Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[nab58]

My dogs eat poop, so they'd probably enjoy that too.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Scratch is lower in protein(8-9%) and sweet feed at tractor supply is 12%. I think I remember your feed being about 20%. If so, a 50/50 mix with 12% will give you 16% overall protein. Or a mix of 35/65 scratch/feed will give you about 16% protein.There's a myriad of ways to lower that protein, and they'll be much cheaper than game bird feed, etc.Good luck,

Thank you Colburg!!! Yeah I think mine was 23% protein so if I get the scratch that should make it closer to what it needs to be and do it 50/50 like you said. Thank you again!!!

 

[RoseMarie1]

Agreed! Cut your mix with lower nutrient grains that can provide more fiber and less total proteins. If you buy from a store and do not have a feed mill/farm co-op nearby, then I'm thinking the suggestion for scratch grains is your best bet...they sell those at TSC, don't they? Your chickens will enjoy the change in variety and they will be just as satisfied, but you will be spending less money and have healthier birds. It's a win/win.

At first your birds will pick all the grains out of the mix, but they will clean their plates if you don't overfeed them. If you come back to feed the next day and they have left feed in the trough..feed them less until they are cleaning their plates. Pretty soon you'll have their habits down and can make only small adjustments as their needs change with seasons, laying, etc.

OK thank you Bee. The lil pigs cleans their plates no matter HOW MUCH food I am putting in there. They are consuming some food right now with 38 birds! GOT to get rid of some of these roosters when I figure out HOW to see which ones I need to keep.

Scratch is lower in protein(8-9%) and sweet feed at tractor supply is 12%. I think I remember your feed being about 20%. If so, a 50/50 mix with 12% will give you 16% overall protein. Or a mix of 35/65 scratch/feed will give you about 16% protein.There's a myriad of ways to lower that protein, and they'll be much cheaper than game bird feed, etc.Good luck,

Thank you Colburg!!! Yeah I think mine was 23% protein so if I get the scratch that should make it closer to what it needs to be and do it 50/50 like you said. Thank you again!!!

 

[RoseMarie1]

......Hey barkeep............Another round please...and make mine a double (I'm just yoking) !

 

[RoseMarie1]

Not sure just what you mean, but the sludge and things in the bottom bucket in the fermented water have pretty much the same yeasts/molds that are in your FF and, thusly, should be safe to feed. If you have grains landing down there, you might have too large holes drilled in the upper bucket.

We have just been discussing that over on the Road Less Traveled thread and I posted a link about why this happens. It happened for many of us upon starting the FF...it is a normal thing and the fact that it is triggered by the FF, in some way, is a good indication that the FF is healing and improving on the digestive tract.

Oh that's good to know (improving the digestive track) because I had one do that in their poop hammock the other day. Speaking of poop, since I started letting the ferment ferment for longer and using two buckets of ferment, feeding out of one and letting the other one ferment I have noticed my chicks have a runny poop now where as they didn't have this when I used one bucket and added fresh dry feed to it each time I took out an amount 2x a day. Just wondering why it's runny now? Will check in the poop hammock in the morning to see IF all of them are like this or just some of them. I noticed this evening in their pen there was lots of runny poop on the ground.

 

[RoseMarie1]

I used the chick starter and just fermented it...it will have a peanut butter consistency but it makes it easy to scoop and feed and doesn't require draining before feeding. After the chick starter was gone I started mine on layer mash and whole grains, a 50/50 mix. It then needed draining, but it went quickly and they could be fed within one minute.

You might want to construct trough feeders if you don't already have some and you might need a wire overlay while they are young to keep them out of the wet mash.

Bee you started them on laying foods before they started laying? I thought the calcium would hurt them if they wasn't laying? I've got to get more food shortly and trying to decide just what I need to buy this time.

Not sure just what you mean, but the sludge and things in the bottom bucket in the fermented water have pretty much the same yeasts/molds that are in your FF and, thusly, should be safe to feed. If you have grains landing down there, you might have too large holes drilled in the upper bucket.

We have just been discussing that over on the Road Less Traveled thread and I posted a link about why this happens. It happened for many of us upon starting the FF...it is a normal thing and the fact that it is triggered by the FF, in some way, is a good indication that the FF is healing and improving on the digestive tract.

Oh that's good to know (improving the digestive track) because I had one do that in their poop hammock the other day. Speaking of poop, since I started letting the ferment ferment for longer and using two buckets of ferment, feeding out of one and letting the other one ferment I have noticed my chicks have a runny poop now where as they didn't have this when I used one bucket and added fresh dry feed to it each time I took out an amount 2x a day. Just wondering why it's runny now? Will check in the poop hammock in the morning to see IF all of them are like this or just some of them. I noticed this evening in their pen there was lots of runny poop on the ground.

 

[Beekissed]

Bee you started them on laying foods before they started laying? I thought the calcium would hurt them if they wasn't laying? I've got to get more food shortly and trying to decide just what I need to buy this time.

Oh that's good to know (improving the digestive track) because I had one do that in their poop hammock the other day. Speaking of poop, since I started letting the ferment ferment for longer and using two buckets of ferment, feeding out of one and letting the other one ferment I have noticed my chicks have a runny poop now where as they didn't have this when I used one bucket and added fresh dry feed to it each time I took out an amount 2x a day. Just wondering why it's runny now? Will check in the poop hammock in the morning to see IF all of them are like this or just some of them. I noticed this evening in their pen there was lots of runny poop on the ground.

Yep. My birds are active and not confined to a coop/run existence, so the calcium is utilized into growing strong bones as they forage...lots of miles put on those little legs in a day. I've not had any suffer from renal disease from feeding layer and my current older flock members (The Gnarly Bunch) were all started on layer ration as chicks...they are still hardy and producing at 6 yrs of age. They have been the most hardy of all the different flocks I've had, so...as you have probably noticed...I don't listen to what THEY say, only what I see in my backyard.

At this time of year, poop can be a little runnier as they consume more water...it's normal to have a little messier butts at this time due to that factor. The FF that sits longer has more time to absorb fluid and so they are getting more fluids in their meal than they do with the fresh feeds. No worries.

 

[Debs55]

Fed mine FF for the first time today!

 

[RoseMarie1]

Yep. My birds are active and not confined to a coop/run existence, so the calcium is utilized into growing strong bones as they forage...lots of miles put on those little legs in a day. I've not had any suffer from renal disease from feeding layer and my current older flock members (The Gnarly Bunch) were all started on layer ration as chicks...they are still hardy and producing at 6 yrs of age. They have been the most hardy of all the different flocks I've had, so...as you have probably noticed...I don't listen to what THEY say, only what I see in my backyard.

At this time of year, poop can be a little runnier as they consume more water...it's normal to have a little messier butts at this time due to that factor. The FF that sits longer has more time to absorb fluid and so they are getting more fluids in their meal than they do with the fresh feeds. No worries.

OK thanx Bee. I noticed when I scooped the poop from the poop hammock this morning it was formed well. I'm always checking it for worms to. I NEED to keep me a pair of glasses out there though since I always forget them since I don't see well up close.

Anyway not all of them have this loose stool, just a few. I put a tarp over part of the run a little while ago. Going to see how much shade it will make for them as well as see how dry that area will stay.
Oh I see WHY you do that now! Yep, I see.... mine doesn't get to do that as much as yours though.

OK now I've got to get off here and go check out the garden. Am picking our neices garden while they are on vacation. ;-)

 

[RoseMarie1]

THANK YOU for the list Bee. I was looking at bird seed for indoor birds the other day to use something to make some *Johnny cakes* for my hens and noticed they had peas & beans in them and thought I read somewhere that they were toxic for hens.....guess not. Thought the same for soybeans to.....hmmmm. Going to print this list out for my next visit to the feed store so I can get a variety for some homemade suet cakes and some extra items to ferment for them.

suet cake recipe please? I have several things of lard I got to make some soap with but my soap making buddy moved to OK.

So I have a huge bucket of it and like 7 small tubs of it I need to use for something. I could make the wild birds something out of it. Come to think of it I have made it before so I have a recipe already. Will wait for winter time and make some for the wild birds out of this so it doesn't go to waste.