FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[niqueie]

I'm so sorry that you've had to deal with this. Your birds are loved and cared for very well. Let us know more when you do.

 

[LindaB220]

Now that I know my flock is living with a chronic disease, I believe it's more important than ever to make sure they have the highest level of nutrition.

After the initial shock, I got a hold of myself and decided this isn't as bad as some diseases where I might be required by law to cull my entire flock. Some of them show no signs of the disease, while others have definite symptoms. My oldest, Lady Di, is sporting a tumor over her right eye. Now I know what has caused it. However, she seems otherwise to be in good health, and is even laying an occasional egg at age six. In fact, the flock seems mostly happy and healthy. I got one dozen eggs today from the flock of eighteen, ages one year to six years.

It gives me hope that most of the girls will have good lives and will continue to lay eggs like they are now, with only the normal slow-down as they age. It will be interesting to see how long FF can keep them as normal and healthy as they now seem.

No further word from the lab. Tissue samples were sent to other more sophisticated labs for analysis, and I won't hear anything until next week. I'll post here as soon as I do.

Meanwhile, if anyone stumbles onto this thread with ideas and tips on how to deal with this disease in a flock, I would greatly appreciate any input.

So sorry, honey, google the benefits of tumeric. It's amazing and may help with the tumors.

 

[silcoxalb]

Hi!
I ferment my feed for my 6 chickens.
I use one bucket, mixed feed, a dollop of ACV, and water. Mix fresh in with the old about once per week.
It's been almost 19 weeks; i started them as chicks on day 3.
This thread has been very helpful! I can't say whether I like it better or not, but I CAN say that My brooder is clear, and when they were wee chicks, I could see tons of wasted food settling into the shavings when I fed dry. That stopped when I switched to FF.
As a first time chicken owner, I am happy so far with fermenting the feed.
I'm not so happy that 5 of my 6 supposed BSL pullets turned out to be BA roosters, but such is life!
Anyway, thanks for all of the FF help - I learned a lot while lurking!
~Amanda

 

[Angiebubs]

What does everyone find the easiest to use for feeding the FF in/on? I bought some cheap plastic serving trays at the dollar store.

 

[LindaB220]

Hi!
I ferment my feed for my 6 chickens.
I use one bucket, mixed feed, a dollop of ACV, and water. Mix fresh in with the old about once per week.
It's been almost 19 weeks; i started them as chicks on day 3.
This thread has been very helpful! I can't say whether I like it better or not, but I CAN say that My brooder is clear, and when they were wee chicks, I could see tons of wasted food settling into the shavings when I fed dry. That stopped when I switched to FF.
As a first time chicken owner, I am happy so far with fermenting the feed.
I'm not so happy that 5 of my 6 supposed BSL pullets turned out to be BA roosters, but such is life!
Anyway, thanks for all of the FF help - I learned a lot while lurking!
~Amanda

Amanda, I promise you that fermented feed did not cause you chicks to be roosters.

Join in more. It's fun and we get to know one another.

 

[LindaB220]

What does everyone find the easiest to use for feeding the FF in/on? I bought some cheap plastic serving trays at the dollar store.

That'll work for a while. If you have more chickens buy a rain gutter (under $10) and cut it in half and that gives you two 5' long feeders. Stabilize the ends with a 2"x4" or scrap and you can raise or lower it for what you need. Leslie put hers in an upright cement block. Bottom hole for small and top hole for adults. Neat idea. I had my handyman make a trough 6' long with 2' x 6' pieces. I regret that because my coop is too small for the amount that this would feed.

 

[Angiebubs]

That'll work for a while. If you have more chickens buy a rain gutter (under $10) and cut it in half and that gives you two 5' long feeders. Stabilize the ends with a 2"x4" or scrap and you can raise or lower it for what you need. Leslie put hers in an upright cement block. Bottom hole for small and top hole for adults. Neat idea. I had my handyman make a trough 6' long with 2' x 6' pieces. I regret that because my coop is too small for the amount that this would feed.

I have heard that. I have been using these platters since I started supplementing with FF a little over a year ago-its just a pain to clean them as it drys on. How do you clean the rain gutters out?

 

[kpgoldstar]

What does everyone find the easiest to use for feeding the FF in/on? I bought some cheap plastic serving trays at the dollar store.

I use these desk organizer trays you can get at the hardware store. About $2 each. I have an engraving store so I fashioned this holder for my coop out of scrap acrylic. I wash them out with the hose about once a week, but my girls generally pick them clean each feeding. I only have 4, and that is the only food they get, no access to dry.

 

[LindaB220]

I have heard that. I have been using these platters since I started supplementing with FF a little over a year ago-its just a pain to clean them as it drys on. How do you clean the rain gutters out?

I put out what they can clean up before the next feeding. If any is left I scrap it on the ground. They always eat it first. If you want to clean it ever so often, you can move them easily to the hose and spray down. I use vinegar to clean.

 

[azygous]

Someone here pointed out that without FF, my flock could have been sicker than they have been. I'm counting on FF to give them nearly normal, healthy lives in spite of being infected with a terrible disease.

The lab just called and confirmed the diagnosis of lymphoid leucosis, a form of avian leukemia. It's not Marek's, but it's still viral and contagious. Izzy, my rooster whose corpse I sent to have the necropsy done, had a liver so full of tumors it weighed two pounds! His mama has the disease and passed it to him through the yolk of his egg. His daddy probably succumbed to the bone form of the disease. At the time, I thought he had broken his leg, but he was more likely to have become lame from a bone tumor. Instead of healing, Penrod became sicker and sicker, probably because tumors were taking over his organs as well.

I just got off the phone with my friend who has chicks that spent a few weeks in with my flock before I turned them over to him. He took it better than I thought he would when I told him his flock was also infected and a few of them may become sick in the years to come. This is a very contagious disease, laterally infecting chickens through fecal and dander contact.

Looking back over the years, recalling the various chickens in my flock that have become ill and died, I can see the various manifestations of the disease, which was likely present in the very first adult hens I adopted. One died suddenly overnight, falling dead off her perch, probably because of enlarged organs. Another had to be euthanized because she had become so lame she could no longer stand or walk. She probably had what made Penrod lame.

So, I've had to accept that this is the flock I've been dealt. I'll give them the best care I can and hope for mostly normal lives for them with the help of FF.