Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[maryhysong]

maryhysong,

I'm avoiding GM crops and soy in our diets as well as the chickens' diets. For the chickens, this has meant avoiding corn and soy since I can't find/afford to order organic corn. I am new to chickens, but am going to tell you what I'm doing so you can research it and see if it'll work for you (logistically, but also whether it will provide what you want for your flock)...

I ferment with ACV:
3 parts whole wheat
3 parts whole oats
2-3 parts milo/sorghum
1 part BOSS (too much?)
1 part Ultra Kibble

You can search for threads about the Ultra Kibble here on BYC. It was originally created as a supplement for jungle fowl being raised in captivity (zoos, etc) and can be applied to chickens. I order it through amazon with free shipping and a bag lasts a long time b/c you need so little. From what I understand, a tiny bit of UK provides all the nutrition that they need in a slow-digesting pellet, but they need other foods in their diet to feel full and satisfied so I use the whole grains. The UK has some corn and there is the possibility of GMO there, but I feel like I'm doing the best I can to create a 'complete' feed with all the nutrition they need and still have the *least* amount or none of the things I don't want. Here is the owner/creators answer about GMO in UK:

Thank you for the info about the Ultra Kibble; I will have to go check that out; I am just starting the FF and right now the bucket has 1 scoop each wild bird seed, milo, rolled barley, wheat and alfalfa cubes, used home made ACV and yogurt to start it; bubbling merrily along. The milo is not that well liked by the big girls and seems a bit big for the chicks, so will probably choose something else when I run out. I'm also currently reading Poultry Feeds and Feeding,
http://books.google.com/books?id=0j...QH-moG4Bw&ved=0CG4Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false

One of the big things they keep coming back to is feeding milk, especially buttermilk, for fattening chickens but also for raising chicks, mixed into the mash. When I kept dairy goats all the off milk, cheese whey and such went to the chickens; had the hardest eggshells in the country! When we had a lot more small mixed farms this would have been the norm; so many head of cows, sell so much cream and butter, feed skim milk to the pigs and buttermilk to them and the chickens. Each operations waste was feed stock for the next operation.

 

[pigeonguy]

Hi there.

I went to Amazon to check out this product. The label cannot possibly be read.

Would you be willing to type out the ingredient label on here please? If no one else wants to see it, you can pm me.

I found this.
Ingredients: Corn Gluten Meal, Sorghum, Vegetable Oil, Rice Bran, Cane Molasses, Dicalcium Phosphate, Fish Meal, Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicate, Salmon Meal, Cinnamon, Diatomaceous Earth, Dehydrated Watercress Pulp, Dehydrated Spinach Pulp, Etc.
http://www.pet-dog-cat-supply-store.com/shop/index.php?page=shop-flypage-47448

What it doesn't say is how much protein or fat or anything like that.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Thanks Pigeonguy.

Chicken curious, If you have a bag handy, could you fill in the blanks please?

 

[PeepsCA]

Could not get my scanner to work, so I took a pic of the bag... poor quality, sorry.
HTH

 

[maryhysong]

PeepsCA thanks for the pic of that feed tag. That corn gluten meal is worrisome; if I was going to feed that then I might as well just buy the mash from the feed store; it'd be cheaper.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Also worrisome is the "vegetable oil". In all other circumstances, when a label states "vegetable oil" it is referring to SOYBEAN OIL.

I'm guessing that's true here too. And there's plenty of documentation on negative effects of soybean oil

 

[maryhysong]

ran a search and found fish meal, 60% protein, $74 for 50 pounds and almost as much to ship to me. ;-( Would probably be cheaper just to order organic grower feed from the feed store, but lots of you might live closer and be able to order from them; they also carry the ground kelp which is a tremendous trace mineral supplement for animals and gardens.
http://www.ohioearthfood.com/animal-feed-supplements.html

 

[galanie]

I don't care for GMO either and am trying to do my best to keep it out of mine and my chicken's food. But a trace amount of possibly soy oil? really? I'd take my chances if I was going to go for this stuff. But rather than experiment on my own, I just do what more than one respected breeder has told me to do and use calf manna to supplement. My girls look darn good.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sweet feed is 12% protein. Sweet 16 is 16% protein.

I've not seen that around here,

 

[Miss Lydia]

You know how you can tell when your hens like their FF?



When they walk out of the run wearing it since they were eating it like piglets........3 hens with dirty faces/chins........I came home from a weekend away thinking they got into the FF bucket I left in the run so my friend could feed them while I was gone.......Thinking the girls need some of those giant lobster bibs

That is so funny, looks like she enjoyed herself.