Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[RedRidge]

Quote: If I had the ability to have decent forage and bug access I would never feed my chickens.
They free range except for 90 days a year... those 90 days they are confined and fed FF since we have no forage growing and no bugs during those months.
The only other months I feed any livestock is when I have chicks... the chicks don't free range when they are little, so I feed them.... although they frequently get put out in covered x-pens during the day.

 

[AletaG]

Mine are "gmo free, soy free eggs from pastured, free range chickens"

Do I have your permission to use that? Minus the FR, pastured, but not FR 'cause they only have 0.15acre to run in.
You don't feed them at all? Hmm. I've been feeding about .25cup per bird in the evening, they always act like they are starving, but have access to dry feed and of course, plants and bugs all day. Just a matter of kids will always accept candy or ice cream? Also, I like the idea of them getting the good bacteria in their guts from the FF. I could back off, I suppose, but again, I'm guessing you have more range space per bird than I do? (20 in that space)

 

[TexasLisa]

Clothes just get so comfortable when they are worn out! LOL My nephew called yesterday and said he was bringing a girlfriend over that I hadn't met. He said for me to "get some clothes on!" lol

Being a little accident prone, I'm scared to use safety pins in my clothes! hahaha I suppose it is about time for me to go through and throw away some things...long sigh.

There's about 3 pairs of jeans and one or two (...or three) shirts that are really bad. I got about 12 years out of each of them. Just think of all the money I saved!

Don't throw your blue jeans away! Make a clothes pin bag out of the seat of them OR make a blue jean quilt!

Lisa

 

[Beekissed]

Isn't that interesting? I do know there are eggs billed as being from "vegetarian fed" hens. <eye roll> And I'm guessing that's why the soybean. People are so weird. Chickens are NOT vegetarian. And a vegetarian won't eat eggs anyway! (lacto-ovo's and seafood eaters aren't true vegetarian) Oh well. Mine have outside time, but I add a little extra to their food from time to time. Cooked bones with meat on them that I can't feed to my dog, my neighbors crab shells with meaty bits, trout food, picked up some free deep sea tuna carcasses recently - waiting on the freezer to make sure any parasites are dead, then they'll be a protein source come winter. You know, the dregs, the leftovers, they are opportunistic vultures, really. Loveable, but vultures. So when I finally get around to selling my eggs, it will be "farm fed"? "practically fed"? "true to the species fed" hens? What do ya'll do?

Living in a farm community, I've never had to label my eggs as everyone knew where I lived and could see my chickens ranging all day, every day. They also know where I buy my feed, so they don't get into the whole health benefits of the eggs~they just assumed they were healthier than the battery farms down the road. I just sold them to whoever will buy them and that was plenty of folks.

In towards the city, I'm thinking you have a more picky crowd of customers? I'd just say they are fed naturally as possible and leave it at that. I never did organic, GMO or soy free as I consider my eggs a premium product despite not adhering to some mysterious guidelines that can't really be done...not really. It's literally impossible to live on this Earth and market organic eggs..there are chemicals in all our soils and deposited onto our grasses as the chemicals fall out of the atmosphere. Vegetarian chickens? Really? They don't snatch up a bug when they see one?

Non-GMO crops can be tainted with GMO pollen, though they try to prevent this as much as possible in some areas...where I was living they didn't try at all. You got what you got and Monsanto wasn't breathing down the necks of these small time farmers.

GMO and soy are just a fact of life now unless you want to pay through the nose and drive 50-100 mi. one way to find someone who has that type of grain/feeds...and that defeats the point of selling eggs, as you will never sell enough to defray that feed cost. If you have that kind of resource next door, that's a neat thing and can be accomplished, but not many do so it's a moot point.

The way I get around these issues without creating more work and more overhead costs is to free range and supplement in the evenings if needed. The eggs look good, taste good and perform well in people's GI tract and systemic body, so I count that as good. Where I live you can't get more than $2 a doz. eggs no matter what special dance you do to make them extra special healthy, so what's the point? If I count them healthy enough for my family, I feel good about marketing them to others...and all my customers were glad to get them. If they weren't, there are always people standing in line when they step out of it.

 

[armorfirelady]

We got some eggs from a man a few years ago and those egg yolks were dark orange and so thick they were really sticky. I wonder how he did that.

My egg yolks are a dark orange with very little egg white. My hens get FF, range in their area & get veggies.

I also wish I had an easier way to feed but building a trough is out of the question right now. No materials to reasonably build it with on hand. Maybe when I finally get out to the hardware store next. I'm using some unused rabbit bowls for feed right now.

Depending on how many hens drywall pans may be an option. I made a stand for one and the other I drilled hole in the side and attached to the hoop coop. I put another pan in the first one for easy cleaning

 

[AletaG]

Living in a farm community, I've never had to label my eggs as everyone knew where I lived and could see my chickens ranging all day, every day. They also know where I buy my feed, so they don't get into the whole health benefits of the eggs~they just assumed they were healthier than the battery farms down the road. I just sold them to whoever will buy them and that was plenty of folks.

In towards the city, I'm thinking you have a more picky crowd of customers? I'd just say they are fed naturally as possible and leave it at that. I never did organic, GMO or soy free as I consider my eggs a premium product despite not adhering to some mysterious guidelines that can't really be done...not really. It's literally impossible to live on this Earth and market organic eggs..there are chemicals in all our soils and deposited onto our grasses as the chemicals fall out of the atmosphere. Vegetarian chickens? Really? They don't snatch up a bug when they see one?

Non-GMO crops can be tainted with GMO pollen, though they try to prevent this as much as possible in some areas...where I was living they didn't try at all. You got what you got and Monsanto wasn't breathing down the necks of these small time farmers.

GMO and soy are just a fact of life now unless you want to pay through the nose and drive 50-100 mi. one way to find someone who has that type of grain/feeds...and that defeats the point of selling eggs, as you will never sell enough to defray that feed cost. If you have that kind of resource next door, that's a neat thing and can be accomplished, but not many do so it's a moot point.

The way I get around these issues without creating more work and more overhead costs is to free range and supplement in the evenings if needed. The eggs look good, taste good and perform well in people's GI tract and systemic body, so I count that as good. Where I live you can't get more than $2 a doz. eggs no matter what special dance you do to make them extra special healthy, so what's the point? If I count them healthy enough for my family, I feel good about marketing them to others...and all my customers were glad to get them. If they weren't, there are always people standing in line when they step out of it.

Around here there are people paying 5/doz for 'specialty' eggs. <eye roll> so it CAN be worth it, but you have to be able to prove it or you'll get hung out to dry in the local papers. We figure friends and neighbors will pay 2/doz, most 'barnyard fresh' eggs out here charge 3/doz, so we'll prob do that. Keep in mind we paid 160k for .25 lot in the backside of nowhere on the OlyPen. So cost of living out here is pretty sucky. Cheap eggs are at least 1.50/doz, and boy, are they cheap. Ick. I'd leave in a heartbeat if my mom and dad didn't live here and we didn't have small kids, AND I didn't value their input into said kids' lives.

 

[RedRidge]

Quote: Sure you can use it... nothing special there, just a definition...
We rotationally graze our 50 acres and are surrounded by another 200...
When mine are confined I feed my production birds about 1/2 lb/day each of FF.

 

[AletaG]

Sure you can use it... nothing special there, just a definition...
We rotationally graze our 50 acres and are surrounded by another 200...
When mine are confined I feed my production birds about 1/2 lb/day each of FF.

OMG! I could only DREAM of that much acreage! 50 acres out here, with no power, water or anything, would probably run well over a million. Oh, and helicopter access only, etc.
If I could only get my dad to budge. But that's like asking rocks to fall up.

 

[RedRidge]

We charge $4/dozen... we are in the middle of nowhere, so we do a delivery drop point circle once a week and folks pick up at one of those three locations.
Once a month we do lamb and beef deliveries to those same locations.
Anyone wanting raw milk (herd shares) has to come to the farm.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

OMG! I could only DREAM of that much acreage! 50 acres out here, with no power, water or anything, would probably run well over a million. Oh, and helicopter access only, etc.
If I could only get my dad to budge. But that's like asking rocks to fall up.

Sounds about like my situation...! I live on .238 acres (woo) and if my dad were willing to move he and my mom could buy the farm she's always wanted in the country... And I could go farm the land so mom doesn't have to since she's severely arthritic. XD Mind you, our land's cheaper (a half-cleared 30 acre lot with a crappy house and a small out building may run as little as $150K) but I still don't have that kind of cash.