Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[armorfirelady]

How about a website with pics of different kinds of chicken poop that tell you what's normal & what's not?
http://chat.allotment.org/index.php?topic=17568.0

It took a couple weeks for their poop to get firmer. But chickens do have occasional soft stools. Hope the website helps

 

[bbdal]

That's the fermentation.
Mine gets this as well and I just stir it up and feed it to the hens

I should have also mentioned that the smell is very strong. Sometimes stinky and sometimes bread smelling. We only ferment whole grains/seeds.

 

[Triple Willow]

Poop question?

Hi ~ I am new to chickens & obviously FF. Keep reading that chickens who eat FF should have firmer poops. Since this is my 1st go & I've never really been around poultry, mine still seem kinda runny. I'm seriously going to ask if someone could post a picture of their chickens (preferably a layer on FF, as I am not raising meaties) poop, lol!

Thanks so much

Mine are on ff, some have perfect poop and some have runny poop but really it doesn't smell bad at all. They are all healthy as can be and growing like crazy. Right now there are only 15 of them but when I go out to tend to them there is only a slight smell of chickens.

 

[Zootopia]

I should have also mentioned that the smell is very strong. Sometimes stinky and sometimes bread smelling. We only ferment whole grains/seeds.

The smell may be a relative thing too. We have a friend who comes over with a very sensitive nose. To him the smell from a from a recently cleaned brooder box is over powering. I had 4 2 day old chicks in a rubbermaid in the spare room and he wanted to know how we stand the "stench" LOL. I've known him for a long time, he's not being rude, he really just has a very sensitive nose.

 

[Pent]

I've been finding one drawback with the FF, with my ameraucanas. The wet feed gets on their beards, and they end up looking kinda raggedy. It could just be their age; about 7 weeks now.

 

[Zootopia]

I've been finding one drawback with the FF, with my ameraucanas. The wet feed gets on their beards, and they end up looking kinda raggedy. It could just be their age; about 7 weeks now. 

Ya they tend to "wear" their dinner at that age around here too. We use a slightly dryer mix for the big kids. Oatmeal for the babies, cookie dough for the bigguns.

 

[BlueMouse]

Yeah, the ones I have still on ground feed end up with it all over their faces. Once they graduate to being big kids, living outside, and eating whole grains the problem dissapears. I think the higher trough style feeder outside vs. the covered chick feeder inside helps a lot too.

 

[armorfirelady]

My girls were like tha

I've been finding one drawback with the FF, with my ameraucanas. The wet feed gets on their beards, and they end up looking kinda raggedy. It could just be their age; about 7 weeks now. 

t to and they don't have beards. I now keep the food thicker like cookie dough and their feeder is raised so they are cleaner when they eat

 

[ramblinH]

How about a website with pics of different kinds of chicken poop that tell you what's normal & what's not?
http://chat.allotment.org/index.php?topic=17568.0

It took a couple weeks for their poop to get firmer. But chickens do have occasional soft stools. Hope the website helps

This will be very helpful ~ thank you!

Mine are on ff, some have perfect poop and some have runny poop but really it doesn't smell bad at all. They are all healthy as can be and growing like crazy. Right now there are only 15 of them but when I go out to tend to them there is only a slight smell of chickens.

I can definitely say their poop don't stink their coop, along with the deep litter, has a natural earthy smell

Thanks for putting my mind at ease on this issue!

 

[Lacy Blues]

This will be very helpful ~ thank you!
I can definitely say their poop don't stink

their coop, along with the deep litter, has a natural earthy smell

Thanks for putting my mind at ease on this issue!

Something to remember at this time of year too, is that having wet poops is a form of cooling because they drink more water. Still less water than with dry food but it will still cause them to have very wet poops during the heat of the day.