Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[LindaB220]

~~What are some of the distinctions of a Flock Master VS Pet Keeper

You know, the way this is phrased is really good.

I think pet owners get animals thinking of what the animals will bring to them. They WANT an animal because of eggs, companionship, love, stress, whatever. I feel like "pet" chicken owners tend to think more about "I am getting this so it will serve a purpose for me". Be that silly antics or rainbow eggs or healthy food, the goal is the chickens serve them.

I think people with a strong grasp on animals husbandry view themselves more as "I am getting these birds so that I can serve a purpose to THEM". I got chickens for my goal of having cheaper, healthier eggs. (Grocery eggs are like $2/doz here) If I thought about the best way to get eggs out of my chickens, I would just get grocery eggs. They're very efficient and that's a chicken serving me, giving me what I want from it for cheap.
Instead I serve my chickens. I wake up every morning and the first thing I do is feed them. Then I think about what they will need now and in the future to be happy, healthy animals. I am serving a purpose to my chickens, and I get something in return, but they sure aren't serving me when I spend 48 hours putting in a clean pen for them, or I spend 4 hours baking them flock blocks or I spend $22 on a bag of sunflower seeds just for them, or when I plant a whole garden just for them. That's a VERY inefficient way to get eggs, I spend a lot of hours working on it. But I'm not doing it "for me", I am doing it so that I'm not supporting battery chickens. It's way easier "for me" to just buy some frickin' eggs, you know?
The same thing with culling. It's emotionally easy to keep every bird, to let them get crowded, to treat and "save" sick birds. It's fulfilling. But it's shallow because when you do that you're not thinking about "how can my flock benefit from this" you're thinking "how can I feel good afterwards".

And the moment you ask what you can do for your flock and rid yourself of what you want out of your chickens, your perspective will change. I wake up every day and the first thing I do is feed them. I watch my birds for a few minutes and I learn what "normal" is for my flock so I can spot anything "abnormal". Then I think about what I should do special today to improve their world. Do they get some fodder? Do they get let out of the pen (supervised)? Or does a slow bird that drags the group down get culled and possibly replaced? And if that slow bird happens to be my favorite the "goal" is to put that aside and do what's best for the flock. And, well, you already know my perspective on disease. I'd rather be sad about having to cull my whole flock and not keep chickens for a while than be happy about keeping sick birds. And is it really in your flock's best interests to spend $500 on a single vet appointment that could go towards a better quality of life for the whole flock?

So I would ask yourself what you can do to make your flock a better flock. And if you're ever like "I want this", think about what that will do for your flock. Heck, even my plan to get blue egg layers has a role in my flock management, even though I "want" blue eggs. If I can keep a blue egg roo, I can sell the whole flock's eggs as EE hatching eggs. That will let me pay for better feed for them (maybe organic?), a nicer coop, more treats, equipment to grow them fodder and mealworms in the winter, a hoop house to keep them less crowded in the snow... But keeping a Maran hen serves no purpose to my flock so I don't have one even though I "want" one.

And the best part about this is when you start thinking about what you can do for your birds you get results. So there's still reward at the end, it's just much harder to get there. A healthy, happy, well managed flock is a masterpiece. The birds become more hardy and disease resistant. They lay better. They look better. They're quieter, but chipper and active. They grow faster. Because all their needs are met so they don't need to strain to produce what you WANT from them. They just do it naturally! And then they do it even BETTER.

So the TLDR is; Think not what your chickens can do for you. Instead, think about what you can do for your chickens! And the end result will be more rewarding than any other!

I ovated you but I had to say one more time how outstandingly good this post is. The REAL reason we raise chickens. Other people think it's for a hobby or for eggs but we know better.

 

[Beekissed]

Question

What are some of the distinctions of a

Flock Master
VS
Pet Keeper

I am really pouring over forums here to be the best Flock Master I can to my Chickens! I have only 1 acre so I will not be able to run a Huge Poultry organization I just want a simple home flock of Happy Healthy layers and meaties with my Garden and hopefully one day some rabbits.

I do not want to be a PET OWNER! but I do enjoy the company of my chickens. They keep me company when weeding or Reading in the garden and I love the contented cooing of their answers when I am feeling silly or bored.

I would never knowingly subject my chickens or any others to disease or harm.
(I do not consider freezer camp to be harm)

so I guess the short question is What frame of mind do I need to adopt to be a Flock Master?

To me, a flock master is a good steward and considers the pain and suffering of their flock over their own emotions, takes responsibility for their safety as best as one can, considers the welfare of the whole flock over the welfare of a single bird, and studies to become better at keeping their birds. They take responsibility for their health in a proactive manner, do not overstock because they are planning on "attrition" to thin their flocks for them as time goes by, and they are mindful of the health of their environment~the coops, the soils, the pasture, the pens.

They don't hatch out chicks willy nilly like they are playing with an Easy Bake oven just because they love to have chicks...they have a definite plan for each bird and that plan involves knowing what is to become of them.

They don't purchase straight run in the hopes they don't get a rooster( because they cannot keep roosters where they live but they don't intend to eat them...and they don't have any predesignated homes for them either).

In my thinking, if you cannot have roosters, buy all pullets. If you get a rooster by mistake, eat him or make sure he is going to a good place, but don't just keep making that same mistake over and over, expecting different results~that's the definition of insanity. Roosters are not always easy to give away and not often will you be able to sell them...have a plan and make it a good one.

In short, they keep chickens with intent. They don't do it on a whim or impulse but because they have definite plans for their flock and even for individual birds. It's a well thought out endeavor with a good life and good death planned for each bird to the best of their ability to insure that. It's good stewardship.

As for loving them, naming them and enjoying their company? I don't know of one single flock master that does not have those qualities. They all do that and consider it a part of good stewardship to have a personal relationship with their animals. That's only natural.

Bee, I have a question about your coop. The netting on the inside of the cattle panels, will it hold up to a raccoon? I know you have electric fencing. I have a grow out pen covered in this stuff 1/2" wide. I just wondered if it was safe to put my babies in it in the daytime.

I don't have electric fencing...just the dog. It will not hold up to a determined raccoon, so it's not a bit predator proof. The only reason it's on my coop is for containment, not predation. Unless you have a good system in place to protect them while they are in such a pen, you might not want to do that.

 

[Davidisinaband]

Very very well said Chocolate Mouse. I was thinking about this yesterday actually and have come to the conclusion that as a culture our values as a society are completely distorted. I know a lot of what society would call 'accomplished' and 'model' citizens who are just plain horrible in my book. Self serving and wasteful to the core. Such a departure from what I believe our God given role here on this planet to be.

 

[LindaB220]

To me, a flock master is a good steward and considers the pain and suffering of their flock over their own emotions, takes responsibility for their safety as best as one can, considers the welfare of the whole flock over the welfare of a single bird, and studies to become better at keeping their birds. They take responsibility for their health in a proactive manner, do not overstock because they are planning on "attrition" to thin their flocks for them as time goes by, and they are mindful of the health of their environment~the coops, the soils, the pasture, the pens.

They don't hatch out chicks willy nilly like they are playing with an Easy Bake oven just because they love to have chicks...they have a definite plan for each bird and that plan involves knowing what is to become of them.

They don't purchase straight run in the hopes they don't get a rooster( because they cannot keep roosters where they live but they don't intend to eat them...and they don't have any predesignated homes for them either).

In my thinking, if you cannot have roosters, buy all pullets. If you get a rooster by mistake, eat him or make sure he is going to a good place, but don't just keep making that same mistake over and over, expecting different results~that's the definition of insanity. Roosters are not always easy to give away and not often will you be able to sell them...have a plan and make it a good one.

In short, they keep chickens with intent. They don't do it on a whim or impulse but because they have definite plans for their flock and even for individual birds. It's a well thought out endeavor with a good life and good death planned for each bird to the best of their ability to insure that. It's good stewardship.

As for loving them, naming them and enjoying their company? I don't know of one single flock master that does not have those qualities. They all do that and consider it a part of good stewardship to have a personal relationship with their animals. That's only natural.


I don't have electric fencing...just the dog. It will not hold up to a determined raccoon, so it's not a bit predator proof. The only reason it's on my coop is for containment, not predation. Unless you have a good system in place to protect them while they are in such a pen, you might not want to do that.

Yeah, I guess that's why I haven't put them in there yet. Just can't trust it. Thanks for you help.

 

[Loc20chick]

Learning here everyday.

 

[sonjanz]

the fish meal that some in here refer to for adding protein to their feed...is it just plain fishmeal used a a garden fert? that is the only kind i can find here in NZ so just wondering if its the same.
am still on page 489,its been a slow week for reading here.Hope to break the 500s today....but this thread keeps growing so it is really 2 steps forward and one step back!! Its nearly winter here,a cold gray day outside,but FF is still working. I must go and put out the bucket of FF liquid for does that i put out every day for them to drink as they desire! Does mean i have to add lots of water into my system but with back slopping I never have any probs keeping enough ferment going!

 

[tjo804]

I am feeling much much better about the path I am taking with my Chickens
Thank you so much!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Thanks you guys. It is really nice to know my thoughts are appreciated somewhere. I'm still young and I know it and so it is rough to be frequently dismissed because people think I am just being arrogant and young and inexperienced. Every once in a while I start to wonder if there's something behind the madness I am missing and should be trying... Folks like you help keep me on track and remind me that the truth is that I work very hard and take my role in this world and my animals lives very seriously. As long as I have solid facts and respect for the lives around me behind my choices I should never need to doubt myself.

I ended up being kicked out of the group I was discussing disease in along with someone else I had never met who dared expressed the same thoughts as me and had never really posted before. I suspect that the lady who flew off the handle at me like a loony was an admin and just threw us out entirely for a difference of opinion. How people find folks like that responsible enough to put in power will never cease to amaze me.

 

[tjo804]

we appreciate and respect your input so just stay here

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Oh, and sonjanz, I don't know how it is in NZ but up here the fish meal for gardens is typically very much NOT safe for animals. We have labeling like feed grade on our bags, typically. A lot of things sometimes in feed up here can be deadly if labeled for anything but feed grade. Like Ag lime and pool grade DE, bonemeal for lawns, etc.