Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Triple Willow]

or those little noodles you can get for swimming would work and they're only 1.00 @ the dollar stores. Yep that sunbrella fabric or whatever name it is, is VERY high per yard so I can see why they charge what they do. I've tried buying some of it before and it's up there in price on Ebay. I put a tarp over my chicks run a week ago and it's not working out. GOT to move the thing when I get the time because when it rains it's making water run into the run area that IS covered in tin and it's puddling up. lol Now they're just about under the 1x4 that the welded wire is nailed onto and I keep pushing soil back up against it so no critter can get inside after them when my back is turned during the day. I don't let them out to free range if I've got to be some where that day. I wait until I am home to let them free range.

This "tent and awning" place has catalogs with swatches where you can pick the material and color. They have some that they guarantee for years and years! Years ago I priced some for a dogpen and I believe it was like $400 back then. "Ahh neverrr mind!" LOL I know what you mean about being on guard when the chickens are free ranging. I am usually sitting their watching them armed. lol I had a little disagreement with a neighbor about a week ago. He has a dang dog that he let's "free range" all over the neighborhood 24/7. It has already killed one neighbor's chickens. His grandkids have been taking the dog with them walking down the road in front of my house, no leash. It is an accident waiting to happen! I don't know if he is going to keep his dog at home or not. I hope so for all our sakes!

 

[armorfirelady]

Truly, girls...a hoop coop is an easy build, even for a woman and with minimal skills.  I had mine built in 10 days and that was slacking around.  And cheap...you can have a coop that holds 20 birds for a little over $200 and it's a coop you can walk into, is sturdy, moveable, and will last you for years upon years and one you can easily tear down later or add onto.  Versus paying $500-$1200 for a doll house dream coop that only holds 4 birds and you cannot walk into it, is airless and not built for expansion and can't keep out even a weak and geriatric coon. 

Now, Armorfire...I'm wondering why you are having to install ventilation in a coop that is mainly ALL ventilation.  Wouldn't the issue at that point be not installing ventilation but in actually regulating the large amount of airflow in the winter? 

 

I purchased a heavier duty tarp online. I picked white so its not so dark in there during the winter with shorter days. Even sitting in full sun the tarp is not even warm to touch.
I added roof & side vents because the one end is always covered and it was warm in there in the full sun. The only open spots are along the bottom about 2 feet on 3 sides and the south end is open 24/7 till winter. We ad such torrential rain in June for the whole month I had to keep the end flap down. The bottom that's open I have left over tarp that I can let down if its raining hard so the DL stays dried. When I added the roof vents the temps dropped a good 20 degrees & after all the rain we had weeks of temps in the 90s, the side vents allow air flow a little higher than what's open.
The tarp is zip tied down and doesn't move in high winds. Mine can be moved with 3 or 4 people but it doesn't budge even with high winds.

Others have suggested using old billboard signs. They are heavy duty vinyl. But I couldn't find any near me and to buy them online the shipping was to high since they weigh a lot.

 

[Beekissed]

I purchased a heavier duty tarp online. I picked white so its not so dark in there during the winter with shorter days. Even sitting in full sun the tarp is not even warm to touch.
I added roof & side vents because the one end is always covered and it was warm in there in the full sun. The only open spots are along the bottom about 2 feet on 3 sides and the south end is open 24/7 till winter. We ad such torrential rain in June for the whole month I had to keep the end flap down. The bottom that's open I have left over tarp that I can let down if its raining hard so the DL stays dried. When I added the roof vents the temps dropped a good 20 degrees & after all the rain we had weeks of temps in the 90s, the side vents allow air flow a little higher than what's open.
The tarp is zip tied down and doesn't move in high winds. Mine can be moved with 3 or 4 people but it doesn't budge even with high winds.

Others have suggested using old billboard signs. They are heavy duty vinyl. But I couldn't find any near me and to buy them online the shipping was to high since they weigh a lot.

I keep both of my end caps open and had utilized some cattle panel pieces to provide an overhang...this overhang has been priceless in keeping my door and pop door entrance free of rain and snow so the ground there doesn't get muddy. It also keeps the wind from blowing in on the ends. You could easily do the same on your hoop coop to keep the weather out...it was as simple as laying it up there and zip tying it on. Then I just wrapped my tarp over it and cut it to fit, zip tied that onto the overhang as well. Duct tape over the holes made by the zip tie fastener and I've got a leak proof porch on either end.

Here's a side view of my overhangs....




In this pic you can see the plastic liner for the roof and the duct tape over the holes cut into the plastic to secure it to the cattle panels. In this pic you can see how they overlap and are fastened into the main hoop. This whole coop is held together with zip ties! And it doesn't budge! Did the same thing while building a sheep shelter once some years back....zip ties, tarp and cargo netting completed the construction on that one..and that tarp didn't budge, nor did the structure, in the highest winds recorded in that area.

 

[RoseMarie1]

I keep both of my end caps open and had utilized some cattle panel pieces to provide an overhang...this overhang has been priceless in keeping my door and pop door entrance free of rain and snow so the ground there doesn't get muddy. It also keeps the wind from blowing in on the ends. You could easily do the same on your hoop coop to keep the weather out...it was as simple as laying it up there and zip tying it on. Then I just wrapped my tarp over it and cut it to fit, zip tied that onto the overhang as well. Duct tape over the holes made by the zip tie fastener and I've got a leak proof porch on either end.

Here's a side view of my overhangs....




In this pic you can see the plastic liner for the roof and the duct tape over the holes cut into the plastic to secure it to the cattle panels. In this pic you can see how they overlap and are fastened into the main hoop. This whole coop is held together with zip ties! And it doesn't budge! Did the same thing while building a sheep shelter once some years back....zip ties, tarp and cargo netting completed the construction on that one..and that tarp didn't budge, nor did the structure, in the highest winds recorded in that area.

that's really cool Bee! What's the hay piled up in there for? Do you use that in the winter time to make it cozier? I got pix of my set up today while banding some of the BA's. Nothing fancy but it works and it large enough they have lots of space. I really need some separate areas and my brains not cooperating with me on just how to do that. I actually have two areas of which only one is covered in tin and had plans on that being the nesting area with external nesting boxes and it's on the west with really no shade. Well let me post the pix on a thread and I will give the link to it on here to.
Anyway I like yours and man those cattle gates really come in handy don't they? I've been wanting several to tie my tomatoes up with for the past 2-3 years but never have bought any yet.

ok here's the link to the pix of my chicken pen and run. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/811243/pix-of-my-chicken-house-and-their-run

 

[Beekissed]

That hay was used to make my quickie chick brooder for the meat birds I raised that early spring in an outside brooder in the coop. Later it was used for mulch in the garden rows.







Rose, I checked out your coop and run! VERY nice to have that much open air flowing through and that much space...if a bird has to live confined, that's the perfect life to have. Can't say enough about how nice that setup is.

 

[RoseMarie1]

That hay was used to make my quickie chick brooder for the meat birds I raised that early spring in an outside brooder in the coop. Later it was used for mulch in the garden rows.







Rose, I checked out your coop and run! VERY nice to have that much open air flowing through and that much space...if a bird has to live confined, that's the perfect life to have. Can't say enough about how nice that setup is.

That's a VERY GOOD idea on the hay brooder. I love that! I bet they did to! Our nephew brought us a couple shipping crates they had something shipped in from where he works. He's the one I bought my chicks from. We made our brooders with them. The first one all we had to do was put legs on it and paint it. I painted it so it would last and I could use it again when I needed to raise some more chicks from mine. Then the 2nd one he brought me when I was to get the 2nd batch of chicks, we took that one apart because it didn't match up to the other one, was larger and deeper box. VERY GOOD wood on them both. I LOVVVVVE recycling stuff and saving money. My sister calls me Miss Betty Bargain. lol Anyway we wanted both the brooders the same size so they could be butted up to one another with hardware cloth in between so they could see each other. They never did fight when I put them together and they were 2 weeks apart.
Thank you Bee. They get to free range a whole lot to. Like today they were out most all day long. Some days I can't let them though if I am not going to be here. Now come fall or winter I'll probably have to really be out there if they free range because we're right in an area the hunters love to turn their dogs out in. One year one of them lost their shocker collar on our property and I found it the next year in the woods. lol But anyway that would not be a good thing having dogs running through our property in my chickens free ranging. I'll be praying for their safety a WHOLE LOT then!

 

[nab58]

I'm concerned with the cloud of fruit flies that hit me in the face when I take the top off my FF. I'm keeping the top on loosely and the container in my garage.

I don't think I need to be concerned but would like some reassurance from the more experienced.

Thanks!

 

[Beekissed]

I've had a few also but not really a "cloud"...it's that time of year for fruit flies to be around and then soon they will be no more. If they were to lay larvae in the mix, it would just be more protein for the birds. I've not had any concerns about their presence and the mix is stirred each day, so any eggs they may lay will be drowned immediately upon the stirring. As far as I know, they carry no known poultry contaminate or pathogen and certainly not any that would survive the acidity of the FF.

 

[Triple Willow]

I'm concerned with the cloud of fruit flies that hit me in the face when I take the top off my FF. I'm keeping the top on loosely and the container in my garage.

I don't think I need to be concerned but would like some reassurance from the more experienced.

Thanks!

Hi nab58. I had a problem with fruit flies a couple months ago. I had my ff in the house until then. Now I keep it in the garage also. I don't know but I think where I live we are just having a good year for fruit flies. They were everywhere, inside and out! Also regular house flies. I have seen more this year than I ever have. I don't know the reason except maybe we had a milder winter last year. They sure are a pain in the backside! I got these little clear (approx. 4"X8") sticky sheets from Wmart that you stick on a window. They have something on it to attract flies and actually work pretty good.

 

[Loghousemom]

I ran across this thread a long while ago when I first joined BYC and thought it was so interesting but was scared off of trying it since at the time I only had layers and this originally started as a "meatie" thing. BUT I recently discovered I can get "screenings" from the elevator up the road for 20$/ton. I know that they aren't exactly whole grains, but I was thinking that by Fermenting these, the birds may be able to utilize the actual grains a bit better and for that price, even if half of it is fluff that isn't food, I think I could still cut my food bill my 3/4. I am slowly working my way through the pages, up to 115 of over 600 now, looking to see if someone has done something similar.

Does anyone have experience feeding fermented " screenings"? The ones I have seem to have mixed grains, wheat, milo, oats, corn, sunflower, along with a lot of the fluffy parts (maybe the shells) and even a bit of stalks.

Like I said, I have a whole ton of this stuff, and expect that I should be able to feed it through the winter. I have 39 chickens aging from 3 years to a month, 2 ducks and 2 geese. They do have access to an acre+ of fenced free ranging, and when I am home, I often let them roam around the whole 15 acres. Of course come late November we have too much snow for much "ranging" but they do go out as long as temps are above freezing.

Once I go through a bin of the screenings, I think I will go see about getting a bin full of oats or something else.

I set up a 5 gallon bucket system, but think I will need another, especially come winter when I expect fermenting to slow... But by then I will also be down to about 25 chickens because we have at least 17 roosters growing up out there.

I started my first batch of FF a couple days ago. I did 4 full scoops of screenings, half scoop flock raiser and 1 scoop scratch mix. Fermented for 30 hours and served it up yesterday afternoon. There was not any left in the bucket so this is another reason I think we will need two buckets going until we butcher a few more of those roosters as they get to size.

Any other tips for someone new like me? Back off to continue searching this thread for my answers.....

ETA: note to self. Page 240.