Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[IAFarmGirl]

Wild horse get frostbit ears if they can't find someplace out of the wind. Of course in a herd they can continually change places in the herd to help prevent that but it does happen more often than you would think. It happens most often to early or late foals though.

 

[Beekissed]

Hey Beekissed,

I found something the other day you might be interested in. It was a hand hay/leaf baler. It was made to hand bale lawn grasses or leaves. It included instructions on how to build it so I thought I would try it out. As many trees as I have around here it shouldn't be any problem to gather enough leaves to put into a baler. Would sure make it easier to store those leaves and maybe keep them dryer. Maybe some of the others on here would be interested also.

Here is the link: http://www.oakhillhomestead.com/2007/09/hay-baling.html

Now THAT is nifty!!!! Thank you! I'm bookmarking this whole website because I think it will make for interesting reading. I currently just stomp leaves down into 30 gal. trash cans but that is an unwieldy maneuver for a lardo like myself. I'm short, so getting my legs that high at this time in my life isn't a pretty sight!

And then there is no way to tie those compressed leaves into bales, so this little doohicky is a perfect addition to any smallholders homestead efforts. Just think of the dried grasses, the pine straw, the weed trimmings and leaves that could be baled up after properly drying?

Two thumbs up on that neato invention! You oughta post that to the deep litter thread...there would be quite a few that would want to take a look at that.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

We as a people by law have the right to refuse any kind of work or service.  I think where people get into trouble is making a political statement about why and proselytizing about it.  I have several objections to practices espoused by people here (on BYC not specifically this thread).  I respect the different point of view and if I really object I will offer up my own point of view without bringing Angst into it.

Before moving your critters to the garage. Have you considered putting an extra layer of protection over the top of your coop and rabbitry?  Tarps and or straw bales come to mind.  That would provide the added wind protection without disturbing the regular self protection your animals have already established.  I understand if its not practical for sure.  

This is what I do for my chickens and my goats.  Albeit I havent experienced this extreme cold.  I build an Igloo of sorts for the goats out of straw bales covered with plywood.  The chicken coop after tarping looks like a BIG BLUE christmas package..... With Silver on top....  My coop is 16 feet by 12.  LOL.  My next coop will have cuddle spaces for cold weather for the chooks and a bonified stall for the goats included.  The cuddle spaces will be freely accessible inside the coop with the ability to add in a heat source like a low wattage lamp.  I deal with cold so seldom that is the best I can do.

deb

Actually and unfortunately not true. They WBC actually did this to a photographer once.... They were protesting the funeral of one of our armed forces... I cant recall why exactly but it was something to do with said soldier being involved in LGBT communities somehow. The photographer refused because they did not want to photograph people protesting at an solders funeral. WBC sued making the argument that it was part of their religion to hold this protest and therefore they were discriminating against the church. They won and the photographer had to photograph the event and got a ton of hate mail and lost a lot of business from it. It was pretty awful. So it goes both ways.

As for hay bales/straw... Living in suburbia means that it would be easier to wrap my chicken coop in a sub zero rated camping tent than in hay bales... And possibly cheaper too. A rush delivery of 10 hay bales to my house could easilly cost me $100. So it is most practical to just move the chickens and bunnies 100 feet into my garage and call it from there. I needed to build more cages anyhow!

Right now it is warm and rainy... Tomorrow our high is 13 (probably at midnight) and the next day our wind chills could be as low as -40. Yes, -40, no joke. Not looking forward to all the ice tomorrow! This is the coldest day in like a decade for our area, so...

 

[LindaB220]

Now THAT is nifty!!!! Thank you! I'm bookmarking this whole website because I think it will make for interesting reading. I currently just stomp leaves down into 30 gal. trash cans but that is an unwieldy maneuver for a lardo like myself. I'm short, so getting my legs that high at this time in my life isn't a pretty sight!

And then there is no way to tie those compressed leaves into bales, so this little doohicky is a perfect addition to any smallholders homestead efforts. Just think of the dried grasses, the pine straw, the weed trimmings and leaves that could be baled up after properly drying?

Two thumbs up on that neato invention! You oughta post that to the deep litter thread...there would be quite a few that would want to take a look at that.

Bahahahahahhaha Me, too.

 

[LindaB220]

Actually and unfortunately not true. They WBC actually did this to a photographer once.... They were protesting the funeral of one of our armed forces... I cant recall why exactly but it was something to do with said soldier being involved in LGBT communities somehow. The photographer refused because they did not want to photograph people protesting at an solders funeral. WBC sued making the argument that it was part of their religion to hold this protest and therefore they were discriminating against the church. They won and the photographer had to photograph the event and got a ton of hate mail and lost a lot of business from it. It was pretty awful. So it goes both ways.

As for hay bales/straw... Living in suburbia means that it would be easier to wrap my chicken coop in a sub zero rated camping tent than in hay bales... And possibly cheaper too. A rush delivery of 10 hay bales to my house could easilly cost me $100. So it is most practical to just move the chickens and bunnies 100 feet into my garage and call it from there. I needed to build more cages anyhow!

Right now it is warm and rainy... Tomorrow our high is 13 (probably at midnight) and the next day our wind chills could be as low as -40. Yes, -40, no joke. Not looking forward to all the ice tomorrow! This is the coldest day in like a decade for our area, so...

Yes, I did hear about the photographer. Sad. You probably did the best for you to move the critters. Now you can do it at you leisure. If you ever have any.

 

[Kassaundra]

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[Windy Bay Farm]

Hey, WBF!    How's Roger's comb and wattles today? 

Hi Bee,

His wattles appear fine but his comb is in rough ole shape. I walked the castor oil to him yesterday after chasing him down. He was none to impressed with me about holding him and slathering his comb full of castor oil either. I'm not sure what will become of it but he definitely got a good frostbite, that's for sure. Even though it looks nasty, he was happily going about his chicken business today, enjoying the lovely sunshine and wonderful temperatures we had here today ... Just like a gorgeous spring day it was.

Here is a pic I took of him yesterday after I put the CO on... Poor fella

 

[topdycke]

Deb,

I add a couple of tablespoons of sea salt to my horses pelleted feed. I don't supplement with anything else and have a white salt block in the feed manger at all times of year. Our heat in the summer is extreme humidity and very high colic risk. My horse tends towards non sweating too. The sea salt has helped

 

[Triple Willow]

I just came in from the final lock-down, bed-down, zip-down, bungee-down... I will have to cut my one flock out of their coop tomorrow. lol -and that won't be happening until on up in the morning when the wind dies down. It sounded plumb weird out there, kind of a low roar. My zip ties kept just snapping/breaking when I would tighten them down just a little. Heat lamps turned on on the weak spots in the plumbing (when it gets cold). Will I wuss out and put my dogs in the garage...? The one would be perfectly fine in there - the other ohhh my gosh, don't even like to think about it.

MUCH respect to those who live in this kind of weather all the time! Me? I can't wait to sweat in some 90-100'F degree weather and try to suck in and breath some 75-100% humid air. LOL

 

[Triple Willow]

This friggin global warming is going to kill us!!!!!!! LOL