Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Triple Willow]

Someone mentioned crossing Delawares with Buckeyes.  Then the wonderful flavor of the Buckeye was just described for us.  I had Delawares last year and I was truly very impressed with the flavor.  You may definitely have a winner on your hands crossing these two hefty breeds!

Hi there Lacy Blues. I've missed you around here too! That was me talking about the cross. From the looks of my Delaware girls and Buckeye roos, I'm hoping for good results. Have a great Thanksgiving!

 

[Triple Willow]

I stewed two whole carcasses, then deboned them.  I cut the flesh across the grain into relatively small pieces because I was expecting some stringiness.  The dark meat was used to make chicken noodle soup, and the white meat I used to make chicken salad.  The soup disappeared....it was supposed to go into the fridge to reheat for quick meals while I am getting ready for Thanksgiving.....but it didn't work out that way.

Sounds good. Your soup sounds like a turkey I cooked about a month ago. I was going to eat on it several days but it just seemed to disappear. lol

 

[Triple Willow]

I think the protein in the egg white of the store bought eggs is weaker and more fragile than the farm raised eggs.  I find that the boiled egg white of the farm raised eggs are firmer.....but I have no scientific evidence of that....just an observation.

You might be right. I'll have to see how it goes with some "home grown" eggs. Maybe they will turn out decent looking.

I have been thinking about ducks for eggs. Have any of you ever baked with duck eggs? I've heard they are really good to bake with. I am wondering if there would be a market for them with bakeries, Chinese restaurants and those sort of places. I read that Kaki Campbells lay somewhere up to 300+ eggs a year. That's pretty dang good! Sounds like they would earn their keep if you could just find the market for them. I'm thinking about adding some.

 

[BCMaraniac]

You might be right. I'll have to see how it goes with some "home grown" eggs. Maybe they will turn out decent looking.

I have been thinking about ducks for eggs. Have any of you ever baked with duck eggs? I've heard they are really good to bake with. I am wondering if there would be a market for them with bakeries, Chinese restaurants and those sort of places. I read that Kaki Campbells lay somewhere up to 300+ eggs a year. That's pretty dang good! Sounds like they would earn their keep if you could just find the market for them. I'm thinking about adding some.

I don't know know about baking with duck eggs.....wouldn't you worry about them making your cookies quack???

That is a lot of eggs......

 

[Triple Willow]

I don't know but I wonder if birds that are fed "treats" regularly become malnourished. The way I see it, a bird can only eat so much. If a big part of their diet is actually low quality "treats" that doesn't leave much room for the actual nutrition they need from their real feed. For example, if I love Oreos and eat them all the time I may become fat but I will also be malnourished because I'm not getting the protein, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc that I need. If I am full of Oreos I won't have room for or want the good food that I need.

 

[Triple Willow]

...I also read that if you feed too much flax birds will actually lose weight. From what I read, no more than 10% of the ration should be flax.

 

[Beekissed]

There are a lot of ways to become malnourished...parasites(in or out), organ failure caused by too much protein, calcium, phosphorus, fat, etc...which I know sounds contradictory, but the body can only take so much before certain organs that deal with metabolism start to fail due to an excess of this or that component that cannot be filtered out of the body, other illnesses that prevent nutritional uptake such as coccidiosis or any other illness that causes an inflammatory process in the intestines.

It's not enough to simply give chickens a lot of food and a lot of supplements. Balance is everything...always...a good balance is need for homeostasis.

 

[BCMaraniac]

I don't know but I wonder if birds that are fed "treats" regularly become malnourished. The way I see it, a bird can only eat so much. If a big part of their diet is actually low quality "treats" that doesn't leave much room for the actual nutrition they need from their real feed. For example, if I love Oreos and eat them all the time I may become fat but I will also be malnourished because I'm not getting the protein, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc that I need. If I am full of Oreos I won't have room for or want the good food that I need.

I believe you are exactly right. I rarely give mine treats, though I have considered raising worms for them.

 

[Triple Willow]

I believe you are exactly right.  I rarely give mine treats, though I have considered raising worms for them.

I don't give mine treats very often either. I want the good stuff in them, not junk that makes them "happy". I'm thinking about worms too.

 

[Triple Willow]

There are a lot of ways to become malnourished...parasites(in or out), organ failure caused by too much protein, calcium, phosphorus, fat, etc...which I know sounds contradictory, but the body can only take so much before certain organs that deal with metabolism start to fail due to an excess of this or that component that cannot be filtered out of the body, other illnesses that prevent nutritional uptake such as coccidiosis or any other illness that causes an inflammatory process in the intestines. 

It's not enough to simply give chickens a lot of food and a lot of supplements.  Balance is everything...always...a good balance is need for homeostasis. 

Yep. Balance is a must. And yep, from what I have read parasites are a biggie that can cause malnutrition.