Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[JoyfulPromise]

I'm interested in adding fishmeal and kelp to my FF. Where do you find yours?

We get our Fishmeal from a (somewhat) local feed store, Uncle Luke's in Troy, Michigan. 50lbs is expensive, but it lasts a long time, unless you are doing meaties in 100 ct batches...

 

[Triple Willow]

I just came in from cleaning and sanitizing a brooder that I have that's made from a kid's plastic swimming pool (with hardware cloth hinged lid). I have got to move my 2 week old chicks to the bigger brooder. This first two weeks they have been divided between two smaller brooders that don't have covers. I stopped by to check on the chicks and one was sitting on the side of the brooder...AGAIN. The past week I have caught one sitting on the side of the brooder pretty often! They look at me like "Oh shoot! What??? I didn't do anything!" and hop back down in the brooder. lol I noticed just now that they are switching brooders on me. They can hop from one to the other when they get up on the side. I guess they are going visiting. lol I was going to start mixing them up so maybe they wouldn't pick on each other when I put them together but they seem to be doing that their selves. These children don't stay sweet and innocent for long. lol They love this ff! They go after it like crazy!

I read on here somewhere that Buckeyes need higher protein. Would that go for pullets being raised for eggs too? Anybody's thought would be appreciated.

 

[RedRidge]

This recent discussion has been very helpful in clearing up some things for me ~ thanks for everyone's input!

I got a good ferment on my 1st batch with organic starter but am having a harder time with their grower feed. Not mixing my own yet but hoping to eventually.

The thing with this grower (again, organic) is that peas are the main ingredient and smells awful but the chicks like it and have not had probs with any bugs. So I'm wondering if the pea smell is masking the good ferment?

I'm thinking I may just dry feed the remainder & get another brand or maybe it's time for me to try my hand at blending my own?

Kendra

PS ~ Brand is Magill Ranch's Cascade Grower. Reading through the ingredients, this stuff has a host of good stuff ~ looks like their version of a nutri-balance and even several strains of fermented probiotics...

I'm betting the smell you are getting is not the peas.

 

[Beekissed]

Wow, thank you for the helpful replies Beekissed, and RedRidge!

Part of our problem may be that we are doing sort of a mixture of your two soaking methods - I don't cover our feed with water, it looks more like Beekissed's bucket in consistency, but I also don't use the two bucket method. We always leave some feed/liquid in the buckets when we feed it out, and then add new dry feed for the next day and just add enough water to make a pretty runny soupy consistency - by the next day it will be a sloppy oatmeal consistency that we scoop out and feed. Sometimes it is a bit thicker and drier than other times, depending on how well we judged the "soupy-ness" of it the day before. Even if we added more water though, there always seem to be a layer of oats, or certain grains that float on the top, so they wouldn't stay under water entirely.

Beekissed - your picture looks more like the fermented scratch mix that we made for part of the broiler feed this last time. Do you have any fishmeal or other powders in with your grains? That may be part of our fly problem... maybe we will have to figure out how to add it later like RedRidge suggested...

No fishmeal in my feeds...they use soy meal for the proteins for the layer mash mix at the local feed mill. I don't worry so much about the soy as other folks do, as my birds free range all day and only get fed grains/feeds as a supplement to that each evening, so their proteins are largely derived from what they forage.

I find the two bucket system has been an invaluable part of my fermentation as the richest cultures are maintained separately from the mixed feed in that little reservoir in the bottom and are used from but never used up, so to speak. The bacillus in the reservoir are fed by the fine powder in the mash feeds that work their way down through my sieve system and thus are kept fresh and thriving. It looks, smells and feels much like sourdough bread mix.

Every once in awhile I'll take out some of the fine, thick residue from the bottom so that the particles don't get too deep. I'll put it out on the ground and all the animals will work on that until it is gone...they love it! It's strong smelling and thick stuff but they lick it up like it's chocolate.

 

[OHhappychicks]

What kind of feeder do you use to feed the fermented feed? I was using a glass pie plate but the chicks were walking & pooping in it. Want to start it will all my birds but having trouble coming up with a way to feed it without being so messy. I have 4 week old chicks, 7-8 week old chicks and 8 adults. The "tweeners" will probably be put in with some of the adults in a couple of weeks. They are out in the lot with them all day, but put in separate pens at nite. I'm a little leery of putting them all together in the coop. Don't want any of them to be hurt by the adults. They don't bother them to much outside, but inside might be another issue. Well, back to the question of feeders. What are your suggestions? Thanks!
OK!! Just read back a few posts and saw RedRidge's pic of his feeder. That is certainly an option I can do! Thanks RedRidge! There are probably others that have posted their feeders on here also, but haven't had time to look back thru all the posts. Anyother suggestions?
I'm fermenting Purina grower feed. So far it is doing great, but I noticed the consistency of others previous pics. The packaged grower feed is very mushy. Looks a lot like thin cornmeal mush actually! I will see what DH says. He is my go to guy!! Want to make sure the lid would have a deep enough lip to keep the feed on it. I would prefer not to use the packaged feed, but not sure what else to feed them. What are your suggestions. I can't mix my own. If the feed mill would mix for me, what would I have them put in? We don't have options of non-gmo-organic feed here. At least not what I can afford. There is someone here that sells organic feed, but it is almost $25/50#. I would love to use it, but the dollar wins again!! Or rather the lack thereof!!

 

[Beekissed]

Trough style. If you don't want them in it, place a wire grid over it so that they can get their heads in it but not their feet.

 

[OHhappychicks]

Trough style. If you don't want them in it, place a wire grid over it so that they can get their heads in it but not their feet.

Thank you Beekissed! Do you use the plastic chick troughs, like the ones tsc sells? We thought of that for the small chicks, but didn't think it would work for the larger chicks and adults. I haven't seen any larger ones, except metal.

 

[Beekissed]

Thank you Beekissed! Do you use the plastic chick troughs, like the ones tsc sells? We thought of that for the small chicks, but didn't think it would work for the larger chicks and adults. I haven't seen any larger ones, except metal.

I just use a rain gutter DIY feeder that has a baked on finish on the inside that is corrosion resistant. Cheap, easy, light weight and does the trick....

 

[TexasLisa]

Thank you Beekissed! Do you use the plastic chick troughs, like the ones tsc sells? We thought of that for the small chicks, but didn't think it would work for the larger chicks and adults. I haven't seen any larger ones, except metal.

Hi Beekissed--good to hear you on the forum!!!

OHhappychicks: Most people use a pvc pipe cut in half for a trough. Tractor Supply has this:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/double-tuftrade;-hookover-goat-trough-9-qt-black

Lisa

 

[RedRidge]

What kind of feeder do you use to feed the fermented feed?

I use the hanging feeder you saw a few posts above for the chicken tractor.
For chicks I use the little red trough feeders until they are 6-8 weeks old, then I switch to stainless (shallow but large around) dog food bowls for the teenagers.
Then... when for the adults I use 3" PVC cut in half horitzonally - some with little wooden X's made for legs... some hanging.
Feed certain roos FF can be an obnoxious problem I try to avoid... if they are too obnoxious they go in the freezer, but if it's just a little pushy at feeding time (which tends to happen with FF), then I just make sure I have duplicate feeders for that management group so they aren't required to be too, too patient while I scoop.

To get from the feed room where the FF buckets, premix and scale are I use large 8 qt stainless bowls I got for a couple bucks each at big lots.
To get the ferment out of the buckets (and to stir when I add more grains), I use a long handled SS curd spoon (it's like an oversized slotted spoon).
I have a large plastic bowl with a stainless strainer in it that I use to go from FF buckets to scale... scoop from that into SS bowls as I weigh each group. I do not "strain" the FF, simply scoop it out and use it wet... it's still dripping. That leaves plenty of moisture for mixing in the premix.