Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Beekissed]

What they call "sweet lime"...it's not the caustic lime(#1 in the explanation below) and it's the kind you can put on your plants in the garden to desiccate bugs and also to sweeten up your soil's pH. If you ask at any garden center about it they should be able to get you there. Lime has the added advantage of encouraging the growth of good bacteria in the soils, so no worries about putting it in deep litter or on the soils of the run, just don't over do it...you don't want a soil that is then too alkaline, which can be just as bad as too acidic.

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[BCMaraniac]

What they call "sweet lime"...it's not the caustic lime(#1 in the explanation below) and it's the kind you can put on your plants in the garden to desiccate bugs and also to sweeten up your soil's pH. If you ask at any garden center about it they should be able to get you there. Lime has the added advantage of encouraging the growth of good bacteria in the soils, so no worries about putting it in deep litter or on the soils of the run, just don't over do it...you don't want a soil that is then too alkaline, which can be just as bad as too acidic.

Or Tums.......

 

[BCMaraniac]

Hahaha I was just thinking the same thing about coming back to this thread after like 2 days & there was SO much that had happened! Sorry bout your birds...Wish I could help with some info. but I don't know anything yet about worms

We solved many of the worlds' problems while you guys were away,which required many pages of posts......almost as many as the ACA

 

[JesNflock]

What they call "sweet lime"...it's not the caustic lime(#1 in the explanation below) and it's the kind you can put on your plants in the garden to desiccate bugs and also to sweeten up your soil's pH. If you ask at any garden center about it they should be able to get you there. Lime has the added advantage of encouraging the growth of good bacteria in the soils, so no worries about putting it in deep litter or on the soils of the run, just don't over do it...you don't want a soil that is then too alkaline, which can be just as bad as too acidic.

Ok good to know...I have been reading different things on it and was a little confused about hydrated, CaCO3, etc. I had started a thread about lime whitewashing in order to find out some more info (pros/cons that sort of thing)...There seems to be conflicting info that is out there, but I figure read, ask, listen...I usually find out a lot that way lol

 

[TexasLisa]

Bee is the lime better to use than Diatomaceous Earth?

Lisa

 

[Beekissed]

I believe they use slaked lime for whitewashing, as the whitewashing was to kill any pests in the wood and cleanse the surface, it has a mild antibacterial effect....

All my granny's trees in the front of her yard had whitewash like in the pic below...I think,originally, it was for protecting the tree from insect/fungal/bacteria invasion but then it became a way to make the yard look spruce. All the rocks, the decorations like wagon wheels and such were also painted with this whitewash, so you can see that the purpose kind of floated to a more aesthetic purpose than a practical one.

made from slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) and chalk (whiting). Various other additives are also used.

Whitewash

Whitewash cures through a reaction with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to form calcium carbonate in the form of calcite, a reaction known as carbonatation.
When the paint initially dries it is uncured and has almost no strength. It takes up to a few days, depending on climate, to harden.
It is usually applied to exteriors; however, it is traditionally used internally in food preparation areas, particularly rural dairies, for its mildly antibacterial properties. Occasionally it is coloured and used on structures such as the hallways of apartment buildings, but it is not popular for this as it can rub off onto clothing to a small degree. In Britain and Ireland, whitewash was used historically, both externally and internally, in workers' cottages, and still retains something of this association with rural poverty. In the United States, a similar attitude is expressed in the old saying: "Too proud to whitewash and too poor to paint", with the connotation that whitewash is a cheap imitation of "real" paint.
Whitewash is especially effective on adobe-like materials because it is absorbed easily and the resultant chemical reaction hardens the medium. Also, whitewash and adobe are both very low cost building materials.
Farming applications



White-painted trees in Turkey

Whitewash is applied to trees, especially fruit trees, to prevent sun scald.[1] Most often only the lower trunk is painted. In Poland painting the whole trunk is also said to help keep the body of the tree cool in late winter/ early spring months and hence help prevent fruit trees from blooming too soon i.e. when warm sunny days could promote rapid tree warming, rising sap and bloom and intermittent frosty nights could damage outer tree rings and destroy the young buds and blossoms.
In the middle of the 20th century, when family farms with dairy barns were common in the Upper Midwest of the USA, whitewash was a necessary part of routine barn maintenance. A traditional animal barn contains a variety of extremely rough surfaces that are difficult to wash and keep clean, such as stone and brick masonry, and also rough-cut lumber for the ceiling. Left alone these surfaces collect dust, dirt, insect debris and wastes, and can become very dirty. Whitewash aids in sanitation by coating and smoothing over the rough surfaces. Successive applications of whitewash build up layers of scale which flake off and in the process remove surface debris with it. The coating also has antimicrobial properties that provide hygienic and sanitary benefits for animal barns.[2]
Typically the farm whitewash application is an annual process and has the following steps:

• Surfaces that are to be protected from whitewashing are enclosed in plastic sheeting or bags, such as windows, light fixtures, and the milk pipeline in a dairy barn.
• The interior is stripped of all removable equipment leaving walls, floors, and ceiling as bare as possible.
• A high volume compressed air wand is used to blast away loose whitewash scale from the walls and ceiling. This loose debris is swept into the barn gutter and goes into the manure handling system where it eventually contributes to soil fertility.
• A mobile whitewashing trailer is used to mix the quicklime into a thick liquid, which is then sprayed as an even coating over the interior walls, ceiling, and posts, into all accessible nooks and crevasses.
• The coating is allowed a few hours to dry and stop dripping from the ceiling, and the protective plastic coverings are removed. Eventually after the walls and ceilings have dried sufficiently, equipment is brought back into the barn.

Nonremovable electric equipment is often enclosed in protective outer shells that prevent whitewash intrusion. For example circuit breaker panels may be enclosed within wooden cabinetry which keeps the whitewash spray coating from entering the panel.
Limewash

Lime wash is pure slaked lime in water. It produces a unique surface glow due to the double refraction of calcite crystals. Limewash and whitewash both cure to become the same material.
When limewash is initially applied it has very low opacity, which can lead novices to overthicken the paint. Drying increases opacity, and subsequent curing increases opacity even further.

 

[Triple Willow]

Triple, are you saying you had to step down off your soapbox..? lol

No, I wasn't looking and they hid it from me! Ohhh the injustice of it all!!! hahahaha But I'm sure I'll find another one one of these days.

Hope you're having a great day.

 

[Triple Willow]

Hey Bee,

Looks like we were on the same tract......pun intended.

  It's fun to pun....

Are you two trying to be punny??? LOL

 

[TexasLisa]

Are you two trying to be punny??? LOL

Now that was really really bad!!

Lisa

 

[Triple Willow]

Now that was really really bad!!

Lisa

I knooow, it was so corny I made myself laugh. hehe