Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Triple Willow]

I need help please!!! I have 3 meat birds that have shown this and one died last night. I am not sure if this killed it or not (looked squished) but last night the only one that showed this is the one that died. It feels and looks like an air pocket and the discoloration is FF on it. It goes from their crop area to the top of their shoulder.

Check this link out: http://www.millerhatcheries.com/inf...nfo/Ascites (waterbelly)_in_Meat_Chickens.htm It says ascites is possibly caused by too much salt in the feed or in the water or possibly by too high of a level of protein in the diet causing them to grow too fast.

 

[Triple Willow]

Check this link out: http://www.millerhatcheries.com/inf...nfo/Ascites (waterbelly)_in_Meat_Chickens.htm

It says ascites is possibly caused by too much salt in the feed or in the water or possibly by too high of a level of protein in the diet causing them to grow too fast.

Here is a thread about ascites in laying hens: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/68731/laying-hens-with-water-belly-or-ascites

 

[Windy Bay Farm]

That's called molting..and right now my coop floor looks like some preteen girls had a pillow fight.  It happens every year at this time of year for most birds and even a little bit for first year birds. The birds will look like bag ladies for a good bit and will slowly grow back their feathers and will even add some nice, downy ones underneath for winter wear. 

If you are feeding regular rations it is adequate for this time, so no increasing of proteins and such are really needed...your laying may go down a bit as well, as nutrition is placed in feather recovery and not so much in laying. 

 

Hi Bee,

Thanks for the info. These chicks are 11 weeks old and I didn't figure they would molt in their first year, I thought it was only after they were a year old would they have their first molt ?

 

[Windy Bay Farm]

Does anyone know if fermenting feed that is higher in protein (16-18%) will cause an increase in the already existing protein ? I'm asking because after 3 week+ of feeding FF my chickens still seem to have runny stool for the most part. I've decreased the amount of moisture content in the FF and they free range from time to time so I thought this would firm up their stool but it seems they are still having runny stool more often than not. I've read that high concentrations of protein can cause more urates which in turn will cause runnier stool. So if fermenting their feed will increase the already present protein then this may explain why they are dropping runny stool so often.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

My understanding is it doesn't increase the existing protein, it increases how well the birds can absorb said protein by a few percent. So a 16% feed they really absorb only like 14%, but with FF they absorb all of it.

You can usually figure that the protein in a FF is a few percent higher for all intensive purposes than a dry feed. So my fermented 20% flock raiser is probably closer to a 22% unfermented feed in the case of how much nutrients they absorb.

In other news, it's raining for the first time since putting the chicks out. I covers their tractors with tarps and they seem to be doing OK (out and about under the tarps) but I worry about the wet ground. I can move them into the brooder if all else fails but they're pretty well feathered right now... I think so long as the sky clears up by 4 or so they should be fine.

 

[BlueMouse]

I heard that they tried to get them to stop praying at one point in time and they wouldn't go for it. Gossip, you know how it is, no way to tell if they were right. I like all their family and christian values, it's the only reason I watch the show. The hunting, fishing, cooking, and crazy stuff used to be family life. Nowadays, families don't even sit down together for fast food much less a meal. It's a shame we advance in science and tech yet fail on the things that are truly important.

I don't know. My family all sits down to fresh cooked food every night. Pray before every meal too. Not everyone is living the fast food lifestyle, even in the younger generation. In fact I think that some of my generation, with young children in tow, are looking for something better and turning back to spending more time together and simpler pleasures. With the economy so rocky I hope that people can begin to remember that it doesn't have to cost a lot to be fun.

Hi Bee,

Thanks for the info. These chicks are 11 weeks old and I didn't figure they would molt in their first year, I thought it was only after they were a year old would they have their first molt ?

chicks go through a couple "juvenile moults" when they start getting their grown up lady (or man, lol) feathers. Most of mine spent a while walking around with half a tail, and the coop looked like a feather explosion. Then they grew in all they're pretty big girl tail feathers. My cockerell just decided to do this at almost 20 weeks, and now looks rumpless....

 

[skitzkle]

Anyone know a good source for barley grain? my local grain mills don't carry it.

 

[wlhtx]

I don't know. My family all sits down to fresh cooked food every night. Pray before every meal too. Not everyone is living the fast food lifestyle, even in the younger generation. In fact I think that some of my generation, with young children in tow, are looking for something better and turning back to spending more time together and simpler pleasures. With the economy so rocky I hope that people can begin to remember that it doesn't have to cost a lot to be fun.

You just described my family. My husband and I both grew up in the country, but moved to the big city for college. After college we stayed and ended up having both our kids there. We both had very good paying corporate jobs, a huge house, and luxury cars. But we looked up one day and realized that the 23 year old live in nanny was literally raising our two kids (ages 2 and 5 at the time). It was SO easy to slip into this style of living, but it was NOT how either of us wanted it to be.

After a bit of a transition period where we technically worked for our city employers while living in the country, we are now completely 180 degrees from where we were two years ago. Gone are the days where we ate every meal in a restaurant. We now cook as a family every night, mostly with food that we either grew in the garden or killed on our property. We eat around the dinner table together, pray together, and spend our free time mostly outside together instead of inside around a tv like we used to. The big house is a distant memory (small houses are so much easier to keep clean, though our son misses the stairs). Yet, there is so much more satisfaction with this simpler life. We yearned for this and I feel so much pity for others of my generation who don't know any better, or worse - don't care to.

 

[Triple Willow]

I don't know. My family all sits down to fresh cooked food every night. Pray before every meal too. Not everyone is living the fast food lifestyle, even in the younger generation. In fact I think that some of my generation, with young children in tow, are looking for something better and turning back to spending more time together and simpler pleasures. With the economy so rocky I hope that people can begin to remember that it doesn't have to cost a lot to be fun. 

I cook regularly but I don't go all out like Mrs. Kay does on DD. I might if I had a big family to feed and if they were always bringing in fresh game to be cooked. If I had small kids I'm sure they and other people would think that I was abusive to them because I sure wouldn't raise them like kids these days are growing up. My little girls would not be dressed like hoochie mamas. The girls nor boys would be staring at the television having those moral-LESS Hollyweird freaks as their idol. Their bedroom wouldn't be a toy store and they would not have a 50 piece video game collection and every xbox and whatever station created that they could zone out on. And they wouldn't be walking around with a cell phone in their hand texting and ignoring everybody and everything around them. They would be sent outside to play every day after they did their chores. Kids these day act like you are commiting a crime when they have to do something. They puff and blow and whine until you think they are going to suck all the air our of the atmosphere! If I had done that my mama would have beat my hind end and she should have! I don't know what this country has come to, a mess! (Somebody, please take my soap box...! lol)

 

[foreverlearning]

Hi Bee,

Thanks for the info. These chicks are 11 weeks old and I didn't figure they would molt in their first year, I thought it was only after they were a year old would they have their first molt ?

Mine had their mold at 4-5 months, we have really hot summers here.