Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[BCMaraniac]

I hope he doesn't have any ill effects either but it looks like he got it pretty good unfortunately. It's black below the tips too so not sure what exactly will happen. He's such a beautiful roo, I hate that he is going to likely
lose the top part of his comb

I don't have any pics of him but if I had to compare, his comb looks somewhat like this one... He has that distinct black line running below the tips.

I'm right there with you WBF, my Bresse have black tips on their combs.....seemed to be more of the tips at the very top of his comb. I am sure they are going to fall off. It's already down to 6 degrees, so I am anticipating that we are going to get close to zero before morning. I hope your fella fares well tonight......

 

[RoseMarie1]

My dog and I have the same reaction to snow, be it old or new



Can you hear him he is yelling NO SNOW!!!!!!

lol that is so funny. Bless his heart though missing Lucy.

 

[RoseMarie1]

That's pretty bad. I know some folks on here just go ahead and trim those areas off before they become infected...I'd find it hard to do unless there was absolutely no blood supply left. How about you try massaging that comb lightly with some castor oil and see what becomes of it? Could be that just the outer layer of skin will slough off and the outer tips, but a good massage and the antibacterial properties of the castor oil might help to restore some of the circulation and prevent infection. The castor oil is also good for the skin and may help prevent any further damage.

That last pen of cheap meats was showing several blackened and shriveled tips on the combs when I go them...those that were the worst got a gentle massage of castor oil and they brightened right up in a few days. Later on when it was really wet and cold out I saw a few dark tips again but they were gone the next day and nothing came of it. All those leghorns and other large combed breeds came out of our weather down in the teens, in their very open air coop, without any true frost bite...nice, red combs all.

It's not that beautiful bird in your avatar, is it? If so, that's a real shame.

oh I think I would try the castor oil!

Bee you're not going to believe what I did today.....lol yep you're not.

I made 4 of my girls a saddle to wear because 2 of them have naked spots on their backs and on Monday night it's suppose to get 15 here. The roos are still separate and they're feathers aren't coming in yet. So I just figured I would help them stay warm and also help them have something over those bare spots. Nothing fancy just something to cover those naked spots.



OHHHHH and I am feeling a little better. Daughter beat me to death this evening on the back and on the front side around my lungs and stuff to help break it up. She used to baby sit a little girl with C.F. and she had to do that for her twice a day until she got her jacket. Was up all day today so I need to hit the bed earlier tonight I guess so I can get some rest.

 

[Windy Bay Farm]

That's pretty bad.  I know some folks on here just go ahead and trim those areas off before they become infected...I'd find it hard to do unless there was absolutely no blood supply left.  How about you try massaging that comb lightly with some castor oil and see what becomes of it?     Could be that just the outer layer of skin will slough off and the outer tips, but a good massage and the antibacterial properties of the castor oil might help to restore some of the circulation and prevent infection.  The castor oil is also good for the skin and may help prevent any further damage. 

That last pen of cheap meats was showing several blackened and shriveled tips on the combs when I go them...those that were the worst got a gentle massage of castor oil and they brightened right up in a few days.  Later on when it was really wet and cold out I saw a few dark tips again but they were gone the next day and nothing came of it.  All those leghorns and other large combed breeds came out of our weather down in the teens, in their very open air coop, without any true frost bite...nice, red combs all. 

It's not that beautiful bird in your avatar, is it?  If so, that's a real shame.   

I'll definitely go pick up some castor oil tomorrow and gently massage it on his comb. How much do I put on and how many applications ?

Unfortunately it is the bird in my avatar, Rodney . I feel sick that this happened to him, absolutely ill about it.

I'm right there with you WBF, my Bresse have black tips on their combs.....seemed to be more of the tips at the very top of his comb.  I am sure they are going to fall off.  It's already down to 6 degrees, so I am anticipating that we are going to get close to zero before morning.  I hope your fella fares well tonight......

This weather has to let up at some point ! I usually don't despise winter this much but right now I absolutely hate it !! Argh ! Spring cannot come fast enough !

 

[Beekissed]

oh I think I would try the castor oil! Bee you're not going to believe what I did today.....lol yep you're not.

I made 4 of my girls a saddle to wear because 2 of them have naked spots on their backs and on Monday night it's suppose to get 15 here. The roos are still separate and they're feathers aren't coming in yet. So I just figured I would help them stay warm and also help them have something over those bare spots. Nothing fancy just something to cover those naked spots.

What? Didn't want to knit them little sweater vests?

While you're at it, WBF needs a toboggan for her rooster. They actually make those! I don't know how they get the birds to keep them on, though...mine would claw that off in two seconds.

Rosemarie, you'll have to post pics now of your winter saddles...it's a must.

I've always been surprised at how birds that are still molting heavily can withstand cold winter temps, but I've seen them do it. One winter we were down in the single digits for several days and I had a bird that barely had summer drawers, let alone winter ones...she hunkered down a lot but she made it through. To cover her I would have had to just cut a woolen sock and cover her whole body with it, she was that scanty on feathers.

 

[RoseMarie1]

I always look forward to going out in a fresh snow...feel like a kid again!

Then my body says, "Hey, moron! Down here! Remember me? Yeah, the old fart whose joints are sore and stiff.....yer not a kid anymore, you doofas!"

New snow always makes my heart happy..especially if the sun is shining and the sky is blue. Makes the snow look like a carpet of diamonds, glittering a million rays of light...and I feel so RICH! Ain't nobody gots diamonds like that in this world....

cough cough hack hack you are sooooooooo funny! cough cough

Yep pose to be 15 here on Monday night and we're not used to those temps here. Has been 20 something on night already. Don't get snow much here at all thank goodness. Glad you're enjoying it though.

 

[RoseMarie1]

I LOVE this!!!! Perfect!!!!


My FF wasn't ready to feed this morning as I had refreshed it too late last night and my room is pretty cold, so I fed dry....they hated it but they nibbled at it. That's an option when temps are this cold. My birds promptly left the coop, plowed through the snow and went to pick the cold food on the garbage pile...they clearly didn't appreciate the dry feed.

Bee those are GORGEOUS pics!!! Stay warm and I sure hope you don't lose your power!

 

[RoseMarie1]

Going to put some dry leaves in the coop tomorrow so the gals will stay nice and warm. Also going to place some haybales for strategic wind blockage and warmth, seeing as how we are dropping below zero in a few days. Is currently 13* and windy...that wind can sure suck the warmth out of a coop. Now's the time those insulated roosts of mine come in real handy!

Used pipe insulation to make for soft footing for some heavy old gals some time back but have found that all the birds prefer them right now, so it must feel pretty warm and soft on the footsies!






Everybody be careful out there in these temps, stay warm and safe, slow down and be careful on the roads! (This nagging moment brought to you by MOMS, the die hard mothering instinct that causes a person to boss other people around in an attempt to keep them safe.)

LOL

 

[Beekissed]

Finally done with canning for the season.

Over four dozen jars of canned chicken and broth out of 26 chickens processed. I'm glad to have that done for now and can spend the rest of the winter eating the proceeds. Only had one jar out of the very last batch to not seal, so I'll be having me some soup this week from that one.

Ya gotta hand it to those old country women...they did a lot of work to put some food in the jars year after year for their families. What I did was just a smidgen of what my Mom used to do each year, so it gives me a new appreciation for those hard working old hands. I imagine if everyone still had to do that to keep their families fed that obesity would not currently be a problem in the US, there wouldn't be all these dogs at the shelters(stray dogs used to be controlled well with judicious culling and no one could afford to feed all these dogs in the first place), people would be healthier and have more common sense, and TV wouldn't get all the attention it currently gets.

 

[perchie.girl]

Finally done with canning for the season.

Over four dozen jars of canned chicken and broth out of 26 chickens processed. I'm glad to have that done for now and can spend the rest of the winter eating the proceeds. Only had one jar out of the very last batch to not seal, so I'll be having me some soup this week from that one.

Ya gotta hand it to those old country women...they did a lot of work to put some food in the jars year after year for their families. What I did was just a smidgen of what my Mom used to do each year, so it gives me a new appreciation for those hard working old hands. I imagine if everyone still had to do that to keep their families fed that obesity would not currently be a problem in the US, there wouldn't be all these dogs at the shelters(stray dogs used to be controlled well with judicious culling and no one could afford to feed all these dogs in the first place), people would be healthier and have more common sense, and TV wouldn't get all the attention it currently gets.

My Grandpa and Grandma on my dads side were Sharecroppers. Dad had four sisters older than him that helped run the farms. Dad was a change of life baby.

Grandma canned, year round, she cooked Breakfast Lunch and Dinner for the family. When it was time to bring the crop in she cooked for up to thirty field hands. She Did all the Chicken processing and those chickens were cooked that day. I am sure Dads sisters helped. But they were usually out in the field bringing the crop in.

There was no extended refrigeration beyond the icebox.... And we are talking ICE box. Grandpa did the meat curing and processing Like Ham and beef for long term storage which ment hanging them in the Pump house during the summer. Beef was salted and dried if not used right away or sold. Then chunks of Dried beef were used for stews.

They Sharecropped all the way across Texas From Cotton to Pigs. Wound up in Yuma running a small restaurant on the Colorado river for a while. Eventually Grandpa put away enough money to buiy some acres of Oranges in San Bernardino. By then Dad was in Highschool.

Grandma did all that work while wrestling with severe asthma.... Dad said she would lay on the linoleum floor in the kitchen to get some cooler air between batches of chicken.

I dont think they ever had a TV.

By the way Grandpa didnt suffer dogs unless they worked. Either Herding or hunting. He had a pair of Greyhounds in Texas that he used for hunting rabbits. If they didint do their job he shot them.

deb