Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Triple Willow]

It does.  It took me two to three weeks to go through a bag of starter when feeding 54 meat chicks and they eat much more than DP birds. 

Were yours forraging?

 

[Beekissed]

After two weeks they were let out to forage...yes. Still...meaties will go through two bags of feed for any DP's one bag, any day.

 

[Triple Willow]

After two weeks they were let out to forage...yes.  Still...meaties will go through two bags of feed for any DP's one bag, any day. 

I don't know why they are eating so much! They are all good and plump but I don't think they are wasting much. I'm going to have to check this out a little closer.I've got to get some new feeders made and hopefully that will make it easier to monitor.

 

[Beekissed]

You know? My memory is dusty...but I'm thinking I might have went through one bag of starter in a week and a half with those birds and started adding whole grains 50/50 to that mix somewhere in the second or third week, so my apologies as my mind tends to have these little bubbles of memory hiccups.

Also, I don't provide continuous feeds to the chicks..just two meals a day..so that might be the difference. But, yours still seems a little more than I would feed..though it does matter what breed. I fed some Delaware chicks this spring and they ate every bit as much as CX birds!

 

[Triple Willow]

You know?  My memory is dusty...but I'm thinking I might have went through one bag of starter in a week and a half with those birds and started adding whole grains 50/50 to that mix somewhere in the second or third week, so my apologies as my mind tends to have these little bubbles of memory hiccups. 

Also, I don't provide continuous feeds to the chicks..just two meals a day..so that might be the difference.  But, yours still seems a little more than I would feed..though it does matter what breed.  I fed some Delaware chicks this spring and they ate every bit as much as CX birds! 

I only feed twice/day too. It seems that all my birds are just pigs! lol And yep, the Delawares I have are mudballs. The majority of my young birds are Delawares and Buckeyes. The Delawares are out-doing the Buckeyes! Chicks are cute for a day or two but I like it better when they get about grown and I can see what they are really going to look like. That cute wears off pretty quick to me! lol Would you mind telling me again your feed formulation? Thanks!

 

[Beekissed]

There ya go...the Delawares! I had to seriously downsize my Delawares due to their eating me out of house and home. They eat every bit as much as CX chicks.

I don't do anything special for my feed formula...just added whatever grains were cheap and would cut the expense of the chick starter and layer rations. I had added barley, oats and wheat to their starter. I found they didn't really like the wheat and would only eat it after everything else was gone and they had nothing else to eat. I thought CX would eat anything but I was wrong. I've not fed wheat since then.

After the starter was done it was down to layer mash and whole grains. I did the same for the Del chicks this spring..they went right to layer and barley after their starter was done. Because they were being raised off the same FF bucket as the rest of my flock, everyone got starter and layer ration together until the starter was gone and then it was layer and barley.

 

[RoseMarie1]

ya know I noticed something today. I fed mine much more than they normally eat in a day so they would have a little left over for the a.m. so I wouldn't have to get up SO early to feed them in the a.m. When I went to shut their back gate to their roost tonight they had licked their bowl clean. They didn't get out to forage at all today so this is why I had no left overs and they even ate more today to. So foraging has saved me a lot of food that I didn't even realize it was saving me. Had plans today so couldn't let them out. Foraging saves on the food bill as well as gives them some goodies. Mine love to munch on the grass for awhile before they head for the bushes.

 

[Triple Willow]

There ya go...the Delawares!  I had to seriously downsize my Delawares due to their eating me out of house and home.  They eat every bit as much as CX chicks. 

I don't do anything special for my feed formula...just added whatever grains were cheap and would cut the expense of the chick starter and layer rations.  I had added barley, oats and wheat to their starter.  I found they didn't really like the wheat and would only eat it after everything else was gone and they had nothing else to eat.  I thought CX would eat anything but I was wrong.  I've not fed wheat since then. 

After the starter was done it was down to layer mash and whole grains.  I did the same for the Del chicks this spring..they went right to layer and barley after their starter was done.  Because they were being raised off the same FF bucket as the rest of my flock, everyone got starter and layer ration together until the starter was gone and then it was layer and barley. 

LOL Yep they are pigs for sure! Did you slaughter any of the Delawares you had? I am wondering how they will finish out and how long it will take. I've got a variety of chicks. lol I bought a trio of white leghorns, a trio of dominiques (one pullet died in first 48 hrs), and Meyer was out of ancona pullets but I ordered two cockrels anyhow. Well lucky me, either they messed up or they were being really nice because I was sent a pullet and a cockrel. I wanted to play around with all the different kinds and see who/what I wanted. The leghorns and anconas who will eat less and probably lay the best may beat the others out for a laying flock. I really like them too. I'll be glad when they all get grown and start donating eggs! I am also wondering about the Delawares for a good dual purpose bird. They are said to lay very well too.

 

[RedRidge]

I'm going through 1 - 50# bag of starter grower/week for 10 - 20 week olds and about 25 - 6-8 week olds and no forraging right now. Does that sound like a lot?

I normally use these estimates for non-foraging adult birds (anything after about 18-20 weeks gets adult rations).
For feeding dry, my production layers usually eat about .25lb/day/bird.
My HRIR (bigger birds) eat .33lb/day/bird.

My weight ratio for dry to wet when I feed FF is 2.25
So that would mean my production layers would each get .56 lbs of FF each/day
My HRIR get .75 lbs of FF each/day

So... if you twenty week old birds are production layers a bag of dry feed should last them about 10 days... add the chicks to that and a week for 50 lbs sounds about right.

 

[Triple Willow]

I normally use these estimates for non-foraging adult birds (anything after about 18-20 weeks gets adult rations).
For feeding dry, my production layers usually eat about .25lb/day/bird.
My HRIR (bigger birds) eat .33lb/day/bird.

My weight ratio for dry to wet when I feed FF is 2.25
So that would mean my production layers would each get .56 lbs of FF each/day
My HRIR get .75 lbs of FF each/day

So... if you twenty week old birds are production layers a bag of dry feed should last them about 10 days... add the chicks to that and a week for 50 lbs sounds about right.

Boy your numbers take me back! In college I did a feed study on beef cattle fed whole corn and soybean meal versus whole corn and roasted soybeans. We weighed all the feed on an big set of platform scales (with the slide and weights). All the numbers from feed to calf weights all the way to slaughter data were crunched via pencil, paper and calculator. I think I am old! LOL

Thank you very much for the information. I am starting a notebook of valuable information I need to keep up with and this will definitely go in it. I may just invest in a set of scales. That and mixing my own ration is on my list of things to do - my feed "bucket list". lol Thanks!