Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[PeepsCA]

Opinions...best meat bird? Friers or Cornish x? I am getting into quail for meat too....anyone ferment feed for them?

I'm feeding FF to 30 Coturnix Quail... the only problem I have is which feeders to use for feeding them the FF, those lil brats like to get in and scratch feed everywhere if they can. I am using the long red chick feeders filled once a day but they still manage to get their feet in there and kick/scratch out a lot of the FF (which my Guineas clean up, so it's not a total waste, but it still ticks me off, lol). Their eggs and yolks are larger and egg production has been steady since starting them on FF in Oct. The birds look healthy as heck and they all feel healthy and plump (I have not processed any... yet).

 

[Mountain Momma]

How many gallons are my buckets? I can't seem to find that info.. Just says dimensions. I go through two buckets a day for 140 birds.

Also..
Is 24 hours enough for it to ferment?

Should I get more bucket systems going?

Nice buckets! 5 gal by the looks of it to me. That is what I use.

 

[Mountain Momma]

Good Morning Lisa!

So your husband gets 'dry hands'. Mmmmmmm, very interesting. My husband's hands seem to turn very arthritic if he gets near dish water. MEN!!!

(Texas) Lisa

lol. Yes, That is very interesting. I wonder if there is some sort or correlation? -L (Colorado)

 

[AlivianAcres]

[COLOR=4B0082]I'm feeding FF to 30 Coturnix Quail... the only problem I have is which feeders to use for feeding them the FF, those lil brats like to get in and scratch feed everywhere if they can. I am using the long red chick feeders filled once a day but they still manage to get their feet in there and kick/scratch out a lot of the FF (which my Guineas clean up, so it's not a total waste, but it still ticks me off, lol). Their eggs and yolks are larger and egg production has been steady since starting them on FF in Oct. The birds look healthy as heck and they all feel healthy and plump (I have not processed any... yet)[/COLOR].

I am curious to know what feed you ferment for them . My chickens love the stuff...and I'm loving the process...I think I have a problem haha

 

[aoxa]

Finally got to that video. Sorry about the music. I listen to the radio while I do chores. Poor choice of song to take this video yes? At least Molly starts it out properly with sound Molly the ewe. Such a doll!

 

[PeepsCA]

Quote: No way, not a problem, it's savin' you money! I have reduced my feed costs by a huge amount and I love THAT, lol.

My FF mix (which I feed to Guineas, Quail and Turkeys) is half 24% protein game bird pellets, and the other half is a mix of alfalfa pellets, scratch grains and some sweet feed (rolled corn, oats and barley, with molasses). I thought the large rolled pieces of corn might be a problem for the Quail, but they always go right for the corn first, so I guess it's soft enough after fermenting that they can manage it just fine.

Usually twice a week I'll mix a little (dry, not fermented) 30% protein game bird starter crumbles (Purina Startena) into the Quails' bucket of FF before filling their feeders, to keep their protein intake up since the FF mix I feed is only around 18% protein before fermenting. (I know, I should just start another 2-bucket system and ferment a higher protein mix that I only feed to the Quail).

And they also have free choice to a mix of ground up oyster shell and grit, plus they get some sort of greens and/or veggies each day.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Finally got to that video. Sorry about the music. I listen to the radio while I do chores. Poor choice of song to take this video yes? At least Molly starts it out properly with sound Molly the ewe. Such a doll!

Bravo!!! Can't wait for part 2!

 

[3 NH reds]

For anyone having problems getting a good starter due to cold temps one solution could be making a large batch of apple juice in a bucket adding Bragg's that is available mail order or as Bee said just let it ferment on its own and add a fish tank heater to the bucket to keep the temp around 70 to sped it up. You should then use this batch of fermenting juice to some feed for faster results. I am sure my ff is full of plenty of wild yeast as it sat outside all summer but it works great. We heat with wood at night so the day temp in the house can get to 55* but it still ferments.. Found a mouse in the mix but the Turkey just plucked it out and set it aside, they get picky compared to chickens.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Stirred the FF this morning and finally got a lot of bubbles! Yay!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I finally got my 2 buckets separated, wow was that hard, wanted to add more holes further around the top of the bucket, well when i pulled the inner bucket up boy did that water smell like alcohol, when I started this ff over a couple weeks ago [because it had such an alcohol smell the chickens weren't eating it] I used 1/2 cup ACV then the rest water, since then I have refilled the bucket a couple times with feed and only added water no more ACV, I am not smelling the alcohol in the feed just in the water when I remove the bucket, has anyone else noticed this smell?is it normal? I added more feed this morning and poured water only over it so haven't added anymore ACV and I am keeping this ff process going in a hallways that is pretty cool. I had been keeping it closer to the wood stove.