Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Achickenwrangler#1]

That is a rooster, no 50/50 about it! I am feeding kinda wet because the pullets try to jump into the bucket before it drains! So i fling some down to get them to the side. Hubby was checking out my system and says sure they are getting drunk off it...no wonder they like it!...lol...I am fermenting, not brewing, it doesn't smell like etoh, I wouldn't want to contribute to deliquency of a chicken!

 

[Lacy Blues]

Ok, note to myself here for two reasons...

1. So I can find the thread again and

2. So I can pick up where I left off. I'm getting cross-eyed. I just finished reading page 33 and there are 80 pages altogether!

I am going to do this. My meaties (Delawares) are eating me out of house and home. I can get non-medicated chick starter here but I have to order it by Friday. Then it takes until the next Friday to get here.

So I missed the window and I don't have a lot of non-medicated feed left. I need to order more but in the meantime, I think I'm going to stretch what I have. I have most of a bag of medicated starter which I HATE using. But if it will work with this method, perhaps I'll mix it with the non-medicated to make a mash. I think I'm gonna go run to the store and buy a bag of bird food, millet mix for small song birds for my babies.

I have ACV and I have yogurt. If it ferments in about 15 hours, using yogurt won't hurt. It's plenty warm here to get it going right away. Do you mix it with hot water to get a jump start?

Looking forward to reading 47 more pages of this stuff! Great news for me! I'm joining the troops of... what did you call them... delinquents? Sounds like me well enough

More notes for me... just finished reading page 60

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Starting with warm water makes a quick difference...this heat has also

 

[jeapa]

I've been fermenting feed for 8 days now, feeding it for 6. I started with 1/3 cup whole wheat and cracked corn combined with 1 cup water and half a tablespoon of Bragg's vinegar (I'm feeding just 3 pullets as a supplement to their regular feed). After two days I still hadn't seen any bubbles, but it smelled like bread instead of like vinegar, so I drained and gave some to the chooks. They gobbled it up! I've been feeding it to them daily, adding more wheat and corn, then a little oats, water as needed, and once another little splash of vinegar. After 5 days of fermenting, I finally saw bubbles and the mother! I never remove all the feed, just take out as much as half, and add back as much as I remove, and give it a good stir. I can't believe how they wolf it down.

I don't know if it is related, but for the last couple of days they've started following me around when I let them out of the coop, instead of running from me. I am now their favorite person.

Sounds like my flock. As soon as they see me coming they all run over to the door of the run to see if I have something for them. They sure do love the FF.

 

[jeapa]

That is a rooster, no 50/50 about it! I am feeding kinda wet because the pullets try to jump into the bucket before it drains! So i fling some down to get them to the side. Hubby was checking out my system and says sure they are getting drunk off it...no wonder they like it!...lol...I am fermenting, not brewing, it doesn't smell like etoh, I wouldn't want to contribute to deliquency of a chicken!

See, that's what I thought, but I keep having people tell me that is a fast maturing pullet. I would think having a comb and wattles that large and red at 9'weeks means rooster. Anyone in Delaware want a rooster

I can't wait to move out to the country where I can have a rooster. My hubby and I are planning to move in the next 3-5 years and it can't come soon enough for me.

 

[Beekissed]

That's a roo....hackle feathers and the roo feathers starting in the tail from what I can see. VERY nice looking flock, BTW!

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

You will love it when you do! People living so close together (without knowing each other) is kinda unnatural I think. Right now I'm wondering what I'm going to do with all the little roos coming up...it would be a help if they weren't so pretty, be careful what you wish for!

 

[jeapa]

You will love it when you do! People living so close together (without knowing each other) is kinda unnatural I think. Right now I'm wondering what I'm going to do with all the little roos coming up...it would be a help if they weren't so pretty, be careful what you wish for!

I agree. I grew up on a small farm and I am looking forward to returning to my youth

That's a roo....hackle feathers and the roo feathers starting in the tail from what I can see. VERY nice looking flock, BTW!

Thanks for the nice comment on my flock Beekissed and for confirming my roo. Now I just have to figure out what to do with him before he realizes he can crow...LOL..

 

[Zootopia]

I think I could drain my FF a little more before I feed it, but everyone loves it so I guess I am serving a wet mash..LOL..


Here is what it looks like when I serve it, 50% grower crumbles 50% scratch grains:



The gang chowing down:



I always have one that has to get inside the feeder:




Does that RIR ( Production Red) look like a Rooster to any of you? These are 9 weeks old and I get about a 50/50 split when I have asked before.

Ya, look at those waddles.

 

[cattleman999]

I haven't gotten all the way through this thread (up to pg 40) but have read enough that I am going to try fermenting the feed for my next batch of meaties due in about a month. In the meantime I am going to also start fermenting the feed for my layer flock but I have some questions regarding ingredients. I just found a potential source for corn gluten feed pellets and dried distillers grains. This place also has a three way mix of CGF, DDG, and soybean hulls. I am going to price them individually and together tomorrow but I anticipate that they will be much cheaper than the layer pellets I have been buying. Does anyone have experience feeding CGF or DDG either dry or fermented? I know in cattle rations you have to be careful about how much you feed of either one due to the high sulfur content. I was thinking of trying one or the other or possibly the three way mix and then feed that half and half with my current layer pellet and ferment the whole thing. Any input would be greatly appreciated because they are about to eat me out of house and home.