Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Beekissed]

They are really pretty, Bee. From the looks of Ginny, they look like they would be a decent size meat bird.

She was just as big as the BRs upon processing, so she had a fairly good carcass on her. Nothing matches the WRs but the other rock varieties are very similar in carcass size.

 

[411fjb]

So I have been fermenting my feed for my hens (5 chickens, 2 Indian runner ducks, a drake and a female) for about three weeks... I sieve out two decent sized scoops of the feed and give it tow them morning and late afternoon. I needed to buy more feed yesterday and instead of buying cracked corn to supp them, I bought scratch grains (bag says 4 grains). I included some of the grains into my ferment cooler per reading waaaaay back when this thread began by Beekissed.
They seem happy but act ravenous the rest of the day because their usual free feed system is now gone. And at first I thought it was helping with egg production but they slacked off again... Winter here in CT, cold, crunch snow cover, supp light maybe not enough. They will be two years of age this April. And I think one of them is eating eggs... I have a new baby and def don't have the gumption in me to segregate birds here in the house. So my question is keep up what I am doing or offer them more scratch as they act like I am starving them?
I am fairly new to chicken keeping. I do read as much as I can but if any of you have any suggestions I'd be happy to hear them. Also I am not trying to hijack this thread on meat birds with my layers but when I tried searching this thread I was having trouble narrowing the posts down since there are so many in it.
Thank you!

Hi Beekissed, thanks so much for responding about my hens.... I do give my girls layer feed... Have continuously since they began laying... Should I have backed off when they stopped laying? And I just bought that 50lb bag of scratch grains. Shoot! I thought adding it to my fermented feed would add protein and minerals? Also forgot to add the scoop is almost 2 cups... so I give 5 hens and two ducks nearly 4c each day.
I was also reading about sprouting grains for them. This has some seed in it, do you think that would be worth doing?
Thanks again for your help and wisdom.

 

[sarahsunshine]

I don't currently have chickens, and only had some for the summer... But having kept animals all my life I would suggest that if they are acting hungry and even eating an egg or two, that they are likely hungry. I would up the amount (maybe feeding 2-3x a day) just to get an idea of how much they are eating if you give them free feed. Then once you get an idea of how much they need, you can taper it off. At the beginning, since they are hungry, they may over-eat for a couple days until they get used to having enough food, but you will notice that they back off their feed, or they get chubby (one or the other) which are both signs that you can step back on the amount.

 

[Beekissed]

Hi Beekissed, thanks so much for responding about my hens.... I do give my girls layer feed... Have continuously since they began laying... Should I have backed off when they stopped laying? And I just bought that 50lb bag of scratch grains. Shoot! I thought adding it to my fermented feed would add protein and minerals? Also forgot to add the scoop is almost 2 cups... so I give 5 hens and two ducks nearly 4c each day.
I was also reading about sprouting grains for them. This has some seed in it, do you think that would be worth doing?
Thanks again for your help and wisdom.

Sounds like you are feeding them just the right amount of feed...just watch body condition..it's the final decision. You can feed layer ration all year round if you wish....I cut it in the winter with cheaper grains normally but this winter the layer ration was the cheapest, so I fed it all winter.

Your layer ration has all the protein and minerals they are likely to need and the fermenting of it will increase your bird's absorption of them, so you'll actually GET the nutrients you are feeding.

I don't currently have chickens, and only had some for the summer... But having kept animals all my life I would suggest that if they are acting hungry and even eating an egg or two, that they are likely hungry. I would up the amount (maybe feeding 2-3x a day) just to get an idea of how much they are eating if you give them free feed. Then once you get an idea of how much they need, you can taper it off. At the beginning, since they are hungry, they may over-eat for a couple days until they get used to having enough food, but you will notice that they back off their feed, or they get chubby (one or the other) which are both signs that you can step back on the amount.

I'll have to disagree with this.....any chicken on any day ending in "Y" is constantly acting like they are hungry and will eat an egg if they are so inclined...right after tanking up on feed. One cannot feed chickens on how they act or you will go bankrupt and your chickens will be too fat to lay properly. I've not had a chicken in the past 37 yrs that couldn't eat just a little more...no matter how much they just consumed. And they will act like they are starved when they do it.

 

[Beekissed]

Rosemarie1, if you are reading this tonight, I must tell you that I am soooooo relieved that someone else has a southern accent on their vids!

When I listen to myself on video I'm always aghast that I sound that twangy!!!

I love your little gazebo pen idea...would make an excellent breeding or broody pen or even a holding pen for roosters. And cute, cute, cute to have used a satellite dish for the roof! Kudos to the hubby!

'

 

[armorfirelady]

I agree Bee. I can fill their bowl and come out 2 hours later ands stir the bowl and they come running like their starving again even tho there is food in their dish. Their like little kids with a basket full of candy. They will keep eating just because it tastes good

 

[beverly evans]

Hi Bee, My little 2 and a half month old chick today has a huge pendulous crop! It is mushy, not firm and she is still eating every thing in sight, not bothered by it at all. My friend said to suspend her by her feet and let her crop empty. Will thisf ix her? Though she is in no discomfort I fear her crop will stay distended and never go back to normal if I don't force the issue somehow. ??? I'm guessing you've seen this before. Sorry to derail someone's (Rosemarie?) thread. : (

 

[Beekissed]

Hi Bee, My little 2 and a half month old chick today has a huge pendulous crop! It is mushy, not firm and she is still eating every thing in sight, not bothered by it at all. My friend said to suspend her by her feet and let her crop empty. Will thisf ix her? Though she is in no discomfort I fear her crop will stay distended and never go back to normal if I don't force the issue somehow. ??? I'm guessing you've seen this before. Sorry to derail someone's (Rosemarie?) thread. : (

Could you post a pic? At that age their full crops look really big compared to their body so it could just be a full crop and nothing else, especially if she continues to eat. You can milk her crop and I'm sure there are tutorials on YT on that if you feel like it's necessary...just turning her upside down won't get her crop to empty, you'd have to milk it down and out.

I'm fond of waiting and seeing if the bird is active, eating and drinking. If she has a naturally pendulous crop and will have problems with it in her life, there's isn't much you can do about it anyway, but I'm betting it's just a hungry little bird with a distended crop. The FF will feel mushy in a full crop...it's when it's firm and distended, I'd get a little worried.

 

[beverly evans]

Quote:
Thanks Kassaundra! I asked Angelisici what kind of chicken laid the beautiful blue eggs in her avatar and she said Wheaten Americauna I think. But they want $20-30 for them! I usually pay $3. : (

 

[beverly evans]

Thanks for the fabulous fotos Rosemarie! Really cool. : )