Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[aoxa]

Im going to need it for now because my two silkies are going to be house chickens untill I move out to our farm in four months or longer depending on how long it takes to close

It's likely the snow won't even be fully off the ground in 4 months to get them to find their own. Even if you didn't have them in the house.

 

[mammaducky1]

Discovered something when butchering and just wanted to share. I really love gizzards, but they have always been a pain to clean. All the instructions I found say to cut them in half, wash out all the stones and food, and then peel the thick lining off the gizzard. That works but it is a lot of work and time consuming and that lining can be hard to separate. Last night I stumbled upon this method.

1. Locate the hole that connected the gizzard to the crop.
2. Lay the gizzard down on a flat surface and with a knife, cut along both sides of that hole, almost down to the other end. (you will be cutting parallel to the table) You cut through the meat until you feel a small amount of grit and start to meet with resistance.
4. Put the knife down, pick the gizzard up, chose a side to work on, and then with your thumbs start to pull apart the meat. If you hit it right, the gizzard will pull away from the inner lining, and that inner lining will come apart as one sack with all the stones and undigested food inside!!!!
5. You may end up partially cutting the sack, but if that happens try working from the other cut side. Most of the time the lining will still pull away as one piece. I discovered today that if the gizzard is super cold (Not freezing!!!!!), the lining seems to get tougher and holds together even better. This is so much easier and faster!!!!!

Hope this helps others!!!!

 

[knjinnm]

birds bred and raised to be packed in stacked batteries to lay eggs and die within two years.
Peace.

Factory egg layers don't last two years. From what I have read the hens are cycled out every 270 days, sent for processing into soup, canned chicken, cat food etc. Coops are cleaned and the next batch of hens brought in just in time to start laying.

Very organized.
jac

 

[knjinnm]

Couple of words need editing, anyone know how to do that?


OK, I got it.

 

[Eggcessive]

Bee has only been raising chicks for 4 years, so I'll go with the experts on this one.

She started the thread"Chickens for 10-20 years..." so I think she had them most of her life. However I disagreed with her take on feeding layer to chicks--that is 3-4 times the amount of calcium they should receive, so why chance causing kidney damage?

 

[Mumsy]

Factory egg layers don't last two years. From what I have read the hens are cycled out every 270 days, sent for processing into soup, canned chicken, cat food etc. Coops are cleaned and the next batch of hens brought in just in time to start laying.

Very organized.
jac

I was referring to the White Leghorns I knew raised in batteries like this when I was a kid. They weren't even called Leghorns then. They had a number for the breed. High production hybrid birds strictly used for commercial use. I lived next door to a commercial farm 1956-1962. The farmer quit with layers and went to replacement pullets in 1965 because he could make more money. Chicks were brought in by the thousands and raised until five months old and then shipped out in the middle of the night. He did this twice a year. I don't remember when it changed to 270 days.

 

[Terri O]

Thanks for the advice on how to darken my birds up Lacyblues! I do have a black that I will use with the hens this spring. I want to put those blue roos in with my Cuckoo Marans and make some Olive eggers just for fun. I lost both of my Marans roos this winter so it's time for some new egg colors I guess!
Aoxa--I always thought my blues were more like lavenders. They are not as dark as my Blue Andalusians. I have not shown the Blue Ams only my Wheatons and they do seem to have a greener egg so they may very well be closer to EEs. Thanks for your insight.
TerriO

 

[zinia8]

Question on grains to use. I have some all grain from TSC its corn barley oats and some molasses. Would the molasses be a problem or a bonus?

 

[PeepsCA]

Quote:

Question on grains to use. I have some all grain from TSC its corn barley oats and some molasses. Would the molasses be a problem or a bonus?

I'm curious to see the replies that this question gets as well. Glad you posted it

I've mixed wet COB/sweet feed into my FF since the day I started it, mid-Oct, 2012 and there seems to be no issue from it. So far so good.... for the birds, and for the FF. I only add enough wet COB to make up about 20-25% of the entire grain/pellet mix that I ferment tho. And I only feed my FF to Guineas, Turkeys and Quail... my Silkies (the only chickens I own) make too much of a mess and wear too much of it. Honestly, it seems to help my FF ferment really quick. I'm guessing because the extra sugar in the molasses feeds the mix better. The ferment liquid is dark and rich, almost like a thin syrup. I've processed at least a 1/2 dozen of my Guineas that had been eating FF 4-6 weeks prior to processing, and they were all perfectly healthy inside and out. Prior to starting FF my Guineas and Turkeys were eating a little wet COB as a treat every day, and still do.

My opinion is that it's a bonus, based on how well my birds are doing with it in their FF, and how well my FF is doing. Chickens may not fair as well on so much molasses in their diet, I'm not sure tho. I have seen some people warn that too much molasses can be a bad thing... hopefully that's just a myth.

 

[zinia8]

Quote: [COLOR=4B0082]I'm curious to see the replies that this question gets as well. Glad you posted it [/COLOR] [COLOR=4B0082]I've mixed wet COB/sweet feed into my FF since the day I started it, mid-Oct, 2012 and there seems to be no issue from it. So far so good.... for the birds, and for the FF. [/COLOR]I only add enough wet COB to make up about 20-25% of the entire grain/pellet mix that I ferment tho. [COLOR=4B0082] And I only feed my FF to Guineas, Turkeys and Quail... my Silkies (the only chickens I own) make too much of a mess and wear too much of it. Honestly, it seems to help my FF ferment really quick. I'm guessing because the extra sugar in the molasses feeds the mix better. The ferment liquid is dark and rich, almost like a thin syrup. I've processed at least a 1/2 dozen of my Guineas that had been eating FF 4-6 weeks prior to processing, and they were all perfectly healthy inside and out. Prior to starting FF my Guineas and Turkeys were eating a little wet COB as a treat every day, and still do.[/COLOR] [COLOR=4B0082]My opinion is that it's a bonus, based on how well my birds are doing with it in their FF, and how well my FF is doing. Chickens may not fair as well on so much molasses in their diet, I'm not sure tho. I have seen some people warn that too much molasses can be a bad thing... hopefully that's just a myth.[/COLOR]

Thank you for your reply. I need to start reading and searching this. I think they use molasses as a binder when they make pellet chicken food. I just wonder if you can get to much molasses in the ferment where it starts to cause problems. Diarrhea