Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Lacy Blues]

Thanks for sharing that.

That is what I suspected. They add dyes to it to look more "healthy" like marigold oil to chicken feed to stain the yolks so it "looks more healthy" when in fact the chickens still live in battery cages with no sunlight and their feet never ever touch the ground.

 

[bruceh]

after a rotten learning day yesterday. i learned an awful lot. fermented feed is the way to go for my flock. all the birds were out and about on pasture today, 2 days back into fermented feed. a great smile on my face followed by a big yes and a voice saying now those are my chickens.happy and free.
my conclusions are:

1.standard broiler rations cut or not produce a unhealthy environment for the birds

2. broiler or high protein feeds create an overload on the chickens organs making them extremely tired and not wanting to move..

3. lower protein fermented feed the birds are healthier and seem to want to go out and forage more and be chickens

4. egg production picks up

5. less bickering among the flock

6. the flock overall just seems to be clicking . a good skip in their step.

7. water consumption is less

8. feed used is cut down around 30% less

this pertains to my flock i have also formulated a feed ration that seems to be working. the chickens like it and creates a general base for all my birds. it comes out to 18.47%. time will give me the answer if this fits the bill for good general health. if anyone wants the formula i will share it. however this was formulated for my flock and has not stood the test of time. however by general observation the chickens seem great and enjoy the feed.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Thanks for sharing that.

That is what I suspected. They add dyes to it to look more "healthy" like marigold oil to chicken feed to stain the yolks so it "looks more healthy" when in fact the chickens still live in battery cages with no sunlight and their feet never ever touch the ground.

I could just cry when I look at those videos and since seeing them I decided I would only buy cage-free. (mute point at the moment while egg-laying is good). Abuse, plain and simple. Greed, even plainer and simpler.

 

[colburg]

after a rotten learning day yesterday. i learned an awful lot. fermented feed is the way to go for my flock. all the birds were out and about on pasture today, 2 days back into fermented feed. a great smile on my face followed by a big yes and a voice saying now those are my chickens.happy and free.
my conclusions are:

1.standard broiler rations cut or not produce a unhealthy environment for the birds

2. broiler or high protein feeds create an overload on the chickens organs making them extremely tired and not wanting to move..

3. lower protein fermented feed the birds are healthier and seem to want to go out and forage more and be chickens

4. egg production picks up

5. less bickering among the flock

6. the flock overall just seems to be clicking . a good skip in their step.

this pertains to my flock i have also formulated a feed ration that seems to be working. the chickens like it and creates a general base for all my birds. it comes out to 18.17%. time will give me the answer if this fits the bill for good general health. if anyone wants the formula i will share it. however this was formulated for my flock and has not stood the test of time. however by general observation the chickens seem great and enjoy the feed.

Great list.

Amen to #5. We had some pecking in our brooder while the chicks were waiting for me to get their tractor built. Once I started the FF, it mostly disappeared. Now that they're in the tractor and on FF, there is no more pecking.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

after a rotten learning day yesterday. i learned an awful lot. fermented feed is the way to go for my flock. all the birds were out and about on pasture today, 2 days back into fermented feed. a great smile on my face followed by a big yes and a voice saying now those are my chickens.happy and free.
my conclusions are:

1.standard broiler rations cut or not produce a unhealthy environment for the birds

2. broiler or high protein feeds create an overload on the chickens organs making them extremely tired and not wanting to move..

3. lower protein fermented feed the birds are healthier and seem to want to go out and forage more and be chickens

4. egg production picks up

5. less bickering among the flock

6. the flock overall just seems to be clicking . a good skip in their step.

this pertains to my flock i have also formulated a feed ration that seems to be working. the chickens like it and creates a general base for all my birds. it comes out to 18.17%. time will give me the answer if this fits the bill for good general health. if anyone wants the formula i will share it. however this was formulated for my flock and has not stood the test of time. however by general observation the chickens seem great and enjoy the feed.

So Bruce, could we get that formula?....while the topic's hot and we can print it for the chicken file? I guess I am confused about how to arrive at just the right amount of protein. And is that 18.17% what's in the dry feed or once fermented?

 

[aoxa]

just sharing my bucket.




yesterday one of the pumpkin got mold and turn soft so i froze it for the night and this morning put it in the bucket, i'll report back if anything goes wrong.

It's so pretty @_@

 

[aoxa]

Can someone tell me how to do all this to feed 150 birds? A small bucket is not going to cut it

Do I just add food every 24 hours? I have been reading and reading and can't uncover how to make this work for my situation. I bought organic, unpasturized, unfiltered (with mother) ACV tonight. My birds LOVE wet food. I've done that many times for a treat. I'm thinking fermented food would work really well if I could do enough for 150 birds. The cold winters is also an issue, but I could work around it by keeping the buckets in our attached garage or mud room and bring down rations in the morning. Hopefully what I offer won't freeze... How do you all work around that?

 

[City Chicken]

just want to mention.. 5 days on fermented feed for my 24 meat cornish X 5 day old chicks... their poop is normal, not gloopy and yellow. they poop ALOT but it doesn't smell as sharp. they also don't seem to drink as much as everyone has mentioned probably because it's already wet.

i will be switching everyone to this as soon as i get my act together (i have 3 mature and 9 more cockerels and pullets). i started a small batch with kefir grains and will be adding more feed tomorrow to have enough to keep it up to feed everyone.

question:
will one 5 gallon bucket do it for 24 chicks as they get older?
who is raising cornish X on FF and how much do you put out and when? (they will be on pasture as well)

 

[Island Roo]

Quote:
You might want to start out with a 5 gallon bucket to get used to the process. Feed it for treats till you figure out how you want to scale up.

I just cut my productions back to a single 5 gallon bucket in the mud room. I'll be handing out a small FF meal morning and night. I've got 17 adults and 25 six-week old chicks. So I'll probably add a second bucket as they get bigger. They also have dry feed available. I notice they are eating more dry feed as the temps go down but still come running for FF.

I just took out the evening meal - my little guys loved it. (excuse to add picture)

 

[Lacy Blues]

Can someone tell me how to do all this to feed 150 birds? A small bucket is not going to cut it

Do I just add food every 24 hours? I have been reading and reading and can't uncover how to make this work for my situation. I bought organic, unpasturized, unfiltered (with mother) ACV tonight. My birds LOVE wet food. I've done that many times for a treat. I'm thinking fermented food would work really well if I could do enough for 150 birds. The cold winters is also an issue, but I could work around it by keeping the buckets in our attached garage or mud room and bring down rations in the morning. Hopefully what I offer won't freeze... How do you all work around that?

I do it for about 100 birds, about half of them still growing. I have two 5 gal buckets and two 3 gal buckets going at all times. I use all of one 3 gal bucket and half to two-thirds of the 5 gal bucket in the morning and then again in the evening. They are both full while brewing... excuse me... fermenting. After each feed time, I add food back in so it only sits for about 24 hours before being used.