Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[B J Hopkins]

When my tots were younger but in with the big girls I made a small structure from scrap wood that ad slats that only the chicks could fit thru. Thats where the tots were fed. That way they could eat in peace and also gave them aplace of refuge if the big girls were being miserable towards them.

VERY GOOD IDEA!!

 

[Beekissed]

That's called a creep feeder.

 

[B J Hopkins]

The thought of RATS has got me thinking about something that happened to me... I am not really scared of mice but I just don't want them ON me. Well I use a couple of those little bait boxes that you put the bar bait in. I brought them in to put a new bar of poison in them, had one held over the trash can trying to get it open when out crawled this big juicy drunk (poisoned) mouse out of the box I AM HOLDING! Ohhh my gosh! I'm not a screamer, it is usually more like a holler followed by a not so nice word... then everybody around asking, "What's going on!?!" I have to say, that skeerd me! lol I slammed that sucker in the trash can then about as quick picked it back up and threw it out the door. Ahhh!

 

[B J Hopkins]

Yeah they climb. I once lived in an old house on an estate, now this was a very small house(cottage) and it had a small galley kitchen. In this kitchen in the corner were 2 copper pipes going vertical. I had been there a while and really had not noticed them until I saw a mouse with her naked baby in her mouth climb that pipe. Now I have no problem with mice.... as long as they stay field mice, not house mice because house mice mess up my stuff. Copper tubing is quite smooth so I don't know how she did it. On a side note I had a harley with big loud mufflers (any other kind?) when I started it in the spring it backfired when I tried to start it and 2 or 3 "cannonballs" got shot out the lower one, turned out to be mice that made a nest in the pipe. What a rude awakening huh? They were a bit dazed but managed to leave the building. I'm pretty sure I laughed quite hard.

Walt

 

[armorfirelady]

That's called a creep feeder.

I didnt know the name for it.....actually I just came up with the idea and built it. Its now over their pop door to keep the rain from making a mud hole outside the pop door. I love multi purpose items

 

[Triple Willow]

My prevailing winds are mostly northeast. My coop's north wall is solid (with venitlation along the tip, under the eaves) and there are two windows on the east. I will probably cover the east windows and maybe the south window--it depends. I also plan on closing the door between the coop & run. The pop door in the big door will stay open. You can see my coop/run pics under "my coop," too.

I checked out your coop and run too, nice! Your chickens have a nice place to live. Thank you for the help.

 

[OHhappychicks]

I usually keep chicks and mom in their own space for a week or so before integrating with the flock...the chicks are bigger and faster and not so easily injured. When I don't have a mama, integration time is still at 2 wks. They seem to be able to hold their own by that age.

So you put your 2 week old chicks in with the adults? Very interesting! I have always kept them separate until they were 8-12 wks old. It would be good if I could integrate them earlier. They don't get picked on and bullied? I have only one hen that is bossy, but she calmed down after about a week when we add a couple of new adults to her coop. Do they have a special place and do you keep a heat lamp on them at night. I have 8-10 week old chicks out in a tractor, getting ready to put them in a hoop coop this weekend. Are they big enough to put in with the adults with no heat? It is getting cooler at night here so when it drops into the 40's I turn the heat lamp on. The tractor is only half covered with thick rubber type stuff. THe rest is open so we cover it with a sheet to keep drafts off. I would be so worried about the little ones, but it has worked for you?

Also, I've had a 5 gallon bucket of feed fermenting since Mon. night. It is in my utility room which is probably the warmest room right now, about 70*. It hasn't started to foam or bubble or anything. It might just be starting to smell a little sweeter. Can I start feeding it to them tonight, or should I wait until I'm sure it is in full fermentation? I'm stirring it 2x's a day. I used about 1/2 - 2/3 c acv and about a cup of plain greek yogurt.

 

[Triple Willow]

I have heard several bad stories about chicks being pecked on the head all the way down to the skull (a real bloody mess) when placed with adult chickens. A friend of mine also had that happen to some chicks and they weren't real young, seems like 6 weeks. She said it happened in just a few minutes.

 

[OHhappychicks]

I have heard several bad stories about chicks being pecked on the head all the way down to the skull (a real bloody mess) when placed with adult chickens. A friend of mine also had that happen to some chicks and they weren't real young, seems like 6 weeks. She said it happened in just a few minutes.

That too was my impression, tw. We have put them in with the adults, but DH built a separate enclosure for them in the coop.

 

[Beekissed]

So you put your 2 week old chicks in with the adults? Very interesting! I have always kept them separate until they were 8-12 wks old. It would be good if I could integrate them earlier. They don't get picked on and bullied? I have only one hen that is bossy, but she calmed down after about a week when we add a couple of new adults to her coop. Do they have a special place and do you keep a heat lamp on them at night. I have 8-10 week old chicks out in a tractor, getting ready to put them in a hoop coop this weekend. Are they big enough to put in with the adults with no heat? It is getting cooler at night here so when it drops into the 40's I turn the heat lamp on. The tractor is only half covered with thick rubber type stuff. THe rest is open so we cover it with a sheet to keep drafts off. I would be so worried about the little ones, but it has worked for you?

Also, I've had a 5 gallon bucket of feed fermenting since Mon. night. It is in my utility room which is probably the warmest room right now, about 70*. It hasn't started to foam or bubble or anything. It might just be starting to smell a little sweeter. Can I start feeding it to them tonight, or should I wait until I'm sure it is in full fermentation? I'm stirring it 2x's a day. I used about 1/2 - 2/3 c acv and about a cup of plain greek yogurt.

Does your FF have a skim of darker or lighter film on it when you stir it in the morning? If so, you have a scoby growing and it's okay to feed. No film, give it time...could be you are using city water and it may take a bit longer to establish some LABs.

Yes, I place chicks with adults. It all has to do with space...my birds free range at all times, so their only true contact with the chicks are at feeding time and they usually don't see chicks that small as any kind of competition. When they get a little older and are crowding into the bird's eating space they might get a light peck now and again to get them out of their face..but they can completely take over the feeder if they outnumber the older birds...as in these pics:





At that point they actually NEED a peck on the head to get them out of one's mouth while eating!

If I had the birds in a coop and run situation, it would probably be a different story as I would have bored and cranky older birds confined to a space with a bunch of youngsters..and even in the human world that is a recipe for disaster. The chicks are not going to know or recognize social cues or pecking orders while really young and they would get underfoot all day long.

With the big open world to explore and the older birds rarely being in the coop, the chicks have a safe haven from which to learn the outside world...they will first forage around the coop and as they get older they venture out more and more to other areas of safety from aerial predators. In this way they are slowly introduced to the alarm calls of the rooster, they can mimic the actions of the older birds when they forage and they also have their own social structure that is separate from the flock. My 6 mo. old birds still have their own separate flock from the older flock and they have been integrated with them since their 2nd week. Those two flocks will truly blend when the pullets become sexually active and the rooster takes interest in them...until then they are still a flock apart.

Chicks as old as yours are fully big enough to integrate~even in a coop and run situation~ and to keep each other warm, though you might have to harden them off if you have been heating them up with a heat lamp each night. You can place a lamp in one corner of the coop~doubly secured so that no matter what happens it cannot be knocked down~and they will warm themselves as they see fit. Turn it off in the day and only keep it out there for a week, then no more. By then they should have hardened off to the cold and be able to keep one another warm. Nice dry bedding and the lamp~not close to the bedding floor~should help them adjust to the coop temps.

I have heard several bad stories about chicks being pecked on the head all the way down to the skull (a real bloody mess) when placed with adult chickens. A friend of mine also had that happen to some chicks and they weren't real young, seems like 6 weeks. She said it happened in just a few minutes.

Space and breed temperaments count for so very much. I cull for temperament in my flocks, so no bully hens live long enough to come in contact with chicks. Space away from the birds and their only contact being at feeding time gives the youngsters an education on the pecking order at the feeder but not getting chased relentlessly by older, cranky hens.

For everyone reluctant to cull a chicken due to being "tender-hearted", remember what that really looks like when a chick is hurt because a nasty hen was not eliminated due to her bully behavior. Culling is the single most necessary tool in a person's arsenal to develop a thriving, healthy, peaceful flock. Otherwise it's just one sad tale after another while the tender-hearted cry and can't figure out WHY.

And that's the main difference between having chickens and keeping chickens...one is merely some birds in a pen/coop that someone feeds and collects some eggs for awhile~while having one issue after another with bullying, illness and laying issues~ and the other is a well managed flock that lives in harmony, thrives and produces without excess drama and lives to a ripe old age laying eggs and having a happy life.