Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Beekissed]

I went to once a day feedings just today. I lower it back into the ferment before I add replacement grain, then I stir the mix very well to make sure the new grain is well mixed and the more fermented feed at the bottom can be utilized with the next feeding also.

I'm in a hoop house, so it's easy for me to have ropes tied to my bucket and use the arch for my fulcrum when I drain one from the other. I don't know how you all are set up for this, so it may be something you want to devise or plan for if you are going to continue to do this in 5 gal. buckets and such.

 

[Blaineiac]

I just read this whole thread and am really interested. Thanks for sharing your experience. I "soak" feed for my hogs, but don't let it get to the point of fermentation. I also soak oats til they sour and sprouted for my birds. They go crazy for them. I'll be getting meaties in a few weeks so I might try this for them. Would this work with 14% hog grower, freshly ground, I go through #1000 every 3 weeks. I get it mixed with corn/oats and soybean meal and hog supplement. I could supplement for more protien with bean meal and animal protiens: hog liver, kidneys and lungs. thanks. Blaine

 

[Beekissed]

I read on another thread about someone had gone through 500 lbs of feed for 6 wks with their FRs. My CX will be 4 wk. on the 19th and I've used 50 lbs of chick starter and approx. 50 lbs of whole grains.

The free ranging is, I'm sure, also a big supplement to their feed as I've never really seen any chicken I've owned all these years forage as much and as well as these little CX are doing. They've got all the leaves at the woodline churned up like a flock of turkeys have been in there and they are constantly on the move. I'm sure they would be larger right now if they weren't running all their fat off!

I put a roost in the coop the other day and some are using it...I hope it catches on and they all start using it.

How's everyone doing on their fermented feeding? Notice any changes in feed intake? My CX are down to once a day feedings and are still growing and looking great. I'll take some pics on Thursday of their progress.

 

[jrsckn]

I'm not getting my CXs until the end of May so I have plenty of time to get this right but I'm really new to chickens, I've only had my first batch of layers for 4 weeks and they were 1-2 weeks old when I got them so day old chicks will be a first for me.

Could you possibly give me a timeline of what you feed and how much. For instance 2 cups chick starter mash per day for the first 2 weeks then switch to the grain mash containing such and such grains at __weeks.

I understand there is a lot of give and take depending on the chicks and other factors but some sort of guideline to follow for us newbies would be very much appreciated. I guess I'm just confused because there is sooo much good information here that I can read for hours and hours and end up more confused than when I started lol. Before I came here, I foolishly thought it would be simply picking up a bag of chick feed then layer feed and that would be about it; although I had a hard time buying Purina brand food, even though it was for chickens. Ask me anything about dog health and nutrition and I can answer it but chickens confuse me

 

[Beekissed]

I wish I could but I don't measure out feed...never have. I use a standard feed scoop that you can buy anywhere and I just shovel the feeder full of an amount that I've seen my chicks clean up well before the next feeding time comes along. Of course, this varies as their needs change, so I just adjust as I go along.

That's the advice I give all newer chicken keepers...always be assessing the flock's needs and changing things up as you go along. Standard amounts and standard schedules for feeding are like standard education....it only works for a standard person..or chicken, in this case. Each bird is an individual and each flock has its own flow....I could no more tell you what amount to feed your birds than I could tell you what to wear outside in the merry month of March on any given day!

Pardon me whilst I pull out my soapbox...<pulls out one very sturdy and badly worn box>

I've noticed that quite a bit on this forum...lots of folks out there wanting to standardize chicken husbandry with X amount of this nutrient or that vitamin in a certain ratio in the feed and wanting this to be the "best" nutrition for flocks. (But scientists and the USDA says it is supposed to BE that way, don't they???

) Every flock is different, live in different situations, produce at different rates...and that's okay. It's okay to not know exactly what to give and when because, if your flock is normal, those variables are constantly changing.

The real adventure of raising chickens is that change and constant learning curve...there shouldn't really be anything too hard about it. If you can raise and feed kids, chickens are a snap! How do you know if kids are getting the right foods and care? Same way you can tell if a chicken is...are they bright-eyed, active, healthy and have good appetites? Yes? Then you're on the right path.

Raising chickens is supposed to be fun, so if any of you are out there reading books or this forum and feel yourself getting confused or anxious about all the information you are trying to absorb~just stop and think a minute....people in very primitive cultures have been keeping chickens since time began and doing it quite well or there wouldn't be a chicken left for us to obsess over. Get over it, take a deep breath and just enjoy the process.

There! That's my very small two pennies!

 

[ScottnLydia]

WELL SAID!!! I think so many people in our culture have gotten so far from the roots that handed down the knowledge of how to do these basic farm skills and they yearn to re-connect, but there is no one to teach them. Keep sharin' the wisdom!

~S~

 

[jrsckn]

I completely agree with your post that not every animal has the same needs and I understand you can't say how much to feed, At one point I was feeding my dogs 3 different foods because they each had such different needs. After reading this forum, I realized I can kill my CXs by overfeeding them. I was just asking for a basic guideline like free feed for a week then feed 2X a day for 3-6 weeks then switch to grain mash 1X per day; something like that. Just something to go off of from someone with experience, I don't want to kill my chicks. Before this thread I didn't even know I could feed them whole grain lol. I'm all about playing it by ear and I'm ok with that for my hens but if I can save money on these meat birds by switching them to grain at 4 weeks, that'd be great. I had chickens as a kid a long long time ago but I've never raised a chicken and don't know how fast they develop and move on to "adult" food. Kids were easy lol, I had the rice cereal a month before I thought I would need it just in case and that's all i want for my chicks. I live out in the middle of nowhere so I'm just trying to prepare. There's a great feed store that does custom mixes but its an hour away so I like to plan ahead. I've still got a month and a half to get ready for them but I'm the type of person who has to know all there is to know asap lol

Thanks for the info, this thread is great!

 

[Beekissed]

I think you are on the right track with your quest for more knowledge...meat birds are an investment, the way I figure. I switched mine over to whole grains at 2 wks, after their chick starter was done.

With you having a feed mill close, you are in a great position to get some good grain mixes that are fresh. I'll tell you something I've found out, though...for the past few years none of my chickens really want to clean up cracked corn. Use to be they would gobble it first thing but something has changed...I'm thinking it is the GMO and I have read studies done that indicate that animals just don't prefer it and even some wild animals will leave it and not eat it at all. Whatever the change, it makes the cheapest grain also the less preferable to the chickens...and I had forgotten that fact.

Even these meaties, who will eat anything that moves and most things that don't, will leave the corn and some of the wheat in the bottom of the feeder. When next I make a grain purchase, I'm sticking with barley as the biggest percentage and then adding some oats, then maybe will add some layer mash to fill it out.

See? I'm already doing it myself...that adjusting things when you observe they aren't the most ideal for the situation. I do it so often that I rarely even notice that I'm making those little adjustments as I go along. I think you will be the same and you will get into a flow that suites your chicken paradigm.

I wanted my CX to grow slower than is normally recommended and it is happening right on cue...but they are growing and you can see it almost daily. They are much bigger today than they were yesterday! I'm amazed at the capacity of these birds to grow and put on meat no matter what you feed them. The last group were raised on layer mash, whole grains and free range also and they were at finishing weights by 8 wks just like those raised on broiler feeds free choice. I waited for a couple of weeks to see if they would gain even more weight but they seemed to level off, plateau really, and gained no more weight.

You really can't go wrong with these meaties...I find them extremely hardy and active. I had one get it's whole flank peeled back by the rooster....I treated it with NuStock and I can't even find that particular bird anymore. Healed and you wouldn't even had known he was injured. I had a couple in the last batch that suffered similar grievous injuries and they didn't show any outward signs that they were hurt, healed completely and quickly and you couldn't tell who had been injured at butchering time.

The only thing I see on these forums that can kill these birds is overfeeding of high pro feeds and confinement to small spaces on moist bedding...that would kill any bird eventually. Take away that factor and you have a pretty easy bird to raise!

 

[jrsckn]

Thank you sooo much for that info, that is exactly what I was looking for!!!!!

 

[booker81]

I know I've probably missed it, but if I were to go to the feed mill, what would I "ask" for to get the grains to use? We have a small, local mill that so far has fit my needs well, and I want to use them, I know they could get what I want, but I'm not sure what it is I want to get! LOL!

I'd like to try this with the next batch of CX I do, which will be 50, and I'll be working out a system to contain them outside but somehow keep the hawks from them (the worst predators we have here). Probably ordering the beginning of May