Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Beekissed]

Okay, So that's what DH stands for. Ha,ha,ha. Your life sounds pretty idealic, as long as OB is compatable, life should be sweet but a lot of work it seems. But doncha know that hard work into their nineties and beyond is what keeps those centenarians all over the world still kickin' ? Now ask me if I want to live to be 100? No!!! Not where this world is heading. : (

I've heard that a lot.."Seems like a lot of work..." I always reply that it depends on your definition of work. Work is something that most folks do not like and it has earned a negative connotation of drudgery, something to be endured because one has to for the money to live, etc. I guess the day this all becomes a big ol' chore that I'd rather not do and would pay money to avoid, then it becomes "work".

In the Bible, one of the first gifts God gave man was the gift of work...something to do to occupy their time, their creativity, and to give them a challenge..they were to take care of the garden and all creatures in it. I still see this kind of work more of that kind in nature...a challenge, a good use of time and it involves my creative side as I solve problems that occur when doing manual tasks.

Homesteading is an art and a talent, that when driven by a steady work ethic, can yield much joy and productivity. This seasonal kind of life never grows old to me like a job or employment at a job does and it varies enough to make it interesting, while still holding a predictability in which one can take assurance. We aren't truly homesteading any longer, as those golden days are fully past and belong to my youth, but this tail end memory of it keeps it alive in my mind and heart, so I continue on. I love it and it's when I feel the most alive on this dying world.

Bee, Forgot to ask, what kind are those pretty chicks with your nipple waterer?

Those are heritage stock Delawares from Kathyinmo, here on BYC. The result of years of hard work developing and bringing back an old heritage breed to its former glory. Kathy is a marvel!

Poor poor BUD (sniff sniff). I didn't get my bid in on him in time. I was just sure I could bring him here for a wonderful life of diapers and Cheetos (looong sigh).

RIP BUD, and noooo that's not "Rest In Peas"! ...hehe

And he so LOVED Cheetos! I wish I had known you wanted him, I'd have boxed him up and sent him to you...you could have snuggled on the couch and watched Chicken Run together.

I just wondered about age/carcass size. Was he pretty much a mutt or a specific breed?

I think he was a cross between BR and possibly NH and was not sure of his age, but he had to have been young because he had not really developed many sex characteristics yet..hadn't tried to crow, Ol' Toby wasn't kicking his butt yet, he wasn't even looking at the young gals with any gleam in his beady little eye, his comb, wattles and saddle feathers were just coming in and his testes were quite tiny still. Of course, male BRs are a little slow in their sexual development anyway, so still hard to determine for this little mutt.

I'll post a pic of his carcass when I get it uploaded from the camera.....

 

[Beekissed]

Interesting thing to note about something I've been noticing...but it hadn't really registered in my mind...is that the birds being fed on fermented feed no longer seem to have a strong smell or flavor like most old DP chickens can have. If one is used to it, they don't really think about it because that is how real chickens~not baby CX~ usually smell or taste...just a little gamey. You can often taste their feed in the meat and even get a whiff of the coop at times if you have a good schnozz..and I do. One can usually smell it the most when cooking one of these older birds down for soup or in the crock pot and the broth will even have that smell and flavor, which is why a lot of people on these forums eat one of their birds once and complain of the flavor or smell of the meat. Say it's too gamey.

I'm currently cooking down the carcasses and giblets of some really old birds and there is no smell in the air except herbs and a sweet savory smell of meat. No strong odor noted and the flavor of this stock is par excellent...better than I've ever made before, either using old birds or CX. It's just mild and an excellent flavor, much like the eggs from this method of feeding have a lack of sulfur smell or taste, this meat broth has a lack of the barnyard flavor or smell.

Can't get over this wonderful tasting broth and can't wait to taste the meat on birds that have had FF this long...should be sweet and mild. Anyone else who have been feeding older birds FF noticing this change in the smell and flavor of the meat and broth?

 

[Robert M]

If mash is cheaper, go for it. THis week we are feeding crumbles dry as the pellets didn't come in at the feed store. Definitely very wasteful as dry. I need to shovel up the 1" waste on the ground they scratched out of the pan. Figure to make FF with it and feed it back to them. NO waste here.

Is you mash price better than the pellet price?? THe pellets go thru a heat process, so the more heat sensiitive vitamins should be higher in the mash . . . .in theory.

Tractor Supply.

You need these. They can't "scratch" from these feeders. hang it 5 or 6 inches off the floor and NOT under a perch, where they can crap in it/them.


Harris Farms Hanging Feeder, 10 lb.
216003499
(5)

$14.99

 

[Beekissed]

BUD'S BODY...that's a pretty large pan, so you can see he made quite a good carcass in the end and was every bit as big as my big ol' hens in size, though lacking the depth of breast they had it was still good for a rooster and he did still put on a respectable amount of meat since he arrived. Not bad for a $1 rooster!

 

[Beekissed]

Tractor Supply.

You need these. They can't "scratch" from these feeders. hang it 5 or 6 inches off the floor and NOT under a perch, where they can crap in it/them.


Harris Farms Hanging Feeder, 10 lb.
216003499
(5)

$14.99

That's going to be a little hard to use for FF....

 

[JesNflock]

That's going to be a little hard to use for FF....

I think he was meaning for the crumbles so they don't end up all over...

 

[RoseMarie1]

BUD'S BODY...that's a pretty large pan, so you can see he made quite a good carcass in the end and was every bit as big as my big ol' hens in size, though lacking the depth of breast they had it was still good for a rooster and he did still put on a respectable amount of meat since he arrived. Not bad for a $1 rooster!

I don't see any bruising on his breast.

Not bad at all!

 

[RoseMarie1]

There's poison in pepper????

I'm thinking I'm immune by now, if so. Supposed to be good for preventing colon cancer or so THEY say, whoever THEY are.

LOL I just love that critter! Every time I see it I laugh! lol

 

[Beekissed]

I forgot about Mr. Silkiepants...until I saw the black bones in my stock and the black meat floating around. Someone's going to look at this broth in the jar and think I've made a serious mistake in my canning and have rotten meats in there.

He lives on and is messing up the works, just as I figured.

 

[BCMaraniac]

Hi, Noticing your "tag". Does that mean you are crazy for Marans? Do you raise exclusively Marans? I have all little petite girls and this one big honker of a Black Maran. I wanted those beautiful dark eggs, but hers are only a little bit darker than most. She is pushy, greedy and eats 2-3 times what my other girls eat. I'm trading her off. Are they all like that or are there some with sweeter, calmer temperments? She has been laying for more than a month now but they are still small. THX : )

Yes, I love Marans. I have American Bresse as well. I just started with layers and then the chicken math kicked in when hubby and I decided to raise our own meaties. We raised CX to start, then Red Rangers, while accumulating Marans(just started with layers about 15 months ago) because my DH loves their eggs. THEN I decided to learn to caponize to get bigger DP birds, so I ended up with mixed birds from my layers and my flock protector Lavender Orpington(I got him because he was pretty.....turned out to be a good choice) when my Marans went broody and I learned to incubate. This year I will actually be raising pure bred Marans and Bresse for the first time, and perhaps a cross between the two. I just want to be able to raise my own meat from eggs to table, so I don't have to buy chicks unless I just want to.

As far as disposition goes, all of my Marans are docile, and aren't aggressive other than the typical pecking order behavior. I did call one of my broody hens "devil bird" when she was sitting on eggs and with chicks, but the other one was as sweet as she could be.

As far as feed, Marans don't have the best feed conversion in terms of eggs because they are such good meat birds. What I have seen with the Marans is that the folks who breed for egg color have bred the meat off of the birds. If you have a big meaty bird, she may not give you the dark chocolate eggs, and she will eat more than your other layers. Don't be surprised if she goes broody on you frequently either.....one of mine raised two sets of chicks this past summer.....she raised one brood, I kicked her out when they were 8 weeks old, she laid 3 or 4 eggs in the nesting boxes, then quit. Two weeks later she disappeared, and we finally found her 10-11 days into her second brood, and she showed up at the barn with 4 new chicks about 10 days later.

Marans are great foragers, and you will absolutely LOVE their rich, orange yolked free range eggs.....apparently author Ian Fleming did as well because that was James Bond's favorite egg...lol.

I would take her in a heartbeat if I was close to you.