Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[RoseMarie1]

Le
AletaG
This is what I do... I have cattle, sheep and chickens. I keep corn, oats, and field peas. Very easy to balance rations from there. There are a couple of options for animal protein. Traveling right now... So more later.

opps don't know what happened here but was referring to Costa Ric....... post about the coop........wow that looks so nice! Like all the ideas and you can tell that was really thought out!! good job!

 

[Beekissed]

Well I told hubby what we were discussing on here and how I said he bout had a cow when I said DLM on his sand. lol Then I told him how Bee (he loves you to through me, lol) said this would be sooooo much better and save money AND with the husbandary approach you have to always be looking for a better way of doing things and this woud be soooo much better.

.......ANDDDDDD help the garden when we have to clean it out once a year..... and dump it in the garden.

So he says we could do that but we already bought that plywood to fix the shelf and I say oh we could take that back and get our money back. So he's a happy camper now, he wont have to help me make the poop shelf (I was just going to do it myself but he actually wanted to help with it) AND he gets his money back as well. lol So now I/we gotta get busy getting straw and leaves and bark. He's gonna ask around about the tree bark to see if anyone knows where we can get that.

I'm also asking on the Facebook page for around here. No mo scooping poop for me! Now just so there's NO SNAKE that gets in under that DLM and I will be fine! Don't do those things AT ALL!

I do have bird netting around their roosting area so they will get caught in it IF ones tries to get in there though. It's worked AWESOME for my goldfish pond.
THANK YOU BEE!!!!!

I am so excited!

You make me laugh, Rose!!!!!! Truly, you are a blessing, you know that??

Give yer hubby a big ol bee kiss! Hey...do they do any tree trimming and removal in your area? Some of those companies love to find folks who will take the ground up tree off their hands because they have to pay to dump it at the landfills. They will come and dump it at your place for free if they are nearby and this is a great way to get free litter materials.

Another way is to find small sawmills in the area...I'd advertise to find those folks. They often have a surplus of sawdust they need to get rid of...we did that for years at one place I lived to place deep litter under meat rabbits and chickens. We would get big trailer loads of the stuff and bring it home..FREE. With the size of your coop and run, you will need mega materials to keep it at a depth that will provide good habitat.

Another cool thing to do in a run of that size is to provide different areas of being....roosts, stumps, rocks, etc. If one is not raking a run, they don't have to worry about these obstacles and occasionally they can be turned over so the birds can eat the worms and bugs hiding under them.

Another source of good litter materials that will add texture and air flow in the bedding is corn stalks. Folks decorate with them at Halloween and some folks who grow sweet corn usually don't have a place to put them when they clean out the garden. Try to snatch all of those you can...they make great compost as they break down a little slower due to their fibrous and woody nature.

While you are at it, you might want to ask for any pumpkins those folks may have after they are done using them for decoration...and then store them for the winter somewhere cool and dry. Let them ferment and use them to supplement nutrition during the winter months and also provide deworming from the seed consumption.

Plenty of ways to score free bedding if you are resourceful and also some free nutrition!

 

[RoseMarie1]

You make me laugh, Rose!!!!!! Truly, you are a blessing, you know that??

Give yer hubby a big ol bee kiss! Hey...do they do any tree trimming and removal in your area? Some of those companies love to find folks who will take the ground up tree off their hands because they have to pay to dump it at the landfills. They will come and dump it at your place for free if they are nearby and this is a great way to get free litter materials.

Another way is to find small sawmills in the area...I'd advertise to find those folks. They often have a surplus of sawdust they need to get rid of...we did that for years at one place I lived to place deep litter under meat rabbits and chickens. We would get big trailer loads of the stuff and bring it home..FREE. With the size of your coop and run, you will need mega materials to keep it at a depth that will provide good habitat.

Another cool thing to do in a run of that size is to provide different areas of being....roosts, stumps, rocks, etc. If one is not raking a run, they don't have to worry about these obstacles and occasionally they can be turned over so the birds can eat the worms and bugs hiding under them.

Another source of good litter materials that will add texture and air flow in the bedding is corn stalks. Folks decorate with them at Halloween and some folks who grow sweet corn usually don't have a place to put them when they clean out the garden. Try to snatch all of those you can...they make great compost as they break down a little slower due to their fibrous and woody nature.

While you are at it, you might want to ask for any pumpkins those folks may have after they are done using them for decoration...and then store them for the winter somewhere cool and dry. Let them ferment and use them to supplement nutrition during the winter months and also provide deworming from the seed consumption.

Plenty of ways to score free bedding if you are resourceful and also some free nutrition!

Hey it takes one to know one there Bee...... you're a BLESSING TO SISTER!!!!!!

yep going to call and check on that to. But already got two bites on my post on Facebook for around here. Waiting for responses now.

Would cypress shavings be OK bee? Can get those for free someone said but it looks to be a fair distance to have to travel though. Will have to check with the people you said. We have those people around here to.
OK thank you once again! Like the idea of the stump in the run. I already have large limbs for them to climb on and PVC pipes stuck in the wire on their pen. They love sitting on that in the heat of the day when they're inside there. I'm constantly putting the limbs back since they knock them off playing on them. lol I fixed one long one with nails on the side for them to climb on and they'll walk up it. I see them on it quite often when I am headed out there. They're spoiled chicks!

I was checking them out tonight on their roost. I always go out there after dark and shut the back gate to their roosting area to make it more secure and I always like to really check them good. I look at their eyes and their legs to make sure nothing is on the scales of their legs. Sorry can't remember what those things are called on their feet and legs.

 

[Beekissed]

Cypress should be great! Can't wait to see it when you have it completely filled and percolating in that massive run!

 

[RoseMarie1]

Cypress should be great! Can't wait to see it when you have it completely filled and percolating in that massive run!

me to! Looks like the place with the cypress is a ways to travel but he hasn't answered me yet so we'll see.

He said it was FREEEEE.

I posted this like you said to do and am getting a few replies. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/807647/judge-my-roosters


Bee is this right? Can you put the lime on it? Just wanting to make sure. And 6" of DL?

http://www.plamondon.com/faq_deep_litter.html

 

[Lacy Blues]

<snip?

So now I/we gotta get busy getting straw and leaves and bark. He's gonna ask around about the tree bark to see if anyone knows where we can get that.

I'm also asking on the Facebook page for around here. No mo scooping poop for me! Now just so there's NO SNAKE that gets in under that DLM and I will be fine! Don't do those things AT ALL!

I do have bird netting around their roosting area so they will get caught in it IF ones tries to get in there though. It's worked AWESOME for my goldfish pond.

<snip>

bird netting catches snakes? What kind of bird netting?

 

[RoseMarie1]

bird netting catches snakes? What kind of bird netting?

I get it at Lowes and they try to crawl through it and get caught. The holes aren't large enough for most of them to get through it. Some tiny ones could make it through the holes though if they're small enough. I get it at Lowes and it's like 14' wide and 100' long if I am remembering right. I put it up about knee high or maybe a little higher around the outside of their pen. I just wired it here and there. I think it's called Deer and Bird Netting. It is like a plastic netting and is black. They use it to put over fruit trees to keep the birds and deer out of the fruit. It's on a roll and has a plastic sleeve over it. When you take it out of the sleeve you can unfold it and cut it the width you need. We also used it to go around our garden to keep the chicks out of our tomatoes. lol I just used those tiny green cane pole tomato stakes Walmart sells for pushing into the ground to hold the netting up around the garden. Is working so far. When I have found them in the goldfish pond they have been there for a little while and they're dead trapped in the netting. Hubby has had to kill one of them and then cut the netting to get it out. One he just let rot to keep from having to cut the netting but you wouldn't want to do that around your chicks. lol

 

[Beekissed]

me to! Looks like the place with the cypress is a ways to travel but he hasn't answered me yet so we'll see.

He said it was FREEEEE.

I posted this like you said to do and am getting a few replies. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/807647/judge-my-roosters


Bee is this right? Can you put the lime on it? Just wanting to make sure. And 6" of DL?

http://www.plamondon.com/faq_deep_litter.html

You can use the lime, though I'm not sure about at the levels he describes. Just make sure it's the sweet lime and not the caustic. I checked out your roos and voted on my faves!

 

[Brada Puhi]

Aloha kakou,

When I mow the lawn, I put all the clippings in a pile in the corner. Mowing the lawn is my favorite way to "rake" up the mango leaves. Anyways, cockaroaches love compost. Bombai I gather the compost(aiming for cockaroches when I shovel) and I throw it into the pen. Henny Lo and the gang love it. Days later, they're still looking for more. As the kick the stuff around, they mixing the dudu in with the compost and covering it. It also gives them a taste of free ranging.

Hey Beekissed, I have 2 questions:

People say that the beneficial bacteria(FF) in the digestive system and the dudu kills Fly eggs. What is your opinion on that?

Also, when getting tree trimmings from the tree trimmers, should it be composted first, or put straight in with the chickens?

Mahalo nui for your mana'o, Puhi

 

[Beekissed]

Aloha kakou,

When I mow the lawn, I put all the clippings in a pile in the corner. Mowing the lawn is my favorite way to "rake" up the mango leaves. Anyways, cockaroaches love compost. Bombai I gather the compost(aiming for cockaroches when I shovel) and I throw it into the pen. Henny Lo and the gang love it. Days later, they're still looking for more. As the kick the stuff around, they mixing the dudu in with the compost and covering it. It also gives them a taste of free ranging.

Hey Beekissed, I have 2 questions:

People say that the beneficial bacteria(FF) in the digestive system and the dudu kills Fly eggs. What is your opinion on that?

Also, when getting tree trimmings from the tree trimmers, should it be composted first, or put straight in with the chickens?

Mahalo nui for your mana'o, Puhi

I'm not sure about that and can't imagine why it would...beneficial bacteria and yeasts are beneficial to most things except to some other forms of bacteria and yeasts, which they can prohibit.

What I find is that the feces no longer has the attractant to the flies that it did when those proteins and sugars were left undigested in the fecal matter. My dog won't even eat the chicken poop now and I'm assuming it's because it's lost its sweet flavor...because he will eat most anything that is edible and he no longer finds the feces appealing now. Apparently neither do the flies because I haven't seen on one feces in 2 years now, since I started the FF.

I'd put the tree trimmings right in with the chickens so that it can compost in place.

Aloha!!! Wish I could see where you live....always wanted to go there!