Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Windy Bay Farm]

Hi TW !

What kind of birds is it you have? I have 6 BR's, 5 RIR's and 2 Black Sex-Links. And what age are they? they are all just about 26 weeks old Are you feeding ff all the time? FF is all they get Sometimes I mess up and run out of ff so then they get dry feed for a feeding or two. They don't like it too well but I wonder if messing up their routine from time to time isn't a good thing. I don't know, I just wonder. I don't know about the lighting - greenhorn here. Hope they straighten up and give you some eggs!

From what I've been reading it sounds as though not enough day light is the culprit for little to no eggs these days. They otherwise seem healthy and acting like happy birds. Hopefully someone with some experience will educate me

 

[Beekissed]

...now to see what it tastes like. hehe

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[fosterson]

Quote:

Like I said before! Anything's edible once!

 

[Triple Willow]

...might make a good spring tonic to clean the innards out! LOL

 

[BCMaraniac]

http://www.naturesalternatives.com/...s-chinese-ligustrum-privet-fruit-extract.html

Product Description

Chinese Ligustrum Privet Fruit - (Ligustrum lucidum) Ait. (Family Oleaceae) is a yin tonic known in Chinese as Nu Zhen Zi or nuzhenzi.

Actions: Nutritive tonic, deep immune activator, liver tonic, digestive aid.

Common Use: Ligustrum, or privet fruit, is an excellent digestive aid, it may be of benefit in chronic bowel complaints and ulcerations of the stomach and bowels. Also known to nourish and tone the blood, liver and kidneys, benefit the skin, and act on conditions such as dizziness, spots in front of the eyes, lower back pain and tinnitus. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, ligustrum is often combined with astragalus root to combat long term weakness, chronic illness or deficiency, and many degenerative ailments such as general immune weakness. This herb is also recognized as a yin tonic which brightens vision and darkens hair traditionally used for premature graying of hair, blurred vision and habitual constipation in the elderly. A more modern reported use is in the detox of chronic benzene poisoning.

Suggested Use: 20 to 40 drops 2-4 times daily or 1 time daily for maintenance.

Formulas containing this herb:

Bilberry / Schizandra Plus
Astragalus / Ligustrum 75/25
Cat's Claw / Pau d' Arco Plus
Immun-Essence Plus
Milk Thistle / Schizandra Plus
SumaCeps Plus

You might want to read about the toxicity of this before you go chowing down on them:

plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_lisi.pdf

 

[Triple Willow]

From what I've been reading it sounds as though not enough day light is the culprit for little to no eggs these days. They otherwise seem healthy and acting like happy birds. Hopefully someone with some experience will educate me

Yeah, where you live I bet the days are pretty short. Somebody with lighting experience will come alone to help you.

 

[Triple Willow]

Yeah Maraniac, I believe more reading is in order.

 

[Beekissed]

Have your sis try them out for you!

 

[Triple Willow]

Have your sis try them out for you! 

Your bad! hahaha

 

[Bitterroot]

I hope there's not too much kicking and squirming.

Sure is easier to kill something from 50' or so instead of up close and personal.

It's really not bad. I use a BB gun to dispatch my rabbits. I put it right at the back of the head, just below where the ears meet, pointed toward the nose. Only takes one shot, they usually go rigid and then might do a couple small kicks or a twitch, but I haven't seen any flopping around. I'm one of those wussies that can never bring myself to wring a neck. I'm a big girl, and I always worry I'll rip their head off.

(was an army MP)

To kick in on the natural feeds vs processed feeds - I use pellets and local hay. One, I'd much rather spend my free time doing things other than dealing with planning/growing/harvesting/storing natural feeds (just a matter of personal preference, I have nothing against people who want to do so), and two Pfau mills is just 3 miles from my home. If I can get 50 pounds of local high quality 17% rabbit pellets with no corn for $12, why rock that boat?
http://pfaufeeds1.drupalgardens.com/products/heritage-blend-rabbit-pellets
A lot of times I go to pick up feed, and it's been made THAT day. Florida whites aren't very large animals, and pellets are the best way I've found to get them to gain consistently. I just don't have the time, space, or patience to have to have fryers around for three times as long to get the necessary weight gains out of them. I do give my breeders the occasional handful of dandelion greens from the yard, but that's it as far as fresh stuff goes. I've considered adding fodder, but don't want to make more work for myself than I need to and also don't want to dilute the nutrition of the pellets.

But this is just me, and everyone's situation is different. I'm one woman, and I do every task on this homestead. Housekeeper, cook, repairman, guard, etc. My husband is handicapped, and his help pretty much ends with his paycheck that comes in every two weeks. Can't even take out a bag of trash. So my time is so, SO precious to me. Pellets and hay are way easier, and work well for me.

I'm very interested in the experiments though, and hope anyone trying something out of the "norm" will share their findings with all of us - both short term and long term.