Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[LOVEIGEE]

Oh and by the way.... new here just reading up on Fermented Feeds..... Hi everyone

deb

Hi Deb.......

 

[perchie.girl]

@Perchie.Girl... Last night I fell asleep in my chair early then woke up and went to bed. In the process I spilled a glass of tea and had to clean that up then got me another one, like I really needed the first one. lol Then I got to bed and was froze to death so tossed and turned for a good while, then had to get up and get a blanket... so I was awake for a while to say the least. lol
I agree with you and I think all this "processed JUNK" is what is wrong with a lot of our health. I talk to my elderly mom about this topic a lot, about what they ate and all that. I find how things were done in "the olden days" so interesting. Sure it was harder, but it was so much better. They ate all the real fat (lard), bread, etc and didn't have as many ailments as we seem to have today and the population wasn't nearly as overweight. I read a report a while back stating that lard isn't as bad as they once said it was. I figure if it was good enough back then it's good enough today so I started buying it again. I don't use all the heavily processed oils. The only oils to be found in my house are lard, coconut oil, olive oil and real butter. But it is a BIG step to try to have the right food to eat all the time, very difficult!

Lard is a food group..... LOL... Also if you get a chance to visit a real butcher shop see if you cant get some Beef tallow for deep frying.... OH MY GAWD..... There are a few restaurants catering to Localvores here in San Diego and they fry french fries in Tallow.... Havent tasted it yet the places are too pricy and trendy nowadays. If you have the opportunity look up Lard rendering on Youtube. Not only do you get a product with an incredible stable shelf life you also get the benefits of CRACKLINS.... Best Homer simpson voice ahhhhhhh... I am ramping up for swiching over to Paleo foods. Cant do Atkins but I feel Paleo is a better fit for me.... FWIW all fresh or minimally processed foods. Local grown is best. AND sigh I cant garden so doing judicious shopping at good Grocerystores is for me. I would love to buy in a quarter share of a steer for locally grown beef I still may....

@Perchie.Girl... I'd like to try one of those jumbo guineas. I've never tried guinea or guinea eggs. I'd also like to have some in hopes they will deal with some of the snakes around here and be an alarm for the chickens. McMurray Hatchery has them.

Before I lost my flock I had guinea eggs coming out of my ears. They Were the regular sized guineas not the jumbos. Their eggs were about the size of a largish bantam or something between a Bantam and LF egg. They are incredibly rich would make eggcellent pound cake for sure. The deal with Guinea eggs is they have less white in proportion. Fried up for breakfast..... OH yummy.... But it takes one and a half to make a LF egg so if you normally eat two for breakfast try three.

From what I have been told is Guinea is leaner and all dark meat so you have to cook like wild game. A friend of mine processed about seven culls from her breeding flock. Freezer camp then she cooked one stuffed like turkey Moist heat meaning the pan was tented with foil..... She said it was awesome but the birds dressed out small. AND she was raising them up without the thought of fattening them up for processing.....

Her recommendations are what decided me to try jumbos the next time I raise up a flock.

deb

 

[RoseMarie1]

Dang...can't even find a smiley for the thought of that......agreed BF......

Me either Bee, just couldn't do it and I agree it IS beyond a fertilized egg, poor bitty. Don't like eating baby anything.

 

[galanie]

Okay my ladies of wisdom, I am out of dryer sheets.  I don't want to go into town just to buy some.  Any suggestions on alternatives that will keep static out of my clothes and make them soft?

Put the clothes in the dryer with nothing. Those dryer sheets leave their stuff in your dryer and it lasts a long time. When my clothes start coming out with static I put a half sheet in there for the next load and you'd be just amazed at how long that lasts. Probably why the other stuff seems to "work" so well. Because it's already being taken care of by the dryer sheets you were using.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Hi Deb and

 

[galanie]

Hi Deb.......

So glad to see you!

 

[galanie]

Lard is a food group..... LOL...  Also if you get a chance to visit a real butcher shop see if you cant get some Beef tallow for deep frying.... OH MY GAWD.....  There are a few restaurants catering to Localvores here in San Diego and they fry french fries in Tallow....  Havent tasted it yet the places are too pricy and trendy nowadays.  If you have the opportunity look up Lard rendering on Youtube.  Not only do you get a product with an incredible stable shelf life you also get the benefits of CRACKLINS....  Best Homer simpson voice  ahhhhhhh...  I am ramping up for swiching over to Paleo foods.  Cant do Atkins but I feel Paleo is a better fit for me....  FWIW all fresh or minimally processed foods.   Local grown is best.  AND sigh I cant garden so doing judicious shopping at good Grocerystores is for me.  I would love to buy in a quarter share of a

Story here. I have always been told I have high cholesterol. One doctor put me on statins. Well, I went all "country" and decided to consume nothing but natural animal fats and take my own self off those statin drugs. What is supposed to then happen is that your cholesterol shoots up to a million whatevers and you die. I didnt' die. In fact, when I INSISTED that my doctor do another cholesterol screening.. it wasn't all that high. Ok maybe a point or two above "fine" on bad cholesterol, but WAY WAY WAY above OMG SHE'S AWESOME on the good cholesterol. So yeah, all lard and beef tallow here, thanksverymuchok.

PS - there is no conclusive evidence that you will in fact have a heart attack and die because of high cholesterol. And statins are not considered helpful if you have high cholesterol unless you have already had a heart attack, which I have not.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Lard is a food group..... LOL... Also if you get a chance to visit a real butcher shop see if you cant get some Beef tallow for deep frying.... OH MY GAWD..... There are a few restaurants catering to Localvores here in San Diego and they fry french fries in Tallow.... Havent tasted it yet the places are too pricy and trendy nowadays. If you have the opportunity look up Lard rendering on Youtube. Not only do you get a product with an incredible stable shelf life you also get the benefits of CRACKLINS.... Best Homer simpson voice ahhhhhhh... I am ramping up for swiching over to Paleo foods. Cant do Atkins but I feel Paleo is a better fit for me.... FWIW all fresh or minimally processed foods. Local grown is best. AND sigh I cant garden so doing judicious shopping at good Grocerystores is for me. I would love to buy in a quarter share of a steer for locally grown beef I still may....
Before I lost my flock I had guinea eggs coming out of my ears. They Were the regular sized guineas not the jumbos. Their eggs were about the size of a largish bantam or something between a Bantam and LF egg. They are incredibly rich would make eggcellent pound cake for sure. The deal with Guinea eggs is they have less white in proportion. Fried up for breakfast..... OH yummy.... But it takes one and a half to make a LF egg so if you normally eat two for breakfast try three.

From what I have been told is Guinea is leaner and all dark meat so you have to cook like wild game. A friend of mine processed about seven culls from her breeding flock. Freezer camp then she cooked one stuffed like turkey Moist heat meaning the pan was tented with foil..... She said it was awesome but the birds dressed out small. AND she was raising them up without the thought of fattening them up for processing.....

Her recommendations are what decided me to try jumbos the next time I raise up a flock.

deb

Funny that you would say the lard was a food group. Hubby and I have been doing Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis this past Feb. was a year. I have lost almost 60 pounds and he has lost about 100 pounds. He had been in a lot of pain with his knee and hip and couldn't get exercise much because of the pain of it. We eat bacon and eggs a whole lot now and we also use the grease cooked off the bacon for seasoning with etc. Oh daughter has lost 49 pounds since March of this year as well. Anyway both of them have went for blood work and they keep freaking out at how well their good cholesterol is, and on both accounts they say it's awesome and told them to keep doing what they are doing. LOL BUT.......IF they knew what we were doing they would have a cow! LOL Cuz they tell us eat low fat eat whole wheat eat whole wheat. When in fact 2 pieces of whole wheat bread runs your blood sugars up as high as a candy bar does even if you are NOT a diabetic. Dr. Davis is a heart Dr. and like I said we have been doing this over a year now and it's working great for us and we're wheat free and mostly grain free as well. Our joints aren't killing us like they were either. I sit wrapped up in a quilt for a week because I almost froze to death from detoxing from the stuff. In 3 days I could feel a difference in my joints. Hubby has had acid reflux for years now and could NOT eat anything past about about 5 or we both didn't get any sleep the whole night.

Now since we have been doing this he has not had one, did you get that, not one problem with acid reflux! Then he also would get mouth ulcers every summer when our tomatoes would come in and he ate them for several days. He doesn't have any problems with that anymore either. I was on 2 blood pressure pills and am just on one small dose one now. I was a type 2 diabetic and now my A1C is down to like 4 something. Dr. says I have reversed my diabetes doing this. She has also had several others to reverse theirs as well. One was a type 1 she said and he has really really lowered his to where he doesn't hardly have to take much insulin now. It IS what we are eating that IS MAKING US SICK folks! This wheat now a days is not the wheat of the Bible days and has been modified to grow more heads and grains. It only grows to about knee high now when it used to be about head high. They changed it in the 70's I believe it was and when they did they just threw it in all our food supply and didn't do any testing to see IF it would be OK for us or anything. It's in a lot of our vitamins and in some prescription drugs and in our seasonings and in most ALL processed foods. We do not eat anything out of a box at all. NOW when we did get it by accident it made us sick as a dog! It does ALL of us like this to not just one of us. Our stomachs kill us and we are up most all night going to the bathroom. Yep it's some bad stuff for us.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Story here. I have always been told I have high cholesterol. One doctor put me on statins. Well, I went all "country" and decided to consume nothing but natural animal fats and take my own self off those statin drugs. What is supposed to then happen is that your cholesterol shoots up to a million whatevers and you die. I didnt' die. In fact, when I INSISTED that my doctor do another cholesterol screening.. it wasn't all that high. Ok maybe a point or two above "fine" on bad cholesterol, but WAY WAY WAY above OMG SHE'S AWESOME on the good cholesterol. So yeah, all lard and beef tallow here, thanksverymuchok.

PS - there is no conclusive evidence that you will in fact have a heart attack and die because of high cholesterol. And statins are not considered helpful if you have high cholesterol unless you have already had a heart attack, which I have not.

yep you were posting as I was posting ours....lol We only use olive oil and really butter not margarine and tallow as well NOT canola oil or vegetable oil like they tell us to do. Sometimes I wonder if they are trying to kill us because of all the stuff they tell us to eat that causes us problems with our health.

That's WHY I said IF they (the Dr's) knew what we were really doing they'd have a cow because they preach low fat to us etc. and we're eating mega high in the good fats and having the AWESOME words on our good chol. The other chol. is barely high but Dr. Davis of Wheat Belly says as long as you are in the weight loss mode it will be and to NOT allow them to put you on statin drugs. He doesn't have to worry about me taking those things anymore. Been there done that and wont be doing it anymore that's for sure!!

OHHHH and GOOD for you taking yourself off those bad things!!!! ALSO Dr. Davis says it's not high chlo. that causes heart attacks. LOADS of folks have good chol. every day that has heart attacks.


ALSO if you will think about it for a bit, WHO came up with just what your chol. should be anyway? We are not all the same and some folks might need to be a little lower and some a little higher. They are IN this to make money and making it they are!!!!

 

[Beekissed]

Does anyone know if tomato leaves are bad for chickens? I have two tomato plants that got a late start and never really did anything. They're still plenty green and succulent but I figure its about time to pull them out and maybe plant some fodder beets in the bed for fall.

I wouldn't feed them to birds who have no other greens because they will eat them for lack of something else but they don't normally eat them much...just a nip here and there, if at all. They pretty much know what they can and cannot eat out there...but if they lack any greens, like in a run situation, they may eat things they wouldn't normally eat out of sheer desperation.

Oh and by the way.... new here just reading up on Fermented Feeds..... Hi everyone

deb

Deb! Good to meet you and I think you will fit right in....love your first post here!

AGreed Four Thousand percent. Don't think you mentioned the giggle "chicken math" here too but that really gets me as well. Picture the above scenarios and then having more and more dumped in there cause they "love" them. Ugh. I love mine and that's why I thinned my flock upon moving rather than adding more.

Oh, hon! I couldn't agree more...the mere term makes me wanna fall on the floor in a full body seizure. Same with the term "attrition". I have two sisters who ascribe to these two things...meaning they add chickens to their flock they couldn't possibly take care of~scratch that...WILL not take care of properly... and they even add several extra for "attrition"~meaning they are already planning on losing birds to predators and illness before they ever get the birds!!!!!!

And...sure 'nuff..they DO lose several to poor flock management every single year and the one loses 40 at a time through her incubator experiments. Baking babies for fun is what I call it. Won't educate herself about how to do it, won't get online or crack a book, knows it all already... and regularly bakes babies or otherwise kills them through ignorance of how to incubate, and then hatches out deformed animals and keeps them in cages until they die horrible deaths. I call her place the Island of Misfit Toys.

I agree. I have to wonder what those people do with all of those chicks when they talk about keeping their incubator(s) full all the time. I wonder do they really have a market for all of those chickens? If they do I want in on it! I wonder if they even consider the future welfare of all of those chicks they hatch out? It's kind of like a "puppy mill" but even on a bigger scale. They sure don't seem like people who would want to kill and eat any of them. Kinda sad.

Truer words were never spoken...they ARE chick mills, no different from puppy mills. I just picked up 6 very poorly, parasite infested roosters being raised in hellish conditions because someone has an Easy Bake oven(aka incubator) in their house and sells silkie chicks...but also likes to play around with other breeds as well. But..can't bear to kill her own chickens. To hear her casually talk about chickens dying for no reason, getting eaten by coons (she has two dogs who also kill them so they can't guard the chickens...one is a GP), as if all these things just come with the territory and there really isn't a thing anyone can do to stop it all.

And it's epidemic on these forums...you could spend the better part of a year reading for 12 hours a day on all the posts labeled "HELP!" from those who have incubators, chicken math and attrition problems and won't stop to consider the animals for one second. But loves her wittle snookums so vewy, vewy much that she could NEVER kill and eat one! Nevah!!!

Sorry...BIG pet named Peeve.

Okay my ladies of wisdom, I am out of dryer sheets. I don't want to go into town just to buy some. Any suggestions on alternatives that will keep static out of my clothes and make them soft?

Dryer balls. $5 purchase for 2 of them and you never need fabric softener again. Homemade detergent is another good step...you won't have clothing that generate static nor do they get stiff. The real bonus of all that? You won't have a dryer fire from the build up of oils on your lint screen that ignites from a spark from your dryer. Happens every year, over and over, and folks keep using those dryer sheets. I'm always puzzled by it...if the clothes are already clean, why do they need perfumey smells put on them in the dryer too? See post below...

Have you guys tried the homemade laundry powder or detergent? Now that I think about it, I have actually been out of dryer sheets for probably 3 months but my clothes were still soft and I never had a problem with static...hmmm. But I don't have many "fancy" clothes to wash either. lol I bought some more dryer sheets the other day but it was because I read that if you rub one on you it helps keep mosquitos away.

Amen, sister!!

I have a question Of "you ladies of wisdom", I have these 25 meaties and am feeding them 12 on 12 off, with starter grower. They like to take the skin off my fingers before I can get it in the tractor/brooder lol. I'm about to start with FF as well, so the question is how do you judge how much feed to put in there? with the crumbles you just keep on filling it til 12 hours are up, is it the same with FF? I'm not sure how much protein is in "fingers" but if I'm not careful they will be well fed... This my 2nd year with meatys, 15 last year and supposed to be 30 this year but 7 0r 8 croaked and 1 has a bad leg, these birds are weird, like spooky unnatural they more than quadrupled in size in 3 weeks. they ain't right.

Walt

The answer is in the question. The birds aren't weird, they have a high metabolism and when folks feed them like pigs, they grow like pigs so they die or get crippled by it. Treat them like chickens and they act like chickens, pure and simple. I know fast growth is the goal, but if they die you've already lost money. If you feed continuous feeds for 12 hours, you've lost money. What then has "quick" have to do with it? Losing money more quickly is then the goal, it would seem.

They say that you'll always have what you always had if you always do what you've always done. Now you are starting FF, it might also be time to start changing other things as well...like feeding restricted feeds instead of continuous feedings for 12 hours. Maybe providing free ranging opportunities instead of a tractor or pen...they get no benefit from the tractor at all because the grass is spoiled with feces and trampling within minutes of moving the tractor. The only benefit is you don't have to provide deep litter...but they are still walking in their own poop all day. These birds will free range better than any chicken you've ever seen if you put them on it at 2 wks and let them go...they will get exercise, they will be on clean soils, they will save you money by eating a lot of food out there and then you can feed them in the evening after they've filled their guts all day.

Long about 6-7 wks, start feeding them twice a day...this is the mistake that I made the last time, not increasing some feed after they were old enough and strong enough to handle the weight gain. Long about 10 wks, pen them and feed them twice a day. Keep them to 12 weeks on some good deep litter and they will be fat but not crippled, healthy from their early exercise and restricted feeds.

Feed them only what they can clean up in 15-30 min. If you want more fat on them at the end, feed more.

Helped a lady process hers this summer and they were around 12 wks, had free ranged the whole time, were each about 13- 15 lbs live weight, around 8-10 lbs processed. Healthy organs, healthy birds, no deaths or crippling. Biggest chickens I've ever seen in my life! Fermented feeds, restricted feeds, free ranged from 2 wks on. Big,healthy, no loss of money.

Throw that feeding/wt schedule out the window and try something new!

Where is that Bee when you need her...

Personally, I would switch them to fermented feed asap and start them out on 3 feedings/day - all they can clean up in 15 minutes. I'd also cut back the light during the day unless it got too cool. Of course small chicks need the heat but I don't think they need it as hot as long as is generally practiced. You don't want to cause them to get pasty butt or sick but I think they feather out quicker when they are kept a little cooler after that first couple weeks. Bee said that she had good luck with making them free range all day then only feeding them at night, all they can clean up in 15 minutes. They will grow a little slower that way but you won't have as many health problems with them (leg problems, ascites, etc).

Keep in mind that I haven't done meaties, this is just what I have learned on this thread... so better advise will come. lol if you need to kickstart some ff you can add some buttermilk and in 12 hours it should be going good.

What she said!!

The force is strong in this one, Obi Wan.