FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[aatx]

Yay! Chicks! Don't you just love them?

Well, they sure don't smell as nice as baby goats or kittens or puppies, but I think I'll adapt!

I really wanted to stay home with them today, but we have our end of semester program tonight that's been scheduled for a year and I do all the technology for it, so can't miss it.

This is my first time being around chicks or chickens, so it's all new to me.

 

[Bethel3330]

I got my chicks home shortly after 8am today. Nutri-drench, water, heat, a couple of baths for pasty butt... then I introduced the feed. I had a strainer on the top of my jar and put a scoop in there while I was getting my plate ready (decided to start with that instead of the troughs I have due to the bantams being so tiny). Drained very nicely. Put a scoop in the plate and spread it out some. Ended up putting three plates in the brooder total. I had to push a few beaks into it, but pretty soon the news spread. With 25, I'm not sure who all was eating and drinking, but the majority were. Sorry for the bad photos due to the red light - this weekend I'll momentarily turn it off to get some better photos, but didn't want to stress them much this first day out of their shipping box.

That is just so stinkin adorable!!

 

[aatx]

 

[mjolrdanlmj]

When my grandmother had about 50 Plymouth rocks, she feed them a mixture of laying mash mixed with scratch and water. She called it sour mash. And after sitting out all day it had a very sour smell. I don't think she was to worried about measuring any amounts just added water till it was the consistency of wet concrete. I make it now and my girls love it. I just add a little water to any left over the next day and they eat it till it's all gone.

 

[LindaB220]

When my grandmother had about 50 Plymouth rocks, she feed them a mixture of laying mash mixed with scratch and water. She called it sour mash. And after sitting out all day it had a very sour smell. I don't think she was to worried about measuring any amounts just added water till it was the consistency of wet concrete. I make it now and my girls love it. I just add a little water to any left over the next day and they eat it till it's all gone.

Hello

Sour mash is good but fermenting it for a few days to start will make it so much better. Then start feeding it out and when you get to almost the bottom add more feed and water and let sit overnight. It will ferment after the first time. Never need to add anything more. Do what you're doing now but make a small bucket of the same and let it sit for 4 days. Then add to the new bucket that you're making at night. Ready to start the next morning. Good luck and keep posting

 

[mjolrdanlmj]

Hello

Sour mash is good but fermenting it for a few days to start will make it so much better. Then start feeding it out and when you get to almost the bottom add more feed and water and let sit overnight. It will ferment after the first time. Never need to add anything more. Do what you're doing now but make a small bucket of the same and let it sit for 4 days. Then add to the new bucket that you're making at night. Ready to start the next morning. Good luck and keep posting

Thanks LindaB220....It's amazing how we remember things from our childhood.. Like the smells of sourmash and poop. My Dad and granny would be proud of me now.

 

[kpgoldstar]

I've tried flat containers , now I'm using a sour cream container I cut in half..... My mixture is like peanut butter....they don't use a heat lamp during the day, and at night the food is on opposite side of lamp. I've just been adding a little dry food on top or oats or eggs on top. ..

Any news on your little ones? I sure hope they aren't starving themselves and will take the to FF soon!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I have two sets of chicks getting the same FF & Scrambled Egg mash ... 10 Heritage Delaware chicks in one coop, 17 Mutts in another coop ... both under a week old. One group is gorging on their mash, the other is pretty much ignoring it. I'll let you guess which group is doing the ignoring.

 

[mjolrdanlmj]

I have two sets of chicks getting the same FF & Scrambled Egg mash ... 10 Heritage Delaware chicks in one coop, 17 Mutts in another coop ... both under a week old. One group is gorging on their mash, the other is pretty much ignoring it. I'll let you guess which group is doing the ignoring.

Let me guess...The uppity Delaware chicks...lol

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Let me guess...The uppity Delaware chicks...lol

Yep!