Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[PetRock]

Arielle get you a Rada knife and you wont be sorry. We went to the beach a few years ago and I used one of these knives in the condo. Once I did I was hooked and I went to one of the local shops there and actually found one. I bought 2-3 of them and also the tomato slicer knife. LOVVVVVVE these knives. They stay sharpened for a while AND their really easily sharpened with their sharpener when they do get dull and they're not sky high in price either. http://www.radacutlery.com/ I bought the sharpener when I bought my first ones. I have bought them 3x since I think. A lot of people sale them for fund raisers. Next one I want to get is the larger one for cutting up like a turkey or a roast or something.

We have 2 of the tomato knives and love them! They are very sharp and you have to be careful not to cut pieces of bone off if you are using them for carving poultry. The last time we processed chickens, my DH used one to cut off the feet. Low price for a good knife!

 

[Beekissed]

I agree! I don't like to spend a lot on things..I'm pretty tight, actually...but I also won't buy junk, so these Rada are the perfect balance between affordable and quality that I like. I've even used them for gutting and skinning deer and cow, so they are sharp enough for me and their all stainless steel construction make them easy to sanitize and tough knives. The only time I have to replace them is when I have lost one or they simply "walked" away with one kid or another to someone's home. I have all sizes but my mid-size~my favorite for doing chicken~seems to have disappeared over the years so it seems it's time to make another purchase. Their vegetable peeler is nigh dangerous, it's that sharp....extremely sharp and a little scary to use as I can just see myself peeling off some skin layers along with.

My granny used to have Old Hickory knives and they were sharpened down so far they looked like filet knives. She sharpened her knives with a file! Wicked sharp and straight out of a horror movie, those knives. I was always scared to do the dishes with those knives in the water, they were that razor sharp. Old Hickory had quality steel back then..not sure about how they are nowadays.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Yes they will break down completely and be mush. When I used pellets I made the FF thicker (like cookie dough) to feed out to the hens. They liked it better than the soupy texture & did not wear as much of it.

Yep. My girls love their FF mush! And, after about a week and a half? (I forget exactly) their messy butts are clearing up! So, the change in feed style may have been the culprit for that, but it was temporary.

Also, it's important to drain the feed/mush. Use a colander or large strainer to scoop the feed out of the water. The consistency of oatmeal would be about right.
Since you're so new, you may not know it's important to use non-metal containers for both brewing and feeding the FF. The process of fermenting the feed can leech nasty chemicals out of the metal feeders, which will hurt your birds. Wooden troughs, pyrex, ceramic, or glass dishes work great for serving up the chow. In a pinch you can just plop it directly on the ground.

 

[Beekissed]

Or you can simply mix it drier so that you won't have to strain it, which is what many here do. That's even much easier to do with using the crumbles or pelleted feeds because they break up into a true mush so you can keep it sort of like mashed potatoes consistency...easy for serving, easy for eating that way.

 

[JesNflock]

Yep. My girls love their FF mush! And, after about a week and a half? (I forget exactly) their messy butts are clearing up! So, the change in feed style may have been the culprit for that, but it was temporary.

Also, it's important to drain the feed/mush. Use a colander or large strainer to scoop the feed out of the water. The consistency of oatmeal would be about right.
Since you're so new, you may not know it's important to use non-metal containers for both brewing and feeding the FF. The process of fermenting the feed can leech nasty chemicals out of the metal feeders, which will hurt your birds. Wooden troughs, pyrex, ceramic, or glass dishes work great for serving up the chow. In a pinch you can just plop it directly on the ground.

Awesome! I started my FF in a large glass jar (used to be a pickle jar I love re-purposing!) It smells kinda nasty...it has a sour smell to it. Is that right? I don't wanna feed them something that has gone bad. I didn't add any ACV (I read somewhere that you don't have to, but I do plan to pick some up for my flock soon) I hope I didn't make a mistake doing that...if so then I will just start over with a fresh batch when I pick up the ACV

 

[Beekissed]

Awesome! I started my FF in a large glass jar (used to be a pickle jar I love re-purposing!) It smells kinda nasty...it has a sour smell to it. Is that right? I don't wanna feed them something that has gone bad. I didn't add any ACV (I read somewhere that you don't have to, but I do plan to pick some up for my flock soon) I hope I didn't make a mistake doing that...if so then I will just start over with a fresh batch when I pick up the ACV

Get used to that "nasty" smell...that's FF. It won't go bad, so don't throw it out. You won't need the ACV and you won't even need to add to it their drinking water, as the FF has all the bacteria you need for culturing their bowels and providing increased vitamins and minerals.

You might want to move towards a bigger container, as a pickle jar is going to be an inconvenient vessel from which to dip from and it won't hold much, which means you'll constantly be refreshing feed and making more FF~which makes this an unnecessarily fussy method of feeding and it doesn't have to be. It will make it easier on your all the way around if you just do the FF in a bucket of some sort..it's has a nice, wide opening for putting feed in and taking feed out, for pouring the water and for stirring purposes. It also holds enough that you can get a good ferment on your feed before you feed it out.

 

[JesNflock]

Get used to that "nasty" smell...that's FF. It won't go bad, so don't throw it out. You won't need the ACV and you won't even need to add to it their drinking water, as the FF has all the bacteria you need for culturing their bowels and providing increased vitamins and minerals.

You might want to move towards a bigger container, as a pickle jar is going to be an inconvenient vessel from which to dip from and it won't hold much, which means you'll constantly be refreshing feed and making more FF~which makes this an unnecessarily fussy method of feeding and it doesn't have to be. It will make it easier on your all the way around if you just do the FF in a bucket of some sort..it's has a nice, wide opening for putting feed in and taking feed out, for pouring the water and for stirring purposes. It also holds enough that you can get a good ferment on your feed before you feed it out.

lol Good to know the smell is normal. I have been reading some of the things you have posted on FF and figured if I was able to do it successfully then I could switch to a larger container (I like the bucket within a bucket idea) right now I only have (2) 5 month chickens and (4) 7week chicks so I don't go through a whole lot of feed (yet) I do also free range the larger ones most of the day. Thanks for the info I am def absorbing as much as I possibly can!

 

[MargaretYakoda]

...

Eggs- was some asking bout how to boil and peel-- I resisted the peel under running cold water but it us my best method. Hate wasting all that water so I lower the volume to what works. ALso OLD eggs that have started to dry out a bit are better than fresh.

I was going to share my Grandmother's method of boiling eggs, but this page has a lot of timps I've never heard of. None of which are my Grandmother's method of hard boiling eggs. http://whatscookingamerica.net/Eggs/BoiledEggs.htm

Now, the way my Grandmother always boiled eggs was to boil a big pot of water, and when it's at a full boil slowly lower room temperature eggs into the pot. Turn off the heat and let the pot cool. When the water is cool enough for you to put your hands into comfortably all the eggs will be hard boiled. It's an excellent method for those of us who tend to be forgetful.

 

[Regin]

I was going to share my Grandmother's method of boiling eggs, but this page has a lot of timps I've never heard of. None of which are my Grandmother's method of hard boiling eggs. http://whatscookingamerica.net/Eggs/BoiledEggs.htm

Now, the way my Grandmother always boiled eggs was to boil a big pot of water, and when it's at a full boil slowly lower room temperature eggs into the pot. Turn off the heat and let the pot cool. When the water is cool enough for you to put your hands into comfortably all the eggs will be hard boiled. It's an excellent method for those of us who tend to be forgetful.

The easy peel method is similar to this,
Boil water( a little salt), add eggs , and return to boil. Put put a lid on the pot, remove from heat, and let set for 20 min.
Next scoop the eggs out of the pot and put in ICE water for 5 min.
Bring the original pot of water back to a boil and put the eggs in again for a minute.
Lastly put eggs back in cold water until cool.
I read this last week and tried it this weekend with 6 very fresh eggs.
It's more trouble but the peels came right off. So, more time in the cooking and less in the peeling.

 

[fuzziecreatures]

I have to say my birds LOVE the fermented feed. They have been getting it for a little while now, I'd have to look back at my first posts on this thread to find out when they started. I don't know how MUCH to feed them. I feed them in 2 10' long gutter troughs at the moment. When it gets colder and snow fills in those troughs, I will be feeding in large underbed totes I got from Wal-Mart.

I have 60 chickens ages 3 months to 3 years. I fill a 5 gallon bucket with fermented feed every night. I let that bucket drain overnight so it is ready to feed right away in the morning (they are very impatient in the morning). That full bucket drains down to about 3/4 of a bucket and is a thick oatmeal consistency. I use a 1qt scoop to scoop it out of the bucket into the troughs. By mid to late morning all that food is gone and they are demanding MORE! They are out free ranging!! Sure it is getting colder, but should I really indulge them with more? Should I be feeding twice daily? Is there overfeeding with the fermented feed? The goal is to feed them well with less waste but also supposedly cheaper. Is there something they are missing? Each barrel has the ratio of 2 scoops layer, 1 scoop wheat, 1 scoop cracked corn and 1 scoop BOSS. Water and ACV to wet it down.

I processed 14 adults about 2 weeks ago. Ages 4 months to 3 years. They ALL had quite a bit of fat in them around their organs. The younger ones had less. My pig of a barred rock hen (who was a real "B" and rarely laid) had a LARGE amount of fat in her! So much that I had my son take pictures! No wonder she didn't lay eggs. An egg wouldn't be able to get through there! Her liver was also kinda yellowish and friable.

Do they just like it so much they want it all the time? I also plan on sprouting wheat again mid November until spring.