FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[pegm]

My four girls have not eaten but about half of their regular ration of ff the last week or better. If that. I have been reducing the amount as they have been leaving so much. They normally eat about 1/2 C per day, plus scraps if I have them, but that's not a lot. The last 3 days I have totally eliminated everything but the ff. I just went out (3:30 pm) and they haven't even eaten half of what I fed this morning (6:30 am). They do not free range, but are confined to a coop and run. A few weeks back I partitioned off about 25 sq ft of the run and put in deep litter. Shavings, grass and wonderful horse poop compost that smells like dirt. There were worms in the compost, so I put it in in the evening so the worms would have a chance to establish instead of being immediately eaten. I find it hard to believe they are getting enough out of that deep litter to make them cut their ration consumption in half or more. They are laying nearly every day, seem happy, but hungry. But then, they ALWAYS seem hungry. The ff is the same mix I have always done, same feed etc. Any thoughts on the matter? Also OT, but should I be sprinkling the deep litter to encourage composting? The girls turn it daily

. Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[jerrey]

Hey girlfriend, How are you doing? I've been following your every comment in here and seeing your learning curve as you figure it all out bit by bit. I just didn't have anything to add. You were doing so well all by yourself. Sounds like you've got it all down pat. This is the right place to ask your questions, that's for sure.
I've been dealing with sick chickens lately. I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get a test done to see what the heck they had (have). They are mostly better or over it but one or two are lingering on their recovery. It turns out some diseases that they seem to get over can be with them forever and pass from one generation to the next, so I have to make sure I don't have one of those. If I do I'll have to have a "closed flock", meaning my chickens can never leave my yard and I will have to practice rigid biosecurity to protect others chickens. Let's hope I don't have one of those nasty diseases!

Beverly I got my baby girls today they are really doing good I took each one and put there beaks in the water they took to it right away and I put there feed around on the freezer paper and they did the same I got all my baby chicks from cackle hatchery so far I have real good luck there they are in Lebanon,mo.65536 still learning

 

[niqueie]

Here is the bald spot on her. I can't see her feathers in the nesting material. Is this a broody patch.

Here she is all broody in her nest box

She's a bantam Cochin so broodiness is expected, I just didn't know about pulling out feathers. I can't hatch anything right now so she is sitting on nothing. It's sad.

 

[Tikkijane]

They do pluck some to line the nest and to put their body heat closer to the eggs. All birds do the same thing - except maybe penguins.

^^ this. Totally normal. Mine don't do it to line the nest, but more to get the better heat. The one odd thing I've noticed on my broody bantam cochin is her head going bald on the top, like where the boys would get, although that's not happening now....

 

[niqueie]

Thanks for the reassurance. I'm glad she's not got something wrong with her. I feel bad about her huge sacrifice for no outcome. She doesn't even have any eggs under her. She's only 8.5 months old.

 

[kpgoldstar]

Just get a 5 gallon bucket of water and let it sit overnight. Chlorine will evaporate. Some say use it at once but why chance it.

Not necessarily true. There are two different chemicals used in municipal chlorinating. If your water is sanitized with Chlorine it will evaporate. If Chloramine is used (a combo of chlorine and ammonia) it will not evaporate. I am not sure which one my tap water is treated with and I decided that since I use it for my chickens water, I was not going to worry about it for my FF. I use only feed and water (no starter, ever) and my batches ferment just fine. In fact, with the warmer weather here and my house is 85+ most days it is almost too fermented. Girls turned their noses up when I got low on my last batch. I will be making smaller amounts through the summer since I usually make enough to last about 5 days. I'll be aiming for more like 3.

 

[birdlady79]

Hi, this is normal right? I backslopped yesterday but had a little bit of an emergency last night, so it didn't get stirred.

 

[niqueie]

That looks great. No problems

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Hi, this is normal right? I backslopped yesterday but had a little bit of an emergency last night, so it didn't get stirred.

Wait ... is that green? I never get "colors" on mine. Someone posted a handy chart of "good" vs. "bad" growths ...

I have to admit, since I've been mixing mine very dry and stirring it 2x per day, I don't "see" anything on it. So I'm always fascinated by other people's visible stuff.

 

[Tikkijane]

http://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

Link to pics is in there. Green and hairy I would scoop out....

Wait ... is that green? I never get "colors" on mine. Someone posted a handy chart of "good" vs. "bad" growths ...

I have to admit, since I've been mixing mine very dry and stirring it 2x per day, I don't "see" anything on it. So I'm always fascinated by other people's visible stuff.