free to disagree!

Of course, if you want to participate in a thread where everyone always agrees with you, you are more than welcome to do so....that's your prerogative!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I don't need everyone to agree with me. I'm just saying that the assumption that chicks filling their crops twice a day eat more feed than those with feed available 16 hours is absolute nonsense.

 

[LindaB220]

Everybody, I've got a new one I have yet to read about on here! I have two young roosters that I have been handling a whole lot in an effort to make them more sellable or placeable since no one wants a mean rooster. (They are crosses which makes them less desirable still). Well, I guess I've overdone it! Because they both do the wing dance all around my feet and follow me everywhere talking to me. They jump in my lap and on my shoulders and the WORST today........one of them grabbed onto my pant leg and made love to my foot!! I had rooster cum on my toes! I guess I should be philosophical about it and think, "Gee, it's nice to know that somebody still finds me attractive." Pretend there is an emotacon dying laughing on the floor. (I don't know how to do it.) : )

Also I have a young chicken that I thought had sour crop but Monistat changed nothing and she never had bad breath so I gave up. She still has a swinging crop but is healthy, fiesty with others and runs from the roos without a problem. I named her "Booby", and don't think I'll buy her a bra. She's a Copper Maran. I can't believe how much yuk was removed from that crop! It would have been nice if something had been placed by it in the picture to get a perspective of how much it was. She said it was as large as two fists. That's a "wow"!

This is the funniest post I've seen in forever. Here's your emotacon Hit smiley face above and choose. Bahahaha