Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[colburg]

Well...the egg doesn't come from the bowels, so I'm not sure a laxative would help in that regard. I've never had egg bound hens, so I'm not sure what would work with them as it probably depends on WHY and WHERE they are egg bound in their oviduct.

Could work, who knows? There are some folks who swear by taking laxatives to start an overdue pregnancy, so one never knows!

HAHAHAHA, my wife got tired of being pregnant with our first one when she was a week overdue and didn't want the doc to induce with meds. So, she drank some castor oil mixed with OJ. Had minor sporadic contractions for 1.5 days, then half a daY(night) of hard labor. She decided that wasn't the best idea she'd ever had.

BTW, the second kid she had without anything, no inducing, castor oil, or pain meds(what's that shot they give in the spine for labor?), she didn't have it. Was in hard labor for about 15 minutes. The doc had to sprint from his office across the street to make it on time. The nurse almost had to make the delivery.

 

[wlhtx]

Wow, Colburg - are you my husband in disguise on this site?!?! You just described my EXACT experiences with our 2 kids... Castor oil to induce pregnancy: I would not recommend it. In fact, I have such bad memories that it pains me to even consider giving it to the chickens. I had every intention of never smelling that stuff again. But, nevertheless, I am having some comb issues with several birds this summer so I am considering it...

 

[Beekissed]

The stuff they have no has no smell, no color and they say, no taste...but I haven't tried it. You first!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

According to the Wiki on Castor Oil it's an old remedy to induce pregnancy, so it would probably help eggbound chooks!

 

[wlhtx]

Maybe I bought the wrong brand name back then because I remember a smell and DEFINITELY remember a taste. No ma'am! No thank you! (***gagging***)

 

[BlueMouse]

I'm finding this very interesting... have to make time to read the articles. I'll be interested to see if you continue to see excellent results. I was also "reccomended" by several well meaning people to take castor oil with overdue pregnancies. Thankfully my midwife is a wise lady who thinks that some people just gestate a bit longer than others. I passed on the castor oil and had three natural births.

back to FF. I have a big pickle jar (a la Kassundra!) of whole grains that I just add to as it gets low, it's VERY pickled. I mix that half and half with crumble and wheat bran and chopped greens, wet it down, and that's what I feed. I mix that up fresh after every feeding, but never use the whole bucket, so there's always a "starter" to go from. But I wasn't feeling like it was really getting bubbly in the 12 hours it had to sit between feedings. so I started adding a couple Tbsp of 20/1 LAB to it with the water when I mixed it. Figured, it can't hurt it. Now it's actively bubbling and pickled smelling by the time I'm ready to feed. The two bucket method probaly preserves a stronger starter in the bottom, and so doesn't require the use of the LAB. But, I had one very large bucket given to me, and this is working as well! come winter when I don't have any more meat birds I'll go back to feeding exclusively whole grains from the pickle jar. I think it's really interesting to see all the different methods people come up with to ferment. It allows us all to tailor something to fit our personal needs and the equipment that we have on hand.

 

[colburg]

Maybe I bought the wrong brand name back then because I remember a smell and DEFINITELY remember a taste. No ma'am! No thank you! (***gagging***)

I could be your husband in disguise, because my wife had it mixed with OJ and gagged while getting it down. I started laughing cause I was thinking, "If the castor oil doesn't directly induce labor, maybe it will indirectly start it with the pressure from chunking it up."

That's probably not funny to either of you and would get me slapped if I said it out loud.

 

[wlhtx]

I seem to remember wanting to slap my husband because he was giggling through the whole process too. No sympathy! I don't know about your wife but I couldn't drink OJ for like a year after that...

Hmm... Maybe I ought to feed HIM some castor oil soaked pumpkin seeds. Ooohhhh - I have such a devious plan forming in my head right now!

 

[Beekissed]

According to the Wiki on Castor Oil it's an old remedy to induce pregnancy, so it would probably help eggbound chooks!

I think I'd be a bit worried about giving it for egg bound . If it caused spasms enough to dislodge the egg but there was an obstruction to that egg, such as a prolapse of the oviduct or a thick layer of fat around the vent area, wouldn't that just cause the bird additional pain and discomfort as her body strained against these blockages? OUCH. It would be like giving a laxative to a horse with a twisted bowel...just agony!

 

[AletaG]

I think I'd be a bit worried about giving it for egg bound . If it caused spasms enough to dislodge the egg but there was an obstruction to that egg, such as a prolapse of the oviduct or a thick layer of fat around the vent area, wouldn't that just cause the bird additional pain and discomfort as her body strained against these blockages? OUCH. It would be like giving a laxative to a horse with a twisted bowel...just agony!

That's why all the extra pain in labor when induced. They aren't inducing LABOR, just CONTRACTIONS. If the (pardon me, gentlemen) cervix isn't open, all you are doing is hitting a brick wall over and over. They 'induced' me at "10 days late", and ended up after 20hours having to strip the membranes anyway, which actually got the labor going, 4hrs later, son. 2nd child, flat ref'd chemical induction at "10 days late" (I'm pretty sure I just carry longer, that does happen) but allowed membrane stripping. 5hrs later, daughter. Wish there was some biological eq for chickens! Poor egg-bound chicken!