Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

Quote: I have seen people with horses over the past 47 years.... Gawd. At first we fed em a pack of Camels without filters to worm them occasionally. Then had the vet out to tube worm them once a year. But that was in a boarding situation with comings and goings and exposure to all sorts of stuff.

Now they recommend worming once a month with alternating products.... From feed through to different pastes for this and that. And Vaccinations OMG.... I have to say though the new worming products are a godsend.... easy to use and keep on hand no more poking a tube down the horses nose then filling their stomach with poison....

but its the supplementation and feeding that gets me. A good healthy horse only needs grain if they are worked or Pregnant and or nursing or a breeding stallion in season. I have seen people here founder their horses from feeding too rich a food. Mild climate here no grain needed.

You supply the needs of the animal first by understanding the basics having someone mentor you on its care and then you KISS. for those who dont know ..... Keep It Simple Stupid. This makes trouble shooting WRT diet soo much easier.

My Horse and Goats get Hay, Salt, and water. period. Horse gets bermuda because she is an air fern.... goats Get alfalfa.

Same went for my chickens. Because I couldnt free range them they were free fed Lay pellets. And occasionally Catfish pellets as a protien boost. Course now that will change when I start up with Fermented Feed.

deb
 
It's where I place animals that don't have enough meat on them to can. It's all about procuring food on this particular forum and that is what I do with animals. Now, in the burbs and the city, you folks don't concentrate on getting food as much as we do here in the sticks and the freezer is a relatively new thing for me so it's a neat and handy thing to have. We used to not even have a fridge, nor any electricity or running water on the homestead, so all the meat had to be canned, jerked or eaten right away. Now we have a freezer...handy gadget that.

Goat meat is supposed to be good and TW assures me it is, so when I think of goats, I think...hmm...put it in the freezer. Not enough meat on them to can them.

the only way I can eat goat meat is to barbecue it to kill the VERY strong taste it has. OR it COULD BE the person or persons that gave me some goat meat to eat didn't know HOW to prepare it? Not sure but the only kind I have eaten that I actually liked was barbecued.



ALSO on that cone.....oh dear oh dear...... I WOULD NOT be able to handle that one.
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I'd HAVE to get hubby to shoot them.
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Hey all!

Just to let all the FF people know: I have found the PERFECT FF scoop. It's a reptile substrate scoop!

You can get them in the reptile section of Petsmart. It's a fine mesh scoop with a flat raised edge; it scrapes the bottom of the bucket and strains the liquid away quickly. I've been using it with starter crumbles and it holds everything but the liquid.

My beardie may not approve, but I am pleased with how well it works :)
 
They aren't really squoze, the plastic just conforms to their shape so that it looks like it's tight..but it isn't. Even the small chickens look like that in the cones as the plastic is soft and easy to mold to their shape. Think of it more like a baby in a baby harness, where it's not squoze into it but it conforms to their shape as they hang in it.

It's good that you see these pics if you eat chicken at all, even from the store. This is the reality of food and the price that is paid for every bite that is consumed. For me, it just makes me appreciate my food more and it's one reason I don't mind killing my own..it's more personal and I feel the gravity of my decisions, which we all should do. I know that America blithely eats its way through many thousands of chickens a year without ever realizing that it's a life they are eating and they are more comfortable that way, but I'm just not like other folks in America and more like primitive folks in other countries. For me, animals equal food, someone must kill the animal to get food. End of story. Takes all the worry and stress out of it if you can bring your mind down to basic equations like that.
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BEE L@@K what I got tonight.
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my very first egg and guess WHERE it was. IN THE NEST! Do I have some smart chickens or what?
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I am soooooo eggcited!!!!
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It's the brown one. The other is a lg. store bought egg.
 
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I don't think it has so much to do with breed as in expectations. Jake is half border collie, half lab...half herder and half hunter, with a huge prey drive thriving and intact. He's a killer of songbirds and can snatch them right out of the air and he'll kill pretty much anything else he considered fair game. He was doing that as a pup before he ever met a chicken.

It takes a relationship between you and the dog that is one of respect for the pack leader and I don't mean sit, stay, shake hands kind of respect but the kind where he watches your face to see if he can anticipate your orders before you even give them. That is one that can be instilled best when they are young but can still be done on older dogs if you have the patience and the right attitude....remember, walk like you mean it, talk like you mean it and always follow through and dogs, livestock and even the kids will get out of your way or get mowed down. They have to know you will be immensely displeased if they do anything you don't want them to...whether you are at home or not at home. Immensely displeasing the pack leader is paramount to committing doggy suicide in a real pack. Can get ya killed.

When I trained Jake it was real easy to teach him what I wanted while I was there, because I had already done this ground work, but I had to teach him that I am always there, even when I am not there. So after the initial training of corrections when he showed any overt attention or excitement towards the chickens, I tied the legs of a few birds and left them lying in the yard and just walked away. I went in the house and watched from a window. He kept looking at the house, then he'd glance at the birds. The birds would give a flap or flop down the yard a little and he'd look at the house to see if I was watching..I kept quiet and just watched. Then the birds flapped again and he did the Border Collie sneak..head down, eyes focused, moving towards the birds. After the first few steps I screamed out the window, "MY CHICKENS!!!!!"...these are the words I used when I gave corrections in the initial phase. He jumped like he'd been stung, ducked his head and moved away quickly.

I waited. He watched the house, glanced at the birds, watched the house and I waited. Pretty soon the flapping birds were just too much to ignore, so he acted like he was merely walking to the other side of the yard...he wasn't even going to LOOK at those birds. Well, you and I both know that nonchalant saunter that can be casual one minute and white lightning the next when they want to attack something...so when he got level with those birds I screamed, "MY CHICKENS!!!!" and he again retreated like a scalded dog to his place of origin. The look on his face was priceless and I could hear him thinking, "How does she bloody DO that???"

After that, when he moved he kept his face turned away from the chickens and walked a very wide berth around them. Never bothered to be interested in chickens since then. Put the fear of God in them when they are young, keep them thinking you are the be all, end all and grand mack daddy of the territory. For older dogs who have lived with permissive owners, this could take a complete change of their minds and yours too...something has to change and it's usually the human.

That's hilarious!!
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We've a mutt. Mom was a Pyraneese/Lab. Poppa a Chow/Husky. We've had her since she was 5wks old. 11 now. When we first got chickens 5 yrs ago she was just BOUNCING w/excitment. Her deal is - if you run I chase. If you don't run then your not worth my attention. All it took was a few times of Firmly saying "be nice to the chickens" For once in her life she listened. She does WALK through the flock looking into the air just to scatter the chickens, but she's never chased them or hurt any of them.
 

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