Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[RoseMarie1]

Candled my eggs tonight with a borrowed flashlight since I couldn't see through them with mine and I had 43 eggs and 1 had a blood ring, 5 weren't fertile and 1 was questionable so I stuck it back in there. I could see the chicks moving around in the egg. Was sooo cute! Some wasn't moving around so I guess I was disturbing their sleep since it WAS late. ;-) Anyway today is the 9th day so it's ticking along.

I took some pix of the un-fertile eggs and I'm hoping I am right because I left them out but I didn't see any veins at all and they were very porous looking eggs.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Chocolate mouse, do you have something hanging in front of your nests to make it dark inside? Or would it be possible to make a door on the nest that will lock closed to keep the bird in the nest as well as keep any others from getting in? That's something you may want to try for those two girls after you separate them to keep them from eating their own eggs and hopefully break that nasty habit. Good luck.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Lacy, the nests are only significantly illuminated for a few hours a day right now around 3-4PM because of the angle of the coop and the nests. Also the nests are in the back of the coop, of course, and the coop itself isn't exactly sunny inside most of the time... One BIG window, facing south and a little bit west with a few trees to the east of it and a 6' fence 15' away... It's kinda gloomy in there most of the time, though the girls always know when it's time to get up bright and early every day. I can't build in something like a door like that. I'm not spending crazy money or lots of effort on dysfunctional birds; it's not practical. I won't spend $100 changing around my coop to keep two birds I can replace for $8 each and bribing someone to take me out to get replacements with a tray of cupcakes & a dozen eggs or something. I *can* try putting something up like a board across the front of the nests to make it a little darker in them, but considering these guys were waiting in the nest on the roost bar, stalking the other hens as they come in to lay their eggs I am not sure that would help!

I feel kinda like my best bet is trying to take them out of the group and re-introduce them one at a time, forcing them in as strangers to become the lowest ranking hen in the group after they spend some time in a cage like a broody buster where they may lay an egg but it sure won't stay in the cage! Maybe I can even strap one "fake egg in so they always have something hard and painful to peck at. That way when they come back all they will have is sore beaks and every hen with flog them for coming near the nests during laying time. Plus they won't be a team any more. It MIGHT just work.

If I can find someone willing to trade me their egg laying hens for rabbits or rabbit meat I will just say "forget it" and replace them.

 

[Beekissed]

Candled my eggs tonight with a borrowed flashlight since I couldn't see through them with mine and I had 43 eggs and 1 had a blood ring, 5 weren't fertile and 1 was questionable so I stuck it back in there. I could see the chicks moving around in the egg. Was sooo cute! Some wasn't moving around so I guess I was disturbing their sleep since it WAS late. ;-) Anyway today is the 9th day so it's ticking along.

I took some pix of the un-fertile eggs and I'm hoping I am right because I left them out but I didn't see any veins at all and they were very porous looking eggs.

Please do! I've yet to see this chick in the eggs and would love to see pics of them.

Lacy, the nests are only significantly illuminated for a few hours a day right now around 3-4PM because of the angle of the coop and the nests. Also the nests are in the back of the coop, of course, and the coop itself isn't exactly sunny inside most of the time... One BIG window, facing south and a little bit west with a few trees to the east of it and a 6' fence 15' away... It's kinda gloomy in there most of the time, though the girls always know when it's time to get up bright and early every day. I can't build in something like a door like that. I'm not spending crazy money or lots of effort on dysfunctional birds; it's not practical. I won't spend $100 changing around my coop to keep two birds I can replace for $8 each and bribing someone to take me out to get replacements with a tray of cupcakes & a dozen eggs or something. I *can* try putting something up like a board across the front of the nests to make it a little darker in them, but considering these guys were waiting in the nest on the roost bar, stalking the other hens as they come in to lay their eggs I am not sure that would help!

I feel kinda like my best bet is trying to take them out of the group and re-introduce them one at a time, forcing them in as strangers to become the lowest ranking hen in the group after they spend some time in a cage like a broody buster where they may lay an egg but it sure won't stay in the cage! Maybe I can even strap one "fake egg in so they always have something hard and painful to peck at. That way when they come back all they will have is sore beaks and every hen with flog them for coming near the nests during laying time. Plus they won't be a team any more. It MIGHT just work.

If I can find someone willing to trade me their egg laying hens for rabbits or rabbit meat I will just say "forget it" and replace them.

That might be your option...remove your roost bar in front of the nests and put a nice deep board front/lower lip on the nests so that this behavior is more discouraged. Provide some deep bedding as well that kind of hides or camo the eggs. The chickens can still make it into the nests to lay but cannot stalk the nest.

Have you checked to see if these two gals are even laying? Maybe they aren't even good layers and need to be culled anyway. It could kill two birds with one stone...pardon the pun.

 

[Windy Bay Farm]

Posted this over in the "Front Porch" thread as well:

Well folks... I need some advice. In recent weeks I have noticed that one of my RIR girls has developed some sort of respiratory issue; rattly breathing, clear nasal discharge and the occasional bubbly clear liquid in one eye and occasional sneeze. This has been happening now for a month or so. I isolated her from the flock recently and am still noticing a rattle when she breathes but little to no nasal discharge and no clear, bubbly liquid in her eye. To add insult to injury, I noticed one of my Black Star girls has also developed a sneeze, with a nasal discharge (clear) - I have now isolated her. I've been reading up on the symptoms and good heavens, it could be anything. I'm not sure if it's, viral, bacterial or environmental. They are both eating, drinking and doing normal chicken things and the Black Star is still laying an egg about everyday. These girls are less than a year old and I hate to cull them but I'm not a believer in pumping antibiotics into my birds so I'm lost as to what I should do. I will cull if need be but would like a little feedback as to what any of you folks think.

Thanks !

 

[Beekissed]

Posted this over in the "Front Porch" thread as well:

Well folks... I need some advice. In recent weeks I have noticed that one of my RIR girls has developed some sort of respiratory issue; rattly breathing, clear nasal discharge and the occasional bubbly clear liquid in one eye and occasional sneeze. This has been happening now for a month or so. I isolated her from the flock recently and am still noticing a rattle when she breathes but little to no nasal discharge and no clear, bubbly liquid in her eye. To add insult to injury, I noticed one of my Black Star girls has also developed a sneeze, with a nasal discharge (clear) - I have now isolated her. I've been reading up on the symptoms and good heavens, it could be anything. I'm not sure if it's, viral, bacterial or environmental. They are both eating, drinking and doing normal chicken things and the Black Star is still laying an egg about everyday. These girls are less than a year old and I hate to cull them but I'm not a believer in pumping antibiotics into my birds so I'm lost as to what I should do. I will cull if need be but would like a little feedback as to what any of you folks think.

Thanks !

Don't know about other folks but I have a three day or so rule on anything affecting any one bird of an acute symptom....three days to resolve or show marked improvement towards being gone. If not gone, the bird is gone. I've never had any respiratory symptoms other than wheezing that lasted a day or so after putting wood ashes in the dusting spots or fresh cedar in the dog/chicken lounging area. Those were resolved within a day or two.

One other time some years back I had been given some red stars that were past their prime. I had added some cedar shavings in the coop and two of them started having wheezing from it that they couldn't seem to get over....some lady wanted a few pet chickens and said she would take them to her place. It took those birds a few weeks to lose the respiratory irritation from those cedar oils but they lived with her for a year or so before falling to predation. The rest of the chickens didn't have any reaction to the cedar, so they remained at my place.

A few days to see if they can shake it, then the bird is gone. It's a bird problem and not a flock problem...yet.

Sounds like symptoms of CRD and they say that's a chronic, carrier type situation that makes your flock carriers so it's a difficult decision on your part. Don't know what I would do in your situation if it ran through the whole flock, but it's usually transmitted through shared waterers and feeders, particularly since you feed wet feed. Scrub out your waterers, kill the birds, wait and see if anyone else is going to get it and then make tougher decisions. Until then I'd open up some major ventilation in your coop...fresh air can keep disease transmission down.

I'd also be putting ACV in the water if you aren't already. Might cut down on germ transmission.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Lacy, the nests are only significantly illuminated for a few hours a day right now around 3-4PM because of the angle of the coop and the nests. Also the nests are in the back of the coop, of course, and the coop itself isn't exactly sunny inside most of the time... One BIG window, facing south and a little bit west with a few trees to the east of it and a 6' fence 15' away... It's kinda gloomy in there most of the time, though the girls always know when it's time to get up bright and early every day. I can't build in something like a door like that. I'm not spending crazy money or lots of effort on dysfunctional birds; it's not practical. I won't spend $100 changing around my coop to keep two birds I can replace for $8 each and bribing someone to take me out to get replacements with a tray of cupcakes & a dozen eggs or something. I *can* try putting something up like a board across the front of the nests to make it a little darker in them, but considering these guys were waiting in the nest on the roost bar, stalking the other hens as they come in to lay their eggs I am not sure that would help!

I feel kinda like my best bet is trying to take them out of the group and re-introduce them one at a time, forcing them in as strangers to become the lowest ranking hen in the group after they spend some time in a cage like a broody buster where they may lay an egg but it sure won't stay in the cage! Maybe I can even strap one "fake egg in so they always have something hard and painful to peck at. That way when they come back all they will have is sore beaks and every hen with flog them for coming near the nests during laying time. Plus they won't be a team any more. It MIGHT just work.

If I can find someone willing to trade me their egg laying hens for rabbits or rabbit meat I will just say "forget it" and replace them.

I just had a thought. If you put them in a type of broody coop so that the eggs roll out and away from them, maybe give them just barely enough food to survive (for a short time) and put some kind of goodies in their food that they like... forcing them to look forward to their proper food every day. Then start increasing the food allowance so they don't lose too much condition. Your wire broody coop will need a solid, smooth and slanted floor in order for the eggs to roll out.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Well, today I managed to get 5 unbroken eggs again.

I have no idea if these two are laying. I have no idea WHAT is going on.

My coop is TINY and there's no way to hide the nests from the roost bar really... The chickens were sitting on the roost bar by the door, a chicken comes in and goes into the nest and they would jump down after they went into the nest box and harass for an egg.

I will try to just separate them for a bit and put an extra flap over the nest boxes, extra bedding and see what happens.

 

[tniron]

I am going to start some cornishX either next week or the next using fermented starter. . I can use either 24% starter or 26% starter. Does it really matter? Is that too much?

 

[Beekissed]

I am going to start some cornishX either next week or the next using fermented starter. . I can use either 24% starter or 26% starter. Does it really matter? Is that too much?

It's preference, really. Some swear by higher proteins and some have found they pack on the weight too quickly, but it all depends on how often and how much you are going to feed.