Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Beekissed]

I use shavings but mostly grass clippings, leaves, pine needles......basically anything I can get for free around the house

I use these type of materials as well but the bulk of my summer bedding consists of the pine shavings. In the fall and winter I use primarily leaves, pine needles, etc. I don't use much, if any, hay and I never clean my bedding out, just let it compost down into soil and keep building on it. It never really goes deeper than 6-8 in. due to the constant composting...my coop just EATS material like a good garden does.

 

[All Ball]

Yes, thanks so much Bee- that would be my aim, a summary of the key points - you made it sound so simple at the start of the thread that I was encouraged to try it - I am lazy for example and sprouting sounded like too much work, but this ff seemed very easy and doable - and it was!

Then I would add the resources for folks wanting to delve in deeper.

OK, I will start working it up!

Thanks Bee and everyone -

All Ball

 

[Triple Willow]

Thank all of you for the information on your bedding! It sure is nice to have good folks that you can talk to and share information - or in my case gather information.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Thank all of you for the information on your bedding! It sure is nice to have good folks that you can talk to and share information - or in my case gather information.

Yes it is isn't it? Don't know WHAT us new folks would do without their help! I very much appreciate it!!!

 

[mlowen]

[COLOR=0000CD]The other day someone asked about compost and chickens, I looked and couldn't find the forum that talked about "composting with chickens" till I was sent an update today, here is the link to that discussion, enjoy. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...site&utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email[/COLOR]

Thanks so much for the link. I'm in a composting partnership with my pullets...on a MUCH smaller scale, of course.

 

[bbdal]

We were not fermenting our feed with our first baby chicks. I now mix and soak/ferment whole grains for our hens. We have baby chicks arriving in three days plus two broody hens. Can day old chicks eat fermented whole grains? Thanks!

 

[RedRidge]

Quote:

Thank all of you for the information on your bedding! It sure is nice to have good folks that you can talk to and share information - or in my case gather information.

I guess I'm kind of weird... I do things differently... so I guess I'll share since it seems to work.
As my husband likes to say... there is more than one way to skin a cat - it depends if you want the skin or the meat. LOL

As I get older I try to work smarter and not harder... efficiency has become a high priority for me. I have a lot of livestock and am determined to care for them all myself, so... efficiency r us.

My "coops/pens" are dirt floor. I have no bedding to speak of, but they are dry. I rake and shovel out any accumulation once every year (or two). Sometimes in the winter I will toss in some old hay or straw - they love to scratch around in it... it becomes nothing but dust by the next spring.
I no longer have "outside" runs because they are either muddy or require bedding.
All of my scraps and waste of any kind go to feed the Black Soldier Flies, so using it for bedding would be a waste. So... my flock is confined for 90 days each winter to coops that are 12x14 each. For the remaining 9 months of the year they are in the coops at night (sometimes I shut the door, sometimes I don't - it depends how many lgd's I have at the time and where they are working). During the day they free range.
Again... I am able to do this without losses because I have great maremma - I realize this is a luxury not everyone has. I can't imagine my life without them - my losses of both chickens and lambs would be astronomical if I didn't as I have heavy predation.

So... the need for maintaining outside runs doesn't exist. The inside coops have screen doors... at least one, sometimes two. This makes for better ventilation/circulation. They are never wet... the dirt is never wet... I guess I just see adding additional bedding as adding more work. Now... if they were on concrete it would be a necessity - but why complicate life and concrete it. I've never had cocci or mites... so it must work for me.

 

[Triple Willow]

Quote:

I guess I'm kind of weird... I do things differently... so I guess I'll share since it seems to work.
As my husband likes to say... there is more than one way to skin a cat - it depends if you want the skin or the meat.  LOL

As I get older I try to work smarter and not harder... efficiency has become a high priority for me.  I have a lot of livestock and am determined to care for them all myself, so... efficiency r us.

My "coops/pens" are dirt floor.  I have no bedding to speak of, but they are dry.  I rake and shovel out any accumulation once every year (or two).  Sometimes in the winter I will toss in some old hay or straw - they love to scratch around in it... it becomes nothing but dust by the next spring.
I no longer have "outside" runs because they are either muddy or require bedding. 
All of my scraps and waste of any kind go to feed the Black Soldier Flies, so using it for bedding would be a waste.  So... my flock is confined for 90 days each winter to coops that are 12x14 each.  For the remaining 9 months of the year they are in the coops at night (sometimes I shut the door, sometimes I don't - it depends how many lgd's I have at the time and where they are working).  During the day they free range.
Again... I am able to do this without losses because I have great maremma - I realize this is a luxury not everyone has.  I can't imagine my life without them - my losses of both chickens and lambs would be astronomical if I didn't as I have heavy predation.

So... the need for maintaining outside runs doesn't exist.  The inside coops have screen doors... at least one, sometimes two.  This makes for better ventilation/circulation.  They are never wet... the dirt is never wet... I guess I just see adding additional bedding as adding more work.  Now... if they were on concrete it would be a necessity - but why complicate life and concrete it.  I've never had cocci or mites... so it must work for me.

Thanks RedRidge. I agree with you, I'm also all about working smarter instead of harder. IMO, efficiency is just the wise thing to do.
I can see how not using bedding would lessen the chance of mites. That and your coops always being dry I'm sure greatly reduce the chance of cocci. I'd say the dryness just might be the key. And birds like yours that are able to truely free range are not going to kill the ground cover and dig up the soil and be expose to cocci in that way. You have definitely got a good setup. I'm sure your dogs take a lot of stress off your life. And they love doing what they do, can't get any better than that.

Thanks for sharing your way of doing things.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I sure wish I had the land to do that! But I don't... I live in a suburban lot and I have to maintain a chicken pen, flat out, no choice. I really like the way the wood chips have been working out for me. I'm going to start building a new compost pile in the chicken pen for them to dig through. I let them out to forage in the compost I already have often enough, but it's getting full and time to let it age so I can till it into my soil this fall. So adding a new compost pile in the chicken pen; here I come!

 

[BlueMouse]

ok... I'm catching up after a long weekend with no time for the computer, and have a couple things. I would also think it would be very beneficial to have another article written on FF. I too subscribe to the KISS idea. I have three small children, and a half finished house, I don't have time for fussy and complicated. However, I think we should also realize that there are a lot of different ways to do this that work for different people's setups, and with the equipment that they have available. I think that is what makes this such a great environment for learning, is that there are so many people doing it different ways and so many of them working not just well but superbly. Red Ridge has a very specific system that is perfectly streamlined for her needs. Bee has a great system for her flock that requires minimal imput and gets the ferment gong super quickly. CostaRicaArt has a system of rotating buckets that's innovative, simple, and perfect for his needs. Kassundra ferments only whole grains in a giant trashcan! We can all learn from the ways people do things even if their system would be bulky and cumbersome for us. And it's not always bad to use additives. if you have ACV there's no reason NOT to glug it in at the beginning. sure, it'll work without it, but it may help the process along a bit. and if you have LAB handy (which I do since I use it in my coop, where my tractors have been, and in my garden) putting a glug in here and there can only help, since what you have growing in there is a SCOBY and mostly LAB at that. If you don't have LAB around, there is equally no need for despair, becuase many are perfectly sucessful without it. I don't think it's particularly helpful or kind to poo poo the way someone is doing something because it seems fussy or cumbersome to you. More helpful by far to share what is simple and works well for you and ask why they are using that particular system. just as always my .02. I love reading this thread and learning from everyone. Even if I don't agree with someone I can learn from the way they are doing things.

number two.... My FF is doing something I haven't seen before... It has little sort of fluffy spots of growth on it. Not the normal cyrstaline gray/white scummy covering. these are like tiny fluffy islands.

I stirred them in and they came back the next day. I'm not overly worried because they are black, and the whole thing doesn't smell foul. But I do wonder if my yeast/bacteria balance is getting off in there. I dumped in fresh grains, some more water, and a glug of LAB this morning when I fed out. I'm hoping that if this is a sign that my balance is starting to go out of whack that will give it what it needs to get back to more or less normal. I guess I'm going to just let my nose be my guide, the last thing I want to have happen is for this to go bad, since it's a 20 gallon crock and about 3/4 full. Any suggestions?