Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Beekissed]

Yes..they just act hungry but they clearly are not that hungry. My birds I processed recently were so fat it was awful..and that was on very minimum FF at all, mostly free range. I think the thing with FF is that it's predigested by the fermentation, so they aren't having to work on it so long inside their digestive systems...but the nutrient delivery is so much more than plain feed, that they are definitely getting fatter on less feed.

Hens will have more fat than the roos, so that's the difference you are seeing there. I'd say you are feeding enough if they are that fat. Yes, there is overfeeding with any feeding method and you don't want to do that, or you will see some laying issues from the excess fat around the reproductive organs and around the vents.

It sounds like you've got it right if you feed in the AM and they are done by mid-morning and I wouldn't feed more than once a day. I've processed birds 16 hrs after a meal that still had full crops and gizzards, so they are still "eating" off that one meal for many hours, though they act like their throats have been cut. The real proof of their intake is body conditioning and not how hungry they act. If we went by that, we'd all just keep dumping food out all day!

Mine act like they are starving children all the time.

Fat as ticks, they are....

 

[Ksane]

I'm on post #142 out of over 10,000 but wanted to get this question asked before I forgot.
I'm assuming it would be alright to add human leftovers to the fermented feed mixture, correct?
I can't think of any reason not to but there's a lot I don't know yet. Maybe by post #8,000 I'll know a lot more :-D

 

[fuzziecreatures]

The real proof of their intake is body conditioning and not how hungry they act. If we went by that, we'd all just keep dumping food out all day!

Mine act like they are starving children all the time.

Fat as ticks, they are....

Lol, thanks Bee. I am glad I can treat them just like my dogs then... my dogs act like they are starving but a couple of them are F A T! I'll continue the way we are going currently.

I'm still debating on leaving the barrels in the coop or moving them up to the garage for winter. I gotta decide soon before it snows. *shudder* I'd have to put new hooks in the rafter in the garage for my pulleys for the buckets and move the storage barrels too. Good news is they are pretty low and I gotta go get more feed next week. (I love not going every 2 weeks!) My husband installed hooks and pulleys over my feed barrels in the coop/shed so I can just raise my heavy buckets. He filled 2 1 gallon tea jugs with sand and put a giant carabineer on the end of the ropes. That way I can just switch the jugs over to the rope I need, to counter balance the weight. Even that is sometimes difficult for my 110# self with my fibromyalgia and RA. I'm just wondering about the smell in the attached garage. I don't particularly enjoy the smell of the fermented feed.

 

[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.

Here is what my FF looks like now...

What do you think Bee?

 

[Angelicisi]

 

[Beekissed]

I'm on post #142 out of over 10,000 but wanted to get this question asked before I forgot.
I'm assuming it would be alright to add human leftovers to the fermented feed mixture, correct?
I can't think of any reason not to but there's a lot I don't know yet. Maybe by post #8,000 I'll know a lot more :-D

I would not add any human parts to the mix...they say meat by product supplements can really make it stink!

Lol, thanks Bee. I am glad I can treat them just like my dogs then... my dogs act like they are starving but a couple of them are F A T! I'll continue the way we are going currently.

I'm still debating on leaving the barrels in the coop or moving them up to the garage for winter. I gotta decide soon before it snows. *shudder* I'd have to put new hooks in the rafter in the garage for my pulleys for the buckets and move the storage barrels too. Good news is they are pretty low and I gotta go get more feed next week. (I love not going every 2 weeks!) My husband installed hooks and pulleys over my feed barrels in the coop/shed so I can just raise my heavy buckets. He filled 2 1 gallon tea jugs with sand and put a giant carabineer on the end of the ropes. That way I can just switch the jugs over to the rope I need, to counter balance the weight. Even that is sometimes difficult for my 110# self with my fibromyalgia and RA. I'm just wondering about the smell in the attached garage. I don't particularly enjoy the smell of the fermented feed.

You might want to talk with Kassaundra...she leaves hers in place for the winter and says it does just fine in the big trash can she uses, doesn't freeze up and still ferments as it sits in the mix longer.

You are doing some unnecessary lifting on these buckets to strain them when you don't really need to do so...just mix your mix thicker and scoop directly out of the mix, no straining required. I did just like you when I first started because I was using the two bucket system and thought I needed to strain it because I was feeding almost the whole bucket out to some meaties, but I've since learned I was doing unnecessary steps.

Kassaundra is feeding around the same number of birds you are and she is using a single trash can and a shovel to get it done, so you might talk with her about how she has her system set up as it could save your back and your hubby some stress and time.

I keep my mix drier so I don't have to strain and I also drill holes in the bottom of my feed trough so that any residual fluid in the mix can drain out...they pretty much eat it before any of that can happen but it still gets to drip a little.

I hate to think of you lifting and tugging on this feed in your condition, so please, please see if you can adapt your feeding to an easier method so we won't have to worry about you!

Here is what my FF looks like now...

What do you think Bee?

Soupy! Wayyyyyyy too soupy!

That water level can be about half way down that total feed amount in the bottom of the jar. I keep mine about 6 in or more under the top of the feed level after the initial absorption. Makes life easier!

 

[JesNflock]

I would not add any human parts to the mix...they say meat by product supplements can really make it stink!

You might want to talk with Kassaundra...she leaves hers in place for the winter and says it does just fine in the big trash can she uses, doesn't freeze up and still ferments as it sits in the mix longer.

You are doing some unnecessary lifting on these buckets to strain them when you don't really need to do so...just mix your mix thicker and scoop directly out of the mix, no straining required. I did just like you when I first started because I was using the two bucket system and thought I needed to strain it because I was feeding almost the whole bucket out to some meaties, but I've since learned I was doing unnecessary steps.

Kassaundra is feeding around the same number of birds you are and she is using a single trash can and a shovel to get it done, so you might talk with her about how she has her system set up as it could save your back and your hubby some stress and time.

I keep my mix drier so I don't have to strain and I also drill holes in the bottom of my feed trough so that any residual fluid in the mix can drain out...they pretty much eat it before any of that can happen but it still gets to drip a little.

I hate to think of you lifting and tugging on this feed in your condition, so please, please see if you can adapt your feeding to an easier method so we won't have to worry about you!

Soupy! Wayyyyyyy too soupy!

That water level can be about half way down that total feed amount in the bottom of the jar. I keep mine about 6 in or more under the top of the feed level after the initial absorption. Makes life easier!

Ok thanks! I added more feed to it to soak it up.

 

[Triple Willow]

Since it has turn so much cooler my ff smells different. It actually smells good, smells like sweet apples. It is in the garage with the window open.

I found these little critters in the bottom of a bag of chicken manure. They look like meal worms to me. What do y'all think?

 

[Triple Willow]

If y'all were going to sell a bag of chicken manure, how much would you ask for a 50lb dogfood bag full? Any idea?

 

[Beekissed]

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in662 A little info on your meal worms. Don't be alarmed by all the disease vector info...the commercial poultry houses are constantly trying to blame the diseases produced by their methods on vectors..such as beetles, rats, and our backyard flocks giving all the wild birds disease that they bring into the poultry houses.