Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Chad Cool]

What should I be putting in my "FF." I'm feeding out some Red Rangers right now and the starter grower i use is 20% crude protine. Should I and BOSS, Corn, Oats, And Ect.... Also I have a bunch of layers can I my "FF" with there layer crumbels? or should I just feed it to the dry? I want what is best for my babies. One more question. What age should I start the "FF" I have chicks coming out of the bator tomorrow and just wanted to know. I want them to grow fast but healthy. Please help.

 

[bruceh]

Bruce, I have a small breeding pen of Bresse, if you should have to cull, I will gladly help you restock that pen in the spring....

hoping things work out, and it does not ome to that.

wingy,
hows it going honey. long time. we will see i wish chad was home. i am going to draw blood on every bird.so with that said that should be an all day process by myself. thanks for the in case i need new stock offer..
bee i run a couple or 3 types of birds now. everyone runs together till breeding time. then the hens are put into the pens and held there for 10 days to 2 weeks. then the cock is put in. i don't keep alot of breeders. mainly i breed for me.
i was just in the pen and brooder area. humm smells a bit of ammonia could be irritant in the eyes. this cold weather my birds don't go out. idid see some watery looking eyes in some chicks. so i am going to clean the whole coop. and will keep la-200 injectable on hand just in case. i will do the best i can. that is all i can do. winter time brings issues out that i may have missed. it seems to be just in the little young birds. that leads me to believe that for some reason ammonia built up and my nose is not as good as it once was.

 

[Beekissed]

What should I be putting in my "FF." I'm feeding out some Red Rangers right now and the starter grower i use is 20% crude protine. Should I and BOSS, Corn, Oats, And Ect.... Also I have a bunch of layers can I my "FF" with there layer crumbels? or should I just feed it to the dry? I want what is best for my babies. One more question. What age should I start the "FF" I have chicks coming out of the bator tomorrow and just wanted to know. I want them to grow fast but healthy. Please help.

You can ferment any type of feed and feed it to any age or type of bird. Chicks especially benefit from it and most start it from day one.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Changed out hay in the nests to encourage exploration of the nest boxes...nice, huge, fluffy nests of sweet, green hay there now. Mama Hen jumped right up to inspect and lay her geriatric contribution to our food supplies. One egg. One ancient chicken laying one egg. Those youngsters better pay attention...Bee is sharpening her knives for processing day....

Breed that hen Bee. If you have an incubator, or know someone with one, I'd try to get some offspring from that girl before she passes. You want a good hardy winter layer, I think you have one.

 

[Triple Willow]

For CX @ 3 weeks old and in a semi temp controlled room that stays between 68-71 degrees (within a few degrees of our living quarters upstairs) do I need additional heat sources?
I keep the ff in the same space to keep it bubbling.
I'd like to split the group up into 2 brooders. One brooder isn't set up with a heat lamp tho. It was ordered but it'll be a week at least.

Well I have only "brooded out" two sets of chicks so I'm no expert but I don't believe I ever followed the recommendations on heat. No doubt it is important on the beginning but I think the set recommendations are a little much as they get older. I believe that the cooler you keep them within reason from 3 weeks on, the faster they feather out. You can tell if they are too cool by their piling up or peeping too much. If that temp goes down much at night I would put a small bulb over them to keep it at least around 70' for a while longer. But then you could also just go on a put a small bulb so they have a choice if they do get too cool. lol

I just use a metal light hood thingy you get at a hardware store and either a 40 or 60 watt bulb or if needed one of the red bulbs from Tractor Supply. You could even get the 40 and 60 watt bulbs in red from somewhere like Lowes.

 

[Beekissed]

Breed that hen Bee. If you have an incubator, or know someone with one, I'd try to get some offspring from that girl before she passes. You want a good hardy winter layer, I think you have one.

Yep...I missed the boat on breeding all my old WRs before they lost fertility. This old gal sat some eggs this summer but ol' Tobe is shooting blanks now too, so no hatch. I was hoping these young WRs would perform much like my old hatchery genetics WRs have all these years but I'm finding, though they are lovely, hardy and great foragers, they are late to lay and I'm not sure if that indicates poor general laying performance to come or if they will ever lay at all. Seven and a half months in and no indication of any coming into lay, though they have looked like they should for a couple of months now...red faces, mature builds, etc.

My little red NH is also another I'd like to have some genetics from but have maybe missed the boat on that as well..she is currently molting but she is a chicken and a half in my book..best layer I've ever had. Maybe if everything is in place in the spring, I'll try to get some hands on some heritage NHs, RIRs or WRs to carry on the torch of good, steady laying here....if I can find some lines that actually lay without artificial stimulation in the winter months.

This 6 yr old hatchery mutt WR is laying 5 days out of 7 without a light up her butt, so I know it can be done...just waiting to hear from someone who actually has it being done in their heritage lines.

 

[Lacy Blues]

What about using one of those canning chickens you have in a temporary pen? I know they're not heritage birds but you have an option for fertile eggs if you want them. I know you don't want a breeding project so in the end of course, its up to you.

 

[bruceh]

update: on the birds . the birds are back in my care at a friends home. them birds are eating and drinking and cooing . no discharge , no wheezing, no sneezing. no smell the eye looks irritated and chemical type burn.. i am going to change the coop now. so i let everyone know on progress. treatment: t will wash eyes with warm compress. neosporen around the eye. possible antibiotic will be used in case of infection.

 

[Beekissed]

What about using one of those canning chickens you have in a temporary pen? I know they're not heritage birds but you have an option for fertile eggs if you want them. I know you don't want a breeding project so in the end of course, its up to you.

Well...that's all an iffy prospect. I don't have an incubator, nor could I be sure her old eggs could hatch a viable chick. And not a one of those roosters have anything I would really want bred into any flock if I could help it. I wouldn't have minded Toby as he has Rock genetics and it's not too far off of the WR genes, but that pen of mutts is about the worst representation of rooster flesh anyone could find. Really, really bad. Icky bad. One of the RIR is only fairly passable as a normal looking chicken but even he lacks any good feather quality.

No, I think ol' Mama' genes will most likely die with her unless she is still fertile and producing in the spring and I get a rooster worth breeding.

 

[Chad Cool]

You can ferment any type of feed and feed it to any age or type of bird.  Chicks especially benefit from it and most start it from day one. 

Should the "FF" be kept at or above a temp if so what is that? I have had mine outside and the temp goes from 29-80 degrees.