FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[dolfi]

Lol I personally don't like the texture of liver.
On another note, I bought some grow feed from my feed store and mentioned that I was going to ff it. She said not to. That the chicks needed starter feed with medicine in it. She sound like she new what she was talking about. The thing is that I feel that my 18 weeks old are not growing as expected. They are about getting in laying age and look at 3/4 of what they should. Do they keep growing after they start laying?

 

[Em Ty]

I worked at a feed store for 3-1/2 years when I was a kid and I tried my best to learn everything that I could about feed. Many farmers did what I suggested as a 16 year old because they knew I wouldn't tell them anything if I wasn't absolutely certain of what I was telling them. With that in mind, please believe that the people in feed stores don't know anything about actual animal nutrition, as a rule. Unless she raises animals and has direct experience with FF and with feeding medicated vs. non-medicated, her advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.

I've only been raising animals (mostly chickens with some quail and rabbits, not including my pet dogs) for 3 years now, but I've NEVER given them medicated feed. If they're raised conventionally, with high stocking rates in poorly ventilated confinement conditions, they need medicated feed. If not, they don't.

FF will give them access to more of the nutrients in the feed and help with their immune system, IMO. There's research to back that up.

As far as liver is concerned, buy it from cows that were exclusively grass fed and don't over-cook it. It's actually quite good and it's very good for you.

 

[dolfi]

I worked at a feed store for 3-1/2 years when I was a kid and I tried my best to learn everything that I could about feed.  Many farmers did what I suggested as a 16 year old because they knew I wouldn't tell them anything if I wasn't absolutely certain of what I was telling them.  With that in mind, please believe that the people in feed stores don't know anything about actual animal nutrition, as a rule.  Unless she raises animals and has direct experience with FF and with feeding medicated vs. non-medicated, her advice is worth exactly what you paid for it. 

I've only been raising animals (mostly chickens with some quail and rabbits, not including my pet dogs) for 3 years now, but I've NEVER given them medicated feed.  If they're raised conventionally, with high stocking rates in poorly ventilated confinement conditions, they need medicated feed.  If not, they don't. 

FF will give them access to more of the nutrients in the feed and help with their immune system, IMO.  There's research to back that up. 

As far as liver is concerned, buy it from cows that were exclusively grass fed and don't over-cook it.  It's actually quite good and it's very good for you.

Thank you

 

[Beekissed]

Lol I personally don't like the texture of liver.
On another note, I bought some grow feed from my feed store and mentioned that I was going to ff it. She said not to. That the chicks needed starter feed with medicine in it. She sound like she new what she was talking about. The thing is that I feel that my 18 weeks old are not growing as expected. They are about getting in laying age and look at 3/4 of what they should. Do they keep growing after they start laying?

What Em Ty said! And, yes, they continue to grow after they sexually mature and get much bigger, more bulky as time goes by.

No chick ever needs feed with medicine in it....chicks have survived and thrived for thousands of years without amprollium in their feed.

 

[Em Ty]

I have learned to gather much of what I know from books whenever possible. You would think that by consuming so much cholesterol not only from all those eggs but also from the additional beef liver, etc that I consume that I would somehow be a heart attack waiting to happen. But if you read enough well researched material on cholesterol in the way of several dozen books over the years you come to realize it's not true and that so many are making so much money from demonizing cholesterol that the egg has become an unfortunate casualty. You also then come to the conclusion that much of the rest of the information many are conditioned to believe is also not true. At 53 I look at my peers and I would consider myself in the upper percentile in health, strength and stamina

Additionally what I like about eggs outside of them being delicious is that as far as proteins go they are not only the highest rated in bioavailability but they are the lowest on the insulin index and the less insulin your body needs to produce the better health you will have long term. Helps to keep bodyfat levels low too as a bonus.

Eating a couple dozen eggs is not unusual for me and although it may sound strange sometimes even more.............I'm into the health thing and that is partly why I raise hens and feeding the hens fermented feed helps to keep them healthy too.

I eat 2-1/2 to 3 dozen eggs a week now. I'm diabetic and changed my diet to paleo last summer. I couldn't afford half my diabetes medication, but my blood work was fantastic. My doctor couldn't believe that my blood sugar was so good when I was off half my medication. My cholesterol was still quite good, even on 2.5-3 dozen eggs a week, buy my doctor wasn't happy with that many eggs. I think my blood tests speak for themselves, especially since there is NO scientific correlation between cholesterol and health issues.

I feed my girls non-GMO feed and my scraps. They eat better than I do, so I have no qualms eating as many eggs as I do. Their eggs are the best food that I eat, and I make a point of eating as well as possible. I'd eat more eggs if I didn't live in a semi-detached 2 blocks from downtown; I give my neighbours as many eggs as I can. Chickens are illegal where I live.

That said, I recently hatched 40 quail, with more in the incubator. I've got 3 laying now and their eggs are SO much better than my chicken eggs, and that's saying something. I'm actually considering graduating my chicken hens and going with only quail. Quail eggs are THAT good.

 

[lazy gardener]

On another note, I bought some grow feed from my feed store and mentioned that I was going to ff it. She said not to. That the chicks needed starter feed with medicine in it. She sound like she new what she was talking about. The thing is that I feel that my 18 weeks old are not growing as expected. They are about getting in laying age and look at 3/4 of what they should. Do they keep growing after they start laying?

Yes, they will get a bit bigger after they start laying. Consider that they are "teen agers" right now. As far as feed store employees go, you can pretty much ignore that advice. They wouldn't know a bucket of FF if they stepped in it. Nor would they know the benefits of FF. And, as far as medicated vs. non medicated feed... many of us do not use medicated feed and have NEVER had issue with coccidiosis. If chicks are raised well, and their immune system is nurtured from an early age, it's not the issue that they'd have you believe it to be. Within the first week, after my chicks are eating well, I see to it that they get a plug of sod from my yard. It's loaded with: bacteria and fungi to get their gut flora off to a healthy start, grit, minerals, small insects, seeds, greens, and they'll have their first dust bath. I've had to argue with feed store employees to get a bag of multi flock instead of their medicated chick starter. They'll stand behind their counter, shake their heads at me and tell me that I'm gonna kill my chicks. Really????

I eat 2-1/2 to 3 dozen eggs a week now. I'm diabetic and changed my diet to paleo last summer. I couldn't afford half my diabetes medication, but my blood work was fantastic. My doctor couldn't believe that my blood sugar was so good when I was off half my medication. My cholesterol was still quite good, even on 2.5-3 dozen eggs a week, buy my doctor wasn't happy with that many eggs. I think my blood tests speak for themselves, especially since there is NO scientific correlation between cholesterol and health issues.

I feed my girls non-GMO feed and my scraps. They eat better than I do, so I have no qualms eating as many eggs as I do. Their eggs are the best food that I eat, and I make a point of eating as well as possible. I'd eat more eggs if I didn't live in a semi-detached 2 blocks from downtown; I give my neighbours as many eggs as I can. Chickens are illegal where I live.

That said, I recently hatched 40 quail, with more in the incubator. I've got 3 laying now and their eggs are SO much better than my chicken eggs, and that's saying something. I'm actually considering graduating my chicken hens and going with only quail. Quail eggs are THAT good.

Em, you've almost got me convinced that I need to grow some quail.

 

[Jensownzoo]

That said, I recently hatched 40 quail, with more in the incubator.  I've got 3 laying now and their eggs are SO much better than my chicken eggs, and that's saying something.   I'm actually considering graduating my chicken hens and going with only quail.  Quail eggs are THAT good.

Uh-oh. I think you just added to my poultry flock...

 

[Em Ty]

Uh-oh. I think you just added to my poultry flock...

I just had my first full quail egg and bacon breakfast with 11 eggs. That was the first time in my life that the eggs outshined the bacon. People love my chicken eggs and I've had great duck eggs, but the quail eggs win hands down.

Go on, you know you want to...

 

[aart]

Quote: I've considered quail...for meat and eggs...small space, quick maturity.

 

[Em Ty]

So, being completely true to my nature, I both half-assed it and jumped in with both feet. I started fermenting yesterday morning and last evening I gave my 8 day old quail some partially fermented feed. I left the last bit of dry crumbles in there and added the FF. This morning there was still some FF left, but not too much.

So, when the last of that got low, I added more FF, stuff that had been fermenting only for 24 hours now. It was a feeding frenzy. I've never seen them all crowd around the feeder to eat like that before; they just ate whenever they felt like it. It sure didn't take them long to adjust.