Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Triple Willow]

Sooo perdy!

 

[Beekissed]

My chickens think it's spring...they are out foraging in any little spot of grass they can find that's been left open by last night's thaw...a grand total of 2. Underneath the glider and another little spot beside of it.

They had slopped through 75 yds of the most slushy, fluid filled, 4 in. deep snow this morning to wait by the back door to tell me it's time to feed and now they are out there trying to find some grass. And folks will swear up and down that chickens don't really need grasses in their diet and that they only eat it for filler in the absence of regular feed. Nope...my gals seem to really need that natural fiber in their diet as much as anything else.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

My spring/summer photos I think are pretty decent!

Kibbles my Rex, very preggers in the tractor.



First tomato of the year last year!



Late summer photo of my whole yard!

And my dog watching the chickens picking through grass clippings. This is the Good Dog, not the Killer. She is a little wet from the hose.



Deadnettle, the first flowers of spring up here!


And lastly... BABY BUNNIES! We get them year round, but these were spring babies, so it counts!

 

[Beekissed]

Yes!!! That looks like spring to me!

Now, doesn't that rabbit sitting on lush green grass look more natural and living a better life than those in a cage setup? I used to raise mine in cages suspended from the ceiling, then move them out to a large carport in the spring and summer in the same cages...but always the cages and bagged feed. I'll not be doing that ever again.

GREAT pics!!!! That last one got an "aaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwww!" from me.

 

[armorfirelady]

My girls were digging thru the garden yesterday where I shoveled. They were all fighting over a piece of kale they found. Today I gave them 2 large bags of kale & beat greens and I swear they were gone in 15 minutes!! My girls love their greens even when they are frozen. I put a head of cabbage in the coop a couple weeks ago & it froze in the below zero temps but the girls are still pecking away to it when the sun warms it up

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Bee, my rabbits are in a cage setup, but they get to go chill on grass about once a week for a few hours each. I rotate who gets to go out. I also feed fresh greens and wild plants all the time, and my bedding is nothing but good hay, thickly layered. their feet don't really touch metal or wood ever.

 

[Beekissed]

If I bother with rabbits this spring it's likely I'll be building a combo tractor hutch with a wire bottom so they can graze but cannot get out. I've got so many other projects in the plan right now that I may not get to rabbits but if I hit a slack period I may attempt it. I just want two does, a buck and a grow out space on the tractor, so it shouldn't get too out of hand.

I'd like to feed them on pasture, a whole grain mix, browse and good hay and see what happens. I'd provide minerals along with.

 

[kuntrygirl]

If I bother with rabbits this spring it's likely I'll be building a combo tractor hutch with a wire bottom so they can graze but cannot get out.  I've got so many other projects in the plan right now that I may not get to rabbits but if I hit a slack period I may attempt it.  I just want two does, a buck and a grow out space on the tractor, so it shouldn't get too out of hand. 

I'd like to feed them on pasture, a whole grain mix, browse and good hay and see what happens.  I'd provide minerals along with. 

That's a good idea. I have been wanting to let mine graze on pasture as well but I don't have anything to put them in. When you build your combo tractor, please post so that we can see it.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Bee, I am sure you will do JUST fine on that. :3 Since hay is the backbone for a good rabbit diet, I see no reason to not feed them pasture and grain and a mineralblock. I only do pellets cause it's easier. Most of their higher protein in pellets comes from alfalfa, wheat and good grass hay anyhow. I would just make sure you get three babies and let them grow out together if you wanna keep all three in the same thing, and make sure you don't have a yard like mine... Mine floods. Wet for rabbits is very bad.

I would like to raise, regrade and level it but that's expensive to buy so much dirt so I am using my chickens to make it happen... I get fresh woodchips for $1/yard+$10 delivery. I get something like 10 at a time so it's like $2/yard. Then I put them in the chicken pen and let them decompose. This year I will be raking out chicken-manure and leaf filled aged woodchips across all the low areas of my lawn and putting fresh ones in the chicken pen again! The bottom rich soil from the pen will build garden beds! I will shake old hay all over the woodchips and the next thing you know I'll be growing timothy and orchardgrass! And I will keep it up for a few years until my yard no longer floods! Plus my chickens stay very healthy!

Yay for sustainable living!

 

[Beekissed]

That's a good idea. I have been wanting to let mine graze on pasture as well but I don't have anything to put them in. When you build your combo tractor, please post so that we can see it.

Sure will! I've got some solid ideas on dimension and space for each rabbit and how I want the pens to interact. The grow out pen may not be big enough for a good grow out of all kits unless I just have one kindle at a time but even then they would overlap, so I may have to have a temporary and even lighter weight tractor for the junior rabbits. I'm thinking a small hoop range type shelter for them

Bee, I am sure you will do JUST fine on that. :3 Since hay is the backbone for a good rabbit diet, I see no reason to not feed them pasture and grain and a mineralblock. I only do pellets cause it's easier. Most of their higher protein in pellets comes from alfalfa, wheat and good grass hay anyhow. I would just make sure you get three babies and let them grow out together if you wanna keep all three in the same thing, and make sure you don't have a yard like mine... Mine floods. Wet for rabbits is very bad.

I would like to raise, regrade and level it but that's expensive to buy so much dirt so I am using my chickens to make it happen... I get fresh woodchips for $1/yard+$10 delivery. I get something like 10 at a time so it's like $2/yard. Then I put them in the chicken pen and let them decompose. This year I will be raking out chicken-manure and leaf filled aged woodchips across all the low areas of my lawn and putting fresh ones in the chicken pen again! The bottom rich soil from the pen will build garden beds! I will shake old hay all over the woodchips and the next thing you know I'll be growing timothy and orchardgrass! And I will keep it up for a few years until my yard no longer floods! Plus my chickens stay very healthy!

Yay for sustainable living!

Yay! Yes! That's a good price for woodchips, I tell ya. I wish we had that kind of pricing around here. The land here is hilly and bumpy and has good drainage in most areas. We have a lot of options for grass and browse and even tree types that can round out their diet. I've been studying up on the diet of the eastern cottontail and I think I can mimic it here with very little effort and also augment it a bit to help these domestic breeds adapt.

I think the whole grains and browse ought to keep teeth healthy and the grasses here should help put on some weight gain...I'm planting more white dutch clover and red clover this year and already have very healthy growth of native grasses as well.