Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Beekissed]

So of course, I've bought red clover. Hmmmmm

Will the chickens even eat it?

Yep...they will. No worries! It's perdy and smells good. Get some White Dutch to mix in with it and you'll be golden.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I bought the red specifically so it WONT reseed so well every year... I am using it mostly as a cover crop for overwintering and idle beds and cutting the tops for feed and tilling it in... I don't want it to come back in invasive weed like quantities when I start using my bed later in the year! XD I will but the white clover for my bee gardens later. Right now I am focused on food for me. Food for bees is an idle eco-driven side project that I hope will take off!

 

[cortner1195]

I am posting this here because I value your wisdom and knowledge greatly. I will post a thread in the injury and illness section as well. I posted earlier about my Blue Laced Red Wyandotte that had spent a lot of time broody this winter Now she is very light weight, and is having trouble walking. I am giving her fermented feed, with some scratch mixed in, and fresh greens, and fruit twice daily. She is eating well, and her bowels seem pretty good. However she doesn't really bear any weight on one foot. Instead she paws lightly at the bedding with it. I think it is numb. In the top picture the second toe from the right is no longer attached to the foot. Her toes seem stiff, and hard. She is a bit grumpy with the chicks. But she seems to like being with them. They can be aggressive with her, so she puts them in their place. However she doesn't hurt them, When they want to cuddle with her, she seems to like it.
By the way, the chicks are the 18 Cornish X that I bought on Sunday. I think they were probably hatched on the Monday before I bought them, so they would be 1 1/2 weeks old. They seem to like the fermented grain. However, one is missing some fuzz on a shoulder. It appears that it got the wet feed stuck there and the others picked her clean. Fuzz and all.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. She is from a breeder. When I got her I considered her, and the two others that I bought at the same time to be rescues. They were very under weight. At 10 weeks they were in short stacked cages in the back of a closed garage. They had little to no water, and had picked on each other heavily. The breeder tried to stop me from seeing the cages, and the other chickens still in there. I took all that I had enough cash to purchase. She mentioned that she had to replace her layers every year. Based on her basic care of her animals, I wasn't surprised, but horrified. I would like to save her if possible, but I don't want her to suffer at all. If she is happy with the chicks, then she has what she has wanted all winter.

 

[Beekissed]

I can give you my best advice and what I would do if the bird was mine, but you won't want to hear it. That is a bird that needs the hand of mercy and put out of her misery. I'm sorry.

 

[cortner1195]

I can give you my best advice and what I would do if the bird was mine, but you won't want to hear it. That is a bird that needs the hand of mercy and put out of her misery. I'm sorry.

I am heart sick, but not against doing what is right. I just want to know what is wrong, and can she heal. She eats well, seems interested in her environment. She does not seem distressed at this time. Is this something we can prevent in the other layers?

I thank you for your advice, and feel that we are headed there, just trying not to jump the gun if she is not sick, or in apparent pain. She is gaining weight, and moving a little bit, but resting most of the time.

 

[Beekissed]

I am posting this here because I value your wisdom and knowledge greatly. I will post a thread in the injury and illness section as well. I posted earlier about my Blue Laced Red Wyandotte that had spent a lot of time broody this winter Now she is very light weight, and is having trouble walking. I am giving her fermented feed, with some scratch mixed in, and fresh greens, and fruit twice daily. She is eating well, and her bowels seem pretty good. However she doesn't really bear any weight on one foot. Instead she paws lightly at the bedding with it. I think it is numb. In the top picture the second toe from the right is no longer attached to the foot. Her toes seem stiff, and hard. She is a bit grumpy with the chicks. But she seems to like being with them. They can be aggressive with her, so she puts them in their place. However she doesn't hurt them, When they want to cuddle with her, she seems to like it.
By the way, the chicks are the 18 Cornish X that I bought on Sunday. I think they were probably hatched on the Monday before I bought them, so they would be 1 1/2 weeks old. They seem to like the fermented grain. However, one is missing some fuzz on a shoulder. It appears that it got the wet feed stuck there and the others picked her clean. Fuzz and all.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. She is from a breeder. When I got her I considered her, and the two others that I bought at the same time to be rescues. They were very under weight. At 10 weeks they were in short stacked cages in the back of a closed garage. They had little to no water, and had picked on each other heavily. The breeder tried to stop me from seeing the cages, and the other chickens still in there. I took all that I had enough cash to purchase. She mentioned that she had to replace her layers every year. Based on her basic care of her animals, I wasn't surprised, but horrified. I would like to save her if possible, but I don't want her to suffer at all. If she is happy with the chicks, then she has what she has wanted all winter.

Let's start at the beginning...her foot is severely deformed and the toes appear dead...lacking any circulation...something is preventing blood flow to that foot and I know not what without examining her more closely. I know there are a lot of people out there chopping off dead toes and feet and even legs on chickens this season and forcing them to live in that manner and they claim that the chickens don't appear to be suffering and seem "happy". I have no way of knowing for sure if what they are saying is true, or merely their perception and to make themselves feel justified in keeping that animal alive but forever a cripple.

I do know what a healthy and normal chicken looks like, moves like and how they live that seems to make them contented. I do know they are not humans and they cannot reason out the span of their lives, whether they would prefer more time, prefer to live in pain and hindered in their movements, or not. I believe they just live for each moment and if each moment is a bad one, then life is bad for them. That breeder? There are no excuses or words to justify a life like that for an animal...death is preferred. They have no business caring for any creature, IMO.

I cannot tell you what to do, for that is something that each heart must decide and one heart does not feel what another heart feels. I can't guilt you into doing something merely because I feel it is right...it may not be right to you and each person makes their own choices on what they feel or think. I can only tell you how it seems to me and what I would do if the chicken were mine...this does not make it right for all, only right in my eyes and heart.

If she were mine, I would give her rest and peace..no more pain and deformity, struggle and bad days. Because I love, I can do the hard things for me and the easiest for her. That is all.

 

[LindaB220]

I am heart sick, but not against doing what is right. I just want to know what is wrong, and can she heal. She eats well, seems interested in her environment. She does not seem distressed at this time. Is this something we can prevent in the other layers?

I thank you for your advice, and feel that we are headed there, just trying not to jump the gun if she is not sick, or in apparent pain. She is gaining weight, and moving a little bit, but resting most of the time.

Sorry, Cortner, I'm afraid I've got to go with Bee on this. If the toes are dead next it will go to gangrene.

 

[cortner1195]

Thank you for your advice. We are planning to take care of her tomorrow after work. It will be a long day thinking about it. We have not done this before. This is to be our first year with meat birds. We ended up giving our cockerels away in the past as I only wanted pets, not meat. Now we are trying the meat thing. We raise our own beef, and pork, but hire a professional. Now I need to pull up my big girl pants and do what is right.
I feel I have done something wrong. She spent the majority of the winter in the coop sitting on a nest. They have a heat lamp on a thermostat, so not sure how this happened. I will be doing the right thing.

 

[Beekissed]

Thank you for your advice. We are planning to take care of her tomorrow after work. It will be a long day thinking about it. We have not done this before. This is to be our first year with meat birds. We ended up giving our cockerels away in the past as I only wanted pets, not meat. Now we are trying the meat thing. We raise our own beef, and pork, but hire a professional. Now I need to pull up my big girl pants and do what is right.
I feel I have done something wrong. She spent the majority of the winter in the coop sitting on a nest. They have a heat lamp on a thermostat, so not sure how this happened. I will be doing the right thing.

You've done nothing wrong...it's all a learning curve and we are all still learning. No matter how long I've done this, I still make mistakes and even those that cause my birds to be uncomfortable before they are finally culled. Just happened the other day. The important thing is that you have the strength and wisdom to see something that needs to be done and will do it no matter how hard it is on you. That's called good stewardship and earns my deepest respect.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I was going to say that is looks like frostbite to me. The toes have died and are getting ready to fall off. I'm with Bee too, and I'm glad you're going to be brave and do the right thing.