Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[RachaelS]

Quote: NO THEY DON'T her chickens called me and said, "we don't want them, we promise to convince her to send them to you", I promise, I even have the caller id proof, "O'h honey, what was that?", the wind blew out the electricity and the evidence no longer exists?", well mmmm yep that's my story and I am sticking to it

You can't beat free food!

 

[DaveMorey]

I have a couple questions if those more knowledgeable could offer some advice. I have read in the meatie 101 thread about putting chicks out in the tractor at 3 weeks. However the temps this time of year in Vermont can be chilly (frost warning tonight). My CX are just 3 weeks now. They aren't quite fully feathered yet. They do seem to tolerate much cooler temps than my dual purpose birds I had at the same age. Should they go out? I have been putting them out during the day when it is warmer and bringing them in at night back to the brooder. I also read Bigredfeather's feed ration table but I am not sure how that might work with FF. Any help and advice would be great. Thank you

 

[Lacy Blues]

I wouldn't leave them out during a frost but thats me. If you do leave them out, make sure they can get out of the wind and perhaps just have a low wattage bulb over them for insurance.

Who is this Bigredfeather?

 

[Beekissed]

I have a couple questions if those more knowledgeable could offer some advice. I have read in the meatie 101 thread about putting chicks out in the tractor at 3 weeks. However the temps this time of year in Vermont can be chilly (frost warning tonight). My CX are just 3 weeks now. They aren't quite fully feathered yet. They do seem to tolerate much cooler temps than my dual purpose birds I had at the same age. Should they go out? I have been putting them out during the day when it is warmer and bringing them in at night back to the brooder. I also read Bigredfeather's feed ration table but I am not sure how that might work with FF. Any help and advice would be great. Thank you

You'll have to harden them off sometime and it isn't getting any warmer, so you might try hardening them off with the help of a heat lamp in the tractor the first few nights and just watch if they huddle under it or away from it. If they are under it, continue to use it for a bit but you will eventually see them getting most of their body warmth from each other rather than the light.

I know nothing about a feed ration table...since they aren't really free ranging, you might feed them two big meals a day and be done with it, using a nice long trough.

 

[RoseMarie1]

I don't know but I had put it right up by the foundation of the house where snakes like to crawl. I believe that bird got in it. The sulfur came from the feed store, the lime I can't remember. It might have been that caustic lime. I still have some of the mix but I'm not going to use it where birds can get to it. Maybe if I watered it in some when I put it down they couldn't eat it...? I was trying to get the snakes out of my front door and garage! lol

well did it work for the snakes? yeah I think Bee told me sweet lime or I think it was her telling me lime, I could be wrong. Anyway I think it's hydrated or something like that lime that isn't caustic.

 

[RoseMarie1]

I don't know about your chickens, but I just tired persimmons this year for the first time in my life, and you can just send me whatever you don't want. They ROCK!

lol oh yeah we like them to but these are those little bity wild ones which are still good BUT tiny so it would take a bunch to fill you up.

 

[Triple Willow]

Do they like persimmons? I have a tree I just found in the woods behind mines pen. 

I'm wondering about hedge apples. I bet they would eat those things. I wonder what kind of health benefits hedge apples would have. There is stuff online saying that some claim that hedge apples have cured or got their cancer under control. They don't taste real bad, kind of like a sweet fruit of some kind.

 

[RoseMarie1]

They do like persimmons...I gathered a couple of bags of them last year where we get wood and dumped them out. It took them a bit but they ate every last one. You should have seen them waiting like vultures for the deer to drop a peach for them under the peach trees this year!

I'd look out the window and see a deer up there tugging peaches and a whole ring of chickens around her, just waiting.....

They are also doing the same thing with the apples...the crows knock down apples and the chickens are waiting at the bottom of the trees, ready to fight for the fruit. Poor crows.

I wouldn't do maggots in that manner either....I heard a well known author(Harvey Ussery(sp?) killed his whole flock by trying to do the whole soldier fly maggot thing..gave them all botulism.

@ those chickens of yours. Wow that HAS to be cool watching the deer feed from your window. Hubby has a deer feeder out back and they will come in to feed BUT only at night time. We actually saw one of the young does playing with our cat one time. It was so stinking cute! The cat would run at it and then it would turn and run back at the cat. My sister and I had walked out the door and caught them doing this. We stood there and watched until she saw us and ran off. She was really close to the house that time. Hubby just loves to feed them and he's been doing it for years now.
I bet the crows was about ready to kill those chickens.

Speaking of crows I heard a bunch in the hollow today and looked up and saw a hawk and about that time it made it's sound they make when trying to scare something out to catch. I had just turned out the chickens but they were hid out under the huge bushes but I ran and told hubby so he could get out there with his crow caller and scare the thing off hopefully and when I got back it was no where to be seen. I guess those crows scared it off thank goodness. I never did see it again today.
oh that is horrible on it giving them botulism.

When I was a kid my grandpa trapped and we'd have to clean the critters and tan the hides. Those hides would get maggots in them and they always did just gross me out something fierce because my grandpa just wasn't a very clean man in my book.

So they don't have good memories for me. chills...... just couldn't do that one and all the more reason with it causing botulism!

 

[RoseMarie1]

I'm wondering about hedge apples. I bet they would eat those things. I wonder what kind of health benefits hedge apples would have. There is stuff online saying that some claim that hedge apples have cured or got their cancer under control. They don't taste real bad, kind of like a sweet fruit of some kind.

I don't guess I know what those are. I KNOW opossums like the persimmons and they ALSO like chickens so I was thinking, hmmmm I might need to pick those things off there so they wont draw any opossums to my chicken pen because it is RIGHT behind their pen not 15 foot.

 

[Triple Willow]

@RoseMarie... They are also called "osage orange.