Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[skitzkle]

It is humid here too so I don't know how well it will work. I suppose I could just do it and see. Wish I lived by the ocean - minus tsunamis and hurricanes. ha

If you have a place to you could keep the mealworms in the house. I would prefer mine to be in the sunroom with all my other 'small' farm supplies but that is were it is humid. I have them in the living room at the moment but this winter they are going back into the sunroom. I don't think the US east coast has ever had a tsunami and I think the barrier islands would protect us from that, but we had a lot of roofs and a couple houses in my neighborhood lost in hurricane Irene a couple years back.

 

[AletaG]

I might be too right to go left! They would probably send me packing! LOL I live probably 800 miles from the southern coast but one of those hurricanes a few years ago tore things up here! Crazy!

Well, it's basically the major cities in WA and OR (Seattle, Tacoma) and (Portland, Eugene)... if we could organize a R leaning insurgency out here... Otherwise I'm heading mid-country when my parents are gone. Come on out this a way! We'll have tea. And no hurricanes.

Mine was an isle or two away from the tote isle. Between the totes and canning items on the top shelf. Now that they have college areas you might find them there. Doesn't it just scream nest box and not storage? The lid snaps tightly in place yet is still easy to get off and it is thick plastic. I thought I would have to put vent holes in the back because we often get over 100 here but my girls like it the way it is. I was cleaning them out on the other side of the fence the other day and my main pullet flew over the fence to lay an egg then just went back. I haven't had to cover it or add vents, they like it as it is.

These look amazing. I am thinking they'd be grand for the breeding pens I have yet to get set up for next year...

 

[Triple Willow]

Mine was an isle or two away from the tote isle. Between the totes and canning items on the top shelf. Now that they have college areas you might find them there. Doesn't it just scream nest box and not storage? The lid snaps tightly in place yet is still easy to get off and it is thick plastic. I thought I would have to put vent holes in the back because we often get over 100 here but my girls like it the way it is. I was cleaning them out on the other side of the fence the other day and my main pullet flew over the fence to lay an egg then just went back. I haven't had to cover it or add vents, they like it as it is.

I will have to find some of those. That is too funny about your pullet flying over the fence after her nest box! LOL

 

[Triple Willow]

Mine was an isle or two away from the tote isle. Between the totes and canning items on the top shelf. Now that they have college areas you might find them there. Doesn't it just scream nest box and not storage? The lid snaps tightly in place yet is still easy to get off and it is thick plastic. I thought I would have to put vent holes in the back because we often get over 100 here but my girls like it the way it is. I was cleaning them out on the other side of the fence the other day and my main pullet flew over the fence to lay an egg then just went back. I haven't had to cover it or add vents, they like it as it is.

When I first put one in the coop those hussies turned it over, rolled it around and dug all the shavings out! LOL

 

[Beekissed]

Those would go well in a nice wooden frame in which to stack them, so they couldn't be toppled in any way.

 

[Triple Willow]

If you have a place to you could keep the mealworms in the house. I would prefer mine to be in the sunroom with all my other 'small' farm supplies but that is were it is humid. I have them in the living room at the moment but this winter they are going back into the sunroom. I don't think the US east coast has ever had a tsunami and I think the barrier islands would protect us from that, but we had a lot of roofs and a couple houses in my neighborhood lost in hurricane Irene a couple years back.

I can't remember but it seems like it was Irene or maybe Ivan that got us pretty bad. It split trees and about blew everything away at my house AND that was nothing compared to what some people got. But the worst was the ice storm of '09. Boy oh boy, that was crazy! I believe it happened right at new years. We didn't have electricity for 9 days but some were without it for a solid month! A gallon of milk kept just sitting in my kitchen floor for a week. LOL ...it was cold!

I'm hoping I can do the meal worms in my garage. I don't know, it might be too hot.

 

[skitzkle]

I can't remember but it seems like it was Irene or maybe Ivan that got us pretty bad. It split trees and about blew everything away at my house AND that was nothing compared to what some people got. But the worst was the ice storm of '09. Boy oh boy, that was crazy! I believe it happened right at new years. We didn't have electricity for 9 days but some were without it for a solid month! A gallon of milk kept just sitting in my kitchen floor for a week. LOL ...it was cold!

I'm hoping I can do the meal worms in my garage. I don't know, it might be too hot.

it's worth a try if it is you just move them. Mine didn't die all at once it was more the mold & most survived. I am still working out the kinks. Tomorrow I am cutting a huge whole in my lid & gluing landscape fabric to it. to give more ventilation and keep out the fruit flys that are driving me crazy!!!

 

[Triple Willow]

Well, it's basically the major cities in WA and OR (Seattle, Tacoma) and (Portland, Eugene)... if we could organize a R leaning insurgency out here... Otherwise I'm heading mid-country when my parents are gone. Come on out this a way! We'll have tea. And no hurricanes.
These look amazing. I am thinking they'd be grand for the breeding pens I have yet to get set up for next year...

Tea sounds great! But you know what, there are radical L leaning people everywhere! I live in a little podunk town that you would think would be nice and conservative but I believe the majority aren't at all. And golly mercy, the drugs and carrying on is pathetic! It's Meth Central around here! Like you, once my mom is gone I will probably be leaving here. But then she might out-live me! I hope she sticks around for a good while longer.
Do you have plans on how you are going to set up your breeding pens? I would kinda like to set up a couple of them, nothing grand.

 

[Triple Willow]

it's worth a try if it is you just move them. Mine didn't die all at once it was more the mold & most survived. I am still working out the kinks. Tomorrow I am cutting a huge whole in my lid & gluing landscape fabric to it. to give more ventilation and keep out the fruit flys that are driving me crazy!!!

Dang fruit flies found my ff in the garage! I try to just stir them in real quick! LOL

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Just gave some sprouted lentils to my youngn's yesterday... planning on a once a week protein bump, since the FF is in the 15% range or so... we'll see how it works. They sure liked it, once they figured out what it was...
What breeds of meat rabbit would you pick if you only had room to keep maybe 2 males and 4 females around... not counting the 'grow out' of the litters? Is there a thread where you talk about raising them together w chooks?

Aleta; There's so many different breeds of "acceptable" meat rabbits it's all about YOUR production goals. There's about 30 different "good" rabbit breeds for meat, some have better feed conversion, some have pretty coats some grow as fast as possible, some make good pets, some have wool, some are expensive show animals, some are rare heritage breeds....

If you are Only growing for meat with NO ulterior motives, go for Cali's or NZWs. Look for a rabbit that looks like a bowling ball under fur for it's backside, and has the shoulders to support it. Ask about dressage ratios, litter sizes, growth rates (4-5lbs in 10-12 weeks is the goal), parentage, etc. You don't need a pedigree for awesome meat rabbits. Beware of fancy cross breeds (meat mutts) without good parent stock because they get hybrid vigor gen 1, but not gen 2. I back up my crosses with a dad that looks like a bowling ball and a pedigreed mom from a line that produces documented 12 kit litters.

As for keeping rabbits with chickens, I don't like to write about it (and so haven't made a thread) only because people often say "it worked for them" (and it can) and get offended, but there's some serious problems with it... Rabbits are social until 5 months and then they can become murderers that will kill each other at any time, so it's really hard to have a rabbit "colony" free-ranging with your hens (not to mention all the other problems with rabbit colonies but I'll refrain). Chicken feed is VERY bad for rabbits. High-protein rabbit feed is 18%, high calcium rabbit feed is 2% and they need 20% fiber or they have serious GI issues. Chicken feed is only 7% fiber, and 24% protein or 4% calcium like in chicken feed can kill a rabbit, not to mention some chicken feeds have meat which is a HUGE no-no. A lot of parasites and diseases easy to fix in chickens kill rabbits easy and are hard to treat. And sometimes rabbits and chickens injure each other trying to have some inter-species dirty time and can get into really bad fights in defense.
Rabbits are really just good at doing one thing well always. Living alone, living on dry ground, having lots of tiny helpless kits, turning grass into food. Anything a little off can be a significant detriment unlike chickens. It's a TOTALLY different husbandry. Chickens seem to meet your needs mostly, and can be culled out to become what you need. You need to meet the rabbit's needs or they'll just not produce. They specialize in the highest protein lowest fat meat in the world and need equally specific care. (It's not HARD, you do one thing and stick to it and make changes super slowly is all.)

The best way to keep rabbits (IMO) is in cages that are suspended above the chickens. This can be a hutch off the ground that the chickens can crawl under, or wire cages hung from the ceiling of a hoop house etc. The chickens will eat the rabbit poop, spilt rabbit feed, bugs that grow in the rabbit litter, dig through rabbit bedding, the whole nine yards. Used rabbit bedding (straw, hay, shavings, compressed paper pellets, expensive biodegradable petstore stuff) is a good addition to Deep Litter too. So I just have a hutch and my chickens can crawl under it (the edge of their pen IS the rabbit hutch with mesh around the bottom) and they eat up anything they find loose on the ground. Which is why I feed my hens minimally... There's a scattering of 18% protein feed under the rabbit hutch most days if they care to look. In the winter I give my bunnies some cracked corn and they always leave some behind which the chooks will love. But they're not REALLY kept "together" they just have access to the neighboring space, you know?