Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Triple Willow]

LOL @ Angelicisi !!! hehe

 

[BCMaraniac]

So when a bucket of FF runs low I take the Scooby lol and dump it into the waiting FF bucket. The rinse original empty bucket and start another batch in it.

I slacked off on a bucket because I had a spare...go to wash it today and find its a mouse trap lol.





Figure it was fed on FF and still alive so I tossed it to the chickens, maaaaan you'd think it was a get outta butcher free card!
Gone so fast I couldn't hit play on the video cam!

My birds get a steady diet of mice......courtesy of my 5 outdoor cats, who swap mice for cat food.

 

[Angelicisi]

Omg, omg, Omg! My Splash wheatan laid her 1st egg today! Merry Christmas! Been waiting FOREVER! (June baby)
Fed on FF since 4th day from hatch! Lil pullet egg!

I'm so proud you'd think I laid it myself!

 

[Beekissed]

Very pretty egg!

I'm still waiting on 6 pullets that will be 8 mo. old in a few days....two birds of hatchery stock not raised by me~BAs, four birds of heritage lines raised from a chick here, two WRs and two Delawares...to lay their first egg.

Usually I would have all of them marked for culling but they happen to comprise the bulk of my small flock, so have to wait it out to see if all these long months will eventually pay off. That's the curse of having such a small flock....lack of opportunity to truly cull as is needed.

 

[LindaB220]

Angelicisi, if you look at blocks, pellets or cubes of these hays it'll give a guaranteed analysis, and the percentages are right around where I said. My alfalfa cubes say 16% but I know some alfalfa hays get up WAY higher than that! Rabbits can actually live off of nothing but free-feeding good hay and a rabbit mineral block and can even manage one or two litters a year this way if you throw in some veggies or oats. Some breeder I know feed nothing but hay, veggies and oats and produce 4 litters a year for each doe. It is the best thing for them, they thrive on it and that's why I push hay so hard for rabbits no matter how they're kept. I feed my buns a higher protein feed (18%) in small quantities and TONS of hay. Not a single tummy problem ever in years.

As for in chickens, I would say, imagine how much a chicken bites off of a piece of grass... Maybe an inch or two. My alfalfa cubes that I ferment are about 1.5 inches across, maybe as much as two, never had a crop issue thus far. So I figure if I chop up hay into the FF it'd have to be about the same. The liquid will soften the hay up quite a bit and make it almost like grass again. So I am thinking maybe I can transition some of my flock to a hay-heavy diet!

And for the rabbit FF, I will be adding ACV to the water for a bit leading up to it as they start drinking on their own... Then when I try the ff I will mix it VERY thick and I will take the ACV out of the water. Too much acid makes bunny tummies have bad things happen. So I'm going to be very careful with it. I may even mix in a bit of soda into the water to counteract the acid levels.

This is truly amazing... I'm learning sooooo much from you folks. On another thread one lady was justifying why she had to charge so much for her chickens. She said she spends almost $12 for feed for ea chicken. How is this possible? Do they never try to cut costs? Just feed?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Linda, to hear $12 in feed for someone doesn't surprise me. Most people don't know how to cut costs accordingly or just don't feel like it. Around here a bag of 20% grower runs $18... And a CX will eat about half a bag each to get a 5lb carcass. If you're looking at a heritage, DP, or slower growth breed with half the FCR then yeah, I could see someone spending $12 on a bag of feed and needing the whole thing to raise out their chickens.
Just like there are people who will spend $4 on a gallon of milk because they don't feel like going to a cheaper store 5 more minutes away, or how there are people who buy little bags of hay for their rabbits from the pet store at $2/lb because they just don't want to deal with a local 50lb bale for $8. It's easier for them to do the easy, pre-packaged way of doing things, both physically and mentally... It's also a sort of laziness in that way. The challenge of doing something even as simple as FF or a worm bucket is something most people just won't do.

It's all about how you prioritize... I prioritize cutting costs and making my animals healthy and natural... These people prioritize ease of use and turn a blind eye to problems. It's just a totally different mindset. I feel like they aren't able to "DIY" anything, even if they have chooks. A friend of mine's mother wants chickens. She wants, specifically, "unique" eggs, so one of the things she wants is a breed of chicken that lays double yolkers. I tried to tell her that a double yolker is an error in the reproductive tract and those errors can cause things like prolapse and egg bound and that chicken will likely die young... But it just didn't click.
So she will get her luxury amish-built "chicken condo" for $1000, make her husband build and clean the pen, and then when her chicken is dying in her hands from a severe prolapse, with it's organs hanging out and she's freaking out she won't be able to end it's suffering and there are no chicken vets around. I'm going to get a call some day from this lady and I'll only be able to tell her to put the thing out of it's misery... All because she doesn't grasp that double yolkers are unhealthy.

It's easier for her to get the pretty shiney happy thing and deal with "problems" later. It's easier for people to just grab the bag labeled "chicken feed" off the shelf and say it's healthy and the best way and move on. It's easy... And for me I think where's the fun in that... I'd rather work hard and relax hard after. But today's society is all about easy. And easy results in people who don't care about cutting costs.

 

[maryhysong]

This is truly amazing... I'm learning sooooo much from you folks. On another thread one lady was justifying why she had to charge so much for her chickens. She said she spends almost $12 for feed for ea chicken. How is this possible? Do they never try to cut costs? Just feed?

It may depend on their circumstances or their values and beliefs. I believe in natural methods and organic foods. To avoid GMO and pesticide residue I put my money where my mouth is. I buy certified organic whenever possible and sometimes I just don't buy something because I know it is GMO and there is no natural equivalent. For my chickens I buy certified organic feed which costs about $30 for 50 pounds. It is also corn, soy and canola free so very little chance of GMO contamination. So I charge $4 a doz for eating eggs and all summer I sold out 15 dz the first hour at the farmer's market. I have several customers yet that come pick up eggs even tho the market is closed for the season.

Would I cut that cost if I could? Certainly. But here's the deal, I have no grass or range here. Just rocks, ground like cement, scrub and cactus. Also very heavy predator pressure.

There are no farms at all within 70 miles and even at that range I don't know of any that are organic. There are no local feed mill operations. ect ect ect.

Also there is a great deal of difference in the health, laying, feathering and meat on my birds vs the store brand feed I was using before. It was almost all corn & soy, in fact the first four ingredients were different forms of corn and soy with more forms of them further down the label.

I do ferment my feed and I think that helps some towards good health and lower feed cost; certainly there is no waste with the wet mash.

 

[Triple Willow]

Omg, omg, Omg! My Splash wheatan laid her 1st egg today! Merry Christmas! Been waiting FOREVER! (June baby)
Fed on FF since 4th day from hatch! Lil pullet egg!

I'm so proud you'd think I laid it myself!

B-U-TEE-FUL egg and pullet! Can I have her??? I already know better! LOL

I tell you what!!! My DANG Australorp roo is working hard on being Christmas dinner! That sorry piece of meat got me again! I think he is friggin mental - he keeps forgetting the thumping that he gets every single time he does that! Anybody have any advice on that fool??? I'm not scared of him and it usually doesn't hurt. He left a bruise on my hand one time and I believe this time will leave one - but not a big deal. Just pees me off!!!!!!!

 

[Lacy Blues]

One chance is all my birds get. They flog me and they won't do it again.

 

[TexasLisa]

B-U-TEE-FUL egg and pullet!

Can I have her??? I already know better! LOL

I tell you what!!! My DANG Australorp roo is working hard on being Christmas dinner! That sorry piece of meat got me again! I think he is friggin mental - he keeps forgetting the thumping that he gets every single time he does that! Anybody have any advice on that fool??? I'm not scared of him and it usually doesn't hurt. He left a bruise on my hand one time and I believe this time will leave one - but not a big deal. Just pees me off!!!!!!!

I understand your pain. My head rooster has attacked me twice now. Luckily his spurs have not come in yet. Ken and I are going into the coop in the early evening and picking him up and carrying him around. I had read somewhere that somebody else was having problems and they would carry the rooster around and then put him upside down on the ground in front of the girls. I have also cornered Angel Eyes (isn't that an ironic name???). He doesn't like that!! Now Tuco the other rooster will eat out of my hands and isn't afraid of me. Maybe Bee will chime in and tell us what to do.

Lisa

P.S. Both names are from the movie, 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly'.