FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[LeslieDJoyce]

I'm just as picky with my feeders as I am with my buckets. I want to make sure the feed isn't going to damage the feeder (saves me having to buy/make new ones), but I'm also I'm concerned about the feed leaching stuff out of the feeders. So ...

the only metal I'd use would be stainless steel (yes, other metals can leach lots of nasty stuff, but FF can damage metal pretty quickly),

I wouldn't use "treated" lumber for a feeder (this includes plywood and, IMO, painted wood),

and I prefer fresh "food grade" plastics.

Glass/enamel are nice for lots of reasons and I consider them "safe" in theory, but old-school enamel can still have toxins, and when I was using pyrex loaf pans for my FF, the edges got chipped which "ruined" them IMO, but also "where did the chip of glass go?" concerned me.

Some people will say this is "wrong" of me to be careful about these things, but I find "being careful" up front saves me headaches down the line. It took me too long to get my PVC troughs set up (not because they were hard to set up, but because it took an extra pair of hands to do the cutting), but they are working out really well and are saving us lots of time & effort. A bonus is the cement blocks they are set in give the birds a great rough surface where they can rub their beaks, which is good for the birds.

 

[n3kms]

I'm just as picky with my feeders as I am with my buckets. I want to make sure the feed isn't going to damage the feeder (saves me having to buy/make new ones), but I'm also I'm concerned about the feed leaching stuff out of the feeders. So ...

the only metal I'd use would be stainless steel (yes, other metals can leach lots of nasty stuff, but FF can damage metal pretty quickly),

I wouldn't use "treated" lumber for a feeder (this includes plywood and, IMO, painted wood),

and I prefer fresh "food grade" plastics.

Glass/enamel are nice for lots of reasons and I consider them "safe" in theory, but old-school enamel can still have toxins, and when I was using pyrex loaf pans for my FF, the edges got chipped which "ruined" them IMO, but also "where did the chip of glass go?" concerned me. 

Some people will say this is "wrong" of me to be careful about these things, but I find "being careful" up front saves me headaches down the line. It took me too long to get my PVC troughs set up (not because they were hard to set up, but because it took an extra pair of hands to do the cutting), but they are working out really well and are saving us lots of time & effort. A bonus is the cement blocks they are set in give the birds a great rough surface where they can rub their beaks, which is good for the birds.

Have you posted pics somewhere of those? I'd like to check them out

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I wish! Not in my neck of the woods anyway. I had them out for a garage sale and couldn't get $10 each for them. New ones around here are not expensive and look exactly the same. Leave them out in the rain for a bit and you've got yourself an antique. Too bad nobody wants them. : )

Try e-bay.

I'm just as picky with my feeders as I am with my buckets. I want to make sure the feed isn't going to damage the feeder (saves me having to buy/make new ones), but I'm also I'm concerned about the feed leaching stuff out of the feeders. So ...

the only metal I'd use would be stainless steel (yes, other metals can leach lots of nasty stuff, but FF can damage metal pretty quickly),

I wouldn't use "treated" lumber for a feeder (this includes plywood and, IMO, painted wood),

and I prefer fresh "food grade" plastics.

Glass/enamel are nice for lots of reasons and I consider them "safe" in theory, but old-school enamel can still have toxins, and when I was using pyrex loaf pans for my FF, the edges got chipped which "ruined" them IMO, but also "where did the chip of glass go?" concerned me.

Some people will say this is "wrong" of me to be careful about these things, but I find "being careful" up front saves me headaches down the line. It took me too long to get my PVC troughs set up (not because they were hard to set up, but because it took an extra pair of hands to do the cutting), but they are working out really well and are saving us lots of time & effort. A bonus is the cement blocks they are set in give the birds a great rough surface where they can rub their beaks, which is good for the birds.

I agree on all points.
PVC is a good idea.
Here is another option.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PVC-Sintra-...695?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53f6c6b70f
PVC sheet can be stapled, nailed, screwed, glued or welded. You can take a sheet of this and cut it into lengths and make one or more troughs, leaving enough material to make the ends. It will be much easier to clean than wooden troughs.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Have you posted pics somewhere of those? I'd like to check them out

Yes. There are photos in this thread. If you look at the photos in Gallery View you can find them just as fast as I could ... as well as photos of other people's solutions. Lots of good ideas.

I've also posted some photos of solutions I'm experimenting with to help really fresh chicks being raised by hens ... but those are a work in progress. Really fresh chicks can't jump up into (or out of!) the troughs for a few weeks, and the hens raising them are extremely bossy about what and where the chicks eat. The hens like to do some extreme scratching, then cluck and peck to teach the chicks how to forage. But the flinging that happens when they scratch buries low feeders in bedding. Hens with chicks do SO much scratching & flinging.

ETA: over on the right, up near the top, there is a headline that says "Recent Images In This Thread" and then there is a "View All" link to click ... that should give you hours of fun.

 

[niqueie]

My favorite bantam frizzled Cochin died suddenly overnight. We had just been enjoying her antics last night while watching her on the grass. We held her and just had a great time with her. I saw her poo was very well formed with the usual white cap on it. She was scratching in the grass and acting normal. She kind of laid down at the end of the night in the grass but it was roosting time so we took her back to the coop and she was found dead the next morning very mysteriously. She was just on the ground where she usually roosts. No weazing, nothing out of the ordinary.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

My favorite bantam frizzled Cochin died suddenly overnight. We had just been enjoying her antics last night while watching her on the grass. We held her and just had a great time with her. I saw her poo was very well formed with the usual white cap on it. She was scratching in the grass and acting normal. She kind of laid down at the end of the night in the grass but it was roosting time so we took her back to the coop and she was found dead the next morning very mysteriously. She was just on the ground where she usually roosts. No weazing, nothing out of the ordinary.

No symptoms, no necropsy - it could have been 100 different things.

 

[beverly evans]

See, I knew ya'll would have lots of good ideas. I think my problem is I just can't picture how big they are going to be. I have one of the long ones that I got today at TSC. It was $5.99 and I had to get pine shavings anyway. Thought I would go ahead and screw it to some scraps of 2X4 and when the holes are too small I'll take the top off and when they outgrow that I'll see about a gutter type. I'm going to get a few more chicks so I will be able to use all of the stuff I have now again.

LindaB220, I had thought about making a feeder out of 2X4s, I must have seen it on this sight somewhere because I doubt I could think that up myself. But I couldn't remember for sure and I didn't know if it would last and if it ever needed cleaning, would it clean well.

ChickenCanoe, I normally would agree about Tennessee weather. It has been mid to upper 80's and mid 60's at night. I would be getting them out of that box here in the next couple of days but the day they turn 4 weeks old it is predicted to be 45 at night and 65 during the day. They seem to do fine in the box. They don't fight and they have different things to sit on. I have been taking them out to the run (which is about 300 sq ft). for an outing on most days but after the trouble I had catching them all this evening it may be the last time until they're out permanently. We pretty much finished the coop today. At least finished enough to put them in, I think. What do you think about the weather come Wednesday? I think by next weekend it is back to 80 again and 60 at night. I hate having them in there another whole week. They are growing so fast. This is the coop and run, It's not finished in this picture.

Super cool coop! I like the people door. Mine is like that too.

 

[beverly evans]

Quote: LJ, you usually have all the answers to people's questions (not meant sarcastically) so I'll try you, as this is the current topic. I've asked before but got no response. Do you think the iron that comes from the rust on my cast iron pots can hurt the chickens? Someone told me that people have always used them and if it didn't hurt our grandparents it surely won't hurt the chickens. Your opinion? THX

 

[ChickenCanoe]

All animals need some iron, as with all metals, even those considered toxic.
For good growth and health, living things require varying amounts of "heavy" or "toxic" metals in the diet. iron, cobalt, copper, manganese, zinc, etc.. To determine the amount that is harmful is probably beyond the scope of a forum discussion.
Excessive levels can be harmful. Other heavy metals such as mercury and lead are toxic and their accumulation, over time, can cause serious illness. Certain elements that are normally toxic are, for certain organisms or under certain conditions, beneficial. Since the topic is iron, I'll forgo discussion of vanadium, tungsten and cadmium.

As the saying goes, "all things in moderation". I avoid rusty water or rusty feed containers.

 

[Meadowchick]

Trefoil - I enjoyed that gardenbetty.com info on the fermented feed...the website is really neat! THX!