Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[AletaG]

We set it up in an area that's always in the sun, but if we get a long cold streak this winter there is a danger of the cooler cracking if the FF freezes. This set up is definitely an experiment!

<Huddle up!> Return to thread with results in January, and again in late March. Go team! <Break!>

I have NO idea why, but I'm picturing a football style FF team huddle goin' on across the country... LOL

 

[AletaG]

Unrelated, but over here https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/729605/the-natural-chicken-keeping-thread-ots-welcome/23100 bottom of the page post, a chicken has a weird ball shaped lump on the R rear of her neck, needing help w diagnosis... any ideas; I know a lot of you follow that thread also, but some don't and there's what like 250 yrs ckn keeping experience on this thread??

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Unrelated, but over here https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/729605/the-natural-chicken-keeping-thread-ots-welcome/23100 bottom of the page post, a chicken has a weird ball shaped lump on the R rear of her neck, needing help w diagnosis... any ideas; I know a lot of you follow that thread also, but some don't and there's what like 250 yrs ckn keeping experience on this thread??

I saw that. Do chickens get bot flies? We had a kitten get bit by a bot fly when I was a kid. Grossest. Thing. Ever.
Researched it myself: The answer appears to be yes. http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/livestock-forums/poultry/401454-maggots-kill-chickens.html

 

[AletaG]

I saw that. Do chickens get bot flies? We had a kitten get bit by a bot fly when I was a kid. Grossest. Thing. Ever.

What on earth is a bot fly? Although, even as I ask, I am thinking I do NOT want to know...

 

[MargaretYakoda]

What on earth is a bot fly? Although, even as I ask, I am thinking I do NOT want to know...

It's a fly that lays their eggs under the skin of a living host. When ready the maggots eat their way out. The gaping infected maggot filled hole is often the first sign your pet has been bit by a bot fly. I don't really want to scare the person on the other thread because it might not be bot fly maggots.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

I have had messy butts with my big girls. It was nasty. It wasn't an infection, they just oozed all the time. I did some research and read that calcium can cause it. When I put everyone on grower, because I had gotten the tots, the big girls messy butts cleared right up. They have been on layer again because I was trying to use up the little I had left and the messy butts came back. Today they start on grains. No more commercial layer feed for them.

My girls have started to get messy butts just this week, and I'm thinking the FF might have something to do with it? If fermenting the feed unlocks more nutrients, does that mean there's more calcium available for the chooks to absorb? Which also might mean the roo is getting too much.
I don't think I'm ready to mix our own grains here. Maybe I should get grower the next time I get a bag of feed?

 

[beverly evans]

Oh I just GOTTA share this one with you since you mentioned that name! Someone shared this with me on something and I thought it was soo funny.

Dr's say Obamacare is like a stool sample, they had to pass it to see what's in it and it smells the same.

That's a really good one! On that note . . . .Here's one my friend just back from a cruise had to share with me, called me just to tell me the minute she got back so she wouldn't forget it. "What did the egg say to the boiling water? I'd come, but I just got laid."

 

[beverly evans]

That's a really good one! On that note . . . .Here's one my friend just back from a cruise had to share with me, called me just to tell me the minute she got back so she wouldn't forget it. "What did the egg say to the boiling water? I'd come, but I just got laid."

Something I have to ask........Does DH stand for "dam husband" and if he asks it stands for "darling husband" ??

 

[Arielle]

Have any of you ever raised quail?

NO. TOo cute. I would never be able to dress them out. I have heard they are fast and easy.

 

[Beekissed]

My girls have started to get messy butts just this week, and I'm thinking the FF might have something to do with it? If fermenting the feed unlocks more nutrients, does that mean there's more calcium available for the chooks to absorb? Which also might mean the roo is getting too much.
I don't think I'm ready to mix our own grains here. Maybe I should get grower the next time I get a bag of feed?

No, the FF doesn't increase the calcium absorbed...no information to that effect, at least. I feed layer all the time and no changes in stool quality. Your chickens are getting more fluids in their diet with consuming the FF and that needs to be taken into account. With messy butts I always advise a wait and see attitude...sometimes chickens just have a messy butt. Sometimes it's to adjust to a different type of feed, an increase in proteins, onset of laying, ambient temps and water consumption, etc.

And your rooster is fine with layer as well, no worries. Just give them time to adjust and all will be well.