Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Windy Bay Farm]

I don't think he's feeling too under the weather with his frostbitten comb... Here's Rodney crowing and trying to be classy with one of the BR ladies of his harem

 

[frg34]

http://www.cobbuildingwithmaya.com/bull-cob-chicken-coop.html

If I were planning on sticking around on this old Earth, I'd probably do a combination of straw bale/cob coop with a cattle panel hooped topper covered in heavy duty plastic to let in light. My end caps/gables would be completely open in all seasons and I'd have plenty of window at the front of the coop.

Do you have a link to where this image is from? thanks

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Wise! The time to start developing a good system is before you need it....long before you need it.

Back in the 70s the economy was going into decline and my folks decided to sell their current place and use the money to purchase acreage outright for the cash. They bought 110 acres in the back of nowhere a mile back from the hard road, no utilities were available. You often couldn't get a 4WD back there and we didn't have one. They bought the land, a chainsaw, some hand tools, a Troy Bilt tiller and some rough cut, seconds, lumber enough to frame out windows and put on a roof. That took all their money from the sale of the other home. Then we built a small cabin and homesteaded.

It's often a bad economy that drives people back to the land and the skills of their ancestors because even when the Depression years were going on, the small farmer could still eat, have shelter and warmth, if not luxuries like good clothing and shoes, sugar, coffee, etc.

Because of that background of homesteading, I've always tried to keep my animal husbandry and management geared towards the "what if" theory. Things learned while homesteading:

1. Coop and run situations are extremely limiting when it comes to keeping a flock because all their food must be imported.
2. Breeds that do not forage or survive well on free range due to docile natures must be protected more and have more feed imported in to keep them in condition.
3. Breeds that cannot reproduce their own efficiently and require an incubator are of little use if one has to go without electricity for any length of time.
4. Birds that have to have heat to keep from getting frostbite are of little use in areas that get below freezing temps for any length of time in the winter~if they self dub, that's fine, but if keeping them it's even better to only breed the ones that seem resistant to developing frostbite issues.
5. Birds or breeds that require high pro feeds and complicated mixes to keep in good condition are useless when those cannot be obtained.
6. Birds that have to have light in the winter to produce are also a liability and one should breed or buy for those that do not require it to still produce an egg or three a week during the cold.
7. Birds that require medicine to keep healthy, stay above their parasite loads, to heal from wounds are all pretty useless when you cannot get meds for them.
8. Feed paradigms that rely solely on imported feeds are useless when the chips are down, be it personally, locally or nationally.
9. Flock management methods that rely on medicines that have to be bought are inefficient and won't hold up when meds cannot be obtained.
10. Flock management methods that rely heavily on electricity and a highly controlled setting are hard to maintain for any length of time when the grid goes down, so are pretty useless without a back up plan...one that doesn't require gassing up a generator.

 

[TexasLisa]

I don't think he's feeling too under the weather with his frostbitten comb... Here's Rodney crowing and trying to be classy with one of the BR ladies of his harem

Typical male. 'Look at me, aren't I handsome. Let me tell you about the fight I was in'!!

He is still a beautiful bird!

Lisa

 

[Beekissed]

I don't think he's feeling too under the weather with his frostbitten comb... Here's Rodney crowing and trying to be classy with one of the BR ladies of his harem

Cute! From this vid, his comb doesn't look half bad....I'm hoping he doesn't lose as much as you think he will. You'll have to keep us updated on the progress.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Lisa, that is a REALLY cool article to me! I love it when there are real non-propaganda reasons to turn away from the big AG companies and this is a very, very good one! I haven't been able to get my corn to grow yet since last year the few stalks I had my dogs dug out of the ground.... But this year I will be trying again! I have heirloom flint corn and I will be trying to save it and mill it later on cracked for my birds and bunnies and fine for cornmeal!

Bee, here's something interesting. We have small "disasters" here all the time, being right on the lake... We had the water go out for 24hrs last year (I ended up melting snow for water for the animals!) and this year we had the power go out for something like two days. Everyone else was lamenting how their houses were dropping down, down, down... it was 20's outside and 40's was a high temp in most people's houses. Well, I lit a dozen candles, put a fire in my fire place and invited people over for candlelight board games! The house made it all the way up to 60 by the end of the evening! I even kept my snake warm by wrapping a small aquarium in aluminum foil and dropping a big candle in front of the glass. The aluminum reflected the heat back and kept the cage in the 60's while the power was out. At night I bundled under a dozen blankets with my dogs on top and was warm, warm, warm! My sisters were very sad since one of them uses a space heater to keep warm in the bedroom and the other an electric blanket! My dogs are my space heaters and electric blankets! And my fireplace did wonders!

It makes me feel like I could make it through major collapses. I recently got a rain barrel for Christmas... That will do wonders, and digging a hole just about 3 feet will basically give my a well in my back yard...! I have several pieces of cast iron cookware, perfect for fire cooking. And if I manage to get fermented hay as a major feed source then I will be set.

Speaking of, I haven't started adding hay to my FF in yet, but I recently moved it to ground level for a few days where it is a bit colder because I needed it out of the way for a while... It started developing a grey/white film on top. The feed is still completely submerged. I am starting to think this, too, may be mold and it may have to do with how cold the FF is with my particular environment. I may just have to simply use my FF up every day or so and remix it every day in order to keep mold levels down in cool weather.

 

[Beekissed]

Do you have a link to where this image is from? thanks

Sorry....I don't. I was looking at so many things last night that I can't even remember where I found it. Here's a link to a cob site that has many, many cob structure pics on it.... http://www.cobprojects.info/

Here's a cool little cob shed with a living roof.....

 

[Triple Willow]

@Arielle... I have also been wondering about Wyandottes because of their comb/wattles. I really like Anconas too and there is a line of rose comb Anconas. Or we could consider dubbing, but I'd rather not.

"What frostbite???"

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
That grey/white film on top of the water is probably just a better scoby forming....it can even look a little webby when it does that. When I see that I just stir it into the mix and go on.

I don't freak out much if I see little spots of mold on the bucket or the scoop as I know what is in the feed is stronger and more prevalent than those little spots of mold. I just soaked my scoop in bleach water yesterday because the slots in the back of the handle were pure fuzzy and black goo underneath the fuzz. When I soaked it and scrubbed it, a BOSS seed with a sprout attached floated out of there!

A little mold doesn't bother me at all in tiny areas.

I'm thinking your film is not mold but mother.

 

[TexasLisa]

Thank you ChocolateMouse! I read that article this morning and remembered how you all were discussing the GMO last week. I like your use of the 'electric blanket' and 'space heater'. We should all be so lucky. Somehow I don't think my chickens would keep me that warm. You keep on planning. Sounds like you are doing a great job planning ahead!

Bee I love those cob houses. I had never heard of them before now. CUTE!!

Lisa