Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[baylybreeze]

Linda, I may skip ahead after I get to page 200. I really hate to skip and probably will attempt to go back and ready everything, but I am so slow at reading. Being the first 200 posts are 2012 - I'm interested to see the 2 year outcome on using FF.

I believe the local woman is fermenting all grass clippings and leaves. We haven't really talked in details, she recommended 2 books which I am also attempting to read. "All flesh is Grass" by Gene Logsden and "The Small-Scale Poultry Flock" by Harvey Ussery.

I started to ferment on 1/6 - my baby chicks are 33 weeks - 8 mo and I don't think any of them had laid eggs yet, in fact no one was laying eggs. I had traded some roosters for some hens from the same batch of chicks my friend and I had bought together so figured the stress was causing some delay, plus it got cold pretty early this year.
I had been giving them fodder off and on for most of 2014 and started to add the fermented food on 1/9-Friday not sure it was really fermented, but at least it sat for over 48 hours. I started slowly giving them a little over a gallon each day. I got my first egg on Monday 1/12, then nothing on Tuesday, or Wed, then Thursday 4 eggs, I'm getting eggs everyday now. even 9 in one day! (59 eggs since the 12th (14 days)!!!) I'd say this FF is working. The weather has been unusually warm lately and the days are getting longer, but I'm pretty sure it's the FF!

If I let them Free Feed dry they would go thru a 40 pound bag in 2 days in addition to the fodder and scraps. Now I've gone thru less than 3 bags in 17 days. This is definately in the right direction.

 

[lazy gardener]

The "grit" that you see in the formulated seeds is granite dust to provide calcium. (I think)

 

[azpigs]

Hi, this is an older thread, so not sure if I can post a new question about it, but will try... So I'm planning to ferment feed for my meat bird chicks. They will be indoors for 1-2 weeks. Do I need to give them grit as well? The feed I am using is 22% protein from a local mill, so it's not "chicken feed" from a bag that's been medicated or anything. Thanks for the help!

 

[Latestarter]

The "grit" that you see in the formulated seeds is granite dust to provide calcium. (I think)

The grit provided is granite dust to provide grit... it what is used in the crop to grind up the food they eat (normally grains, and the grit is normally sand and small pebbles). There is no calcium in granite. That comes from a variety of other sources such as may be some in the food itself, but mostly from giving them access to oyster shell, or crumbling up egg shells and feeding that back to them with their food. Have to be somewhat careful as roosters can develop kidney issues from excess calcium. Why many say to NOT feed layer feed (has calcium for strong egg shells) if you have roosters, though many do, and will attest to how it has had no adverse effect on their roos...

 

[DesertChic]

Hi, this is an older thread, so not sure if I can post a new question about it, but will try... So I'm planning to ferment feed for my meat bird chicks. They will be indoors for 1-2 weeks. Do I need to give them grit as well? The feed I am using is 22% protein from a local mill, so it's not "chicken feed" from a bag that's been medicated or anything. Thanks for the help!

Typically when you give the chicks a starter feed mix made for them you don't need to supply any grit. If it's a custom blend I guess the answer is "maybe". The way I see it, there's no harm in offering chick grit. I currently have eleven Naked Neck Turkens that are just over a week old in a brooder and I've offered them chick grit since the food I'm giving them does have some visible grains and seeds in it, and since I give them meal worms. Just like the older chickens they seem to know when they need it and when they don't. My more enthusiastic eaters descended on the grit immediately, gobbled some up and then returned to the feeder. The rest just seem to eat a little from time to time followed by a drink of water. Instinct rules!

 

[fasschicks]

Thanks, Latestarter, Bee, and LindaB220! All of this information is very helpful. I can't wait to get the new chicks, but I am also scared for my first time raising them. Hopefully all of them survive as I fumble my way through this adventure.

I hear people talking about adding grains to the chicks feed (after they are several weeks old). I plan to buy a high-quality organic chick starter and don't plan to add any grains or at least didn't. Is this necessary or does the chick starter have what I need? I plan to add some coarse sand for grit (and for them to play in) and to innoculate them for cocci.

I thought about feeding them from a glass pie plate, but I have images of them being covered in it (food fight style). How much do chicks eat per day? I have 15 chicks and plan to buy a 50 lb. bag of starter, but wasn't sure that was enough before I move onto the grower. I plan to take the first couple days off with them when they arrive, but then I have to get back to work and be gone for 9 hours each day. I just want to be sure that they have enough food to last them while I am at work.

The feeder I originally bought (below): http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=30976&cat_id=143.
Will this work for FF? Or is this for just dry grains?

Can't wait for the adventure to begin!

Wendy

 

[Regin]

I feed chicks fermented feed from day 1, but it is a mash, not whole grains.

Also, I put some sand in the brooder and give them some chick grit to play with.

They will get into the food and get it on themselves. It helps to make the FF a little dry or let it dry out some for chicks. But they replace that fuzz PDQ anyhow.

Here is my latest. A pair of White Bresse. about 7 wks in this picture.

 

[fasschicks]

Thanks, Regin! How pretty are they! Thanks for the tips. I try to keep my adult bird FF on the dryer side otherwise when they shake their heads it goes all over the other birds. It makes sense to do that with chicks too.

 

[Latestarter]

Hey Fass... the feeders you bought are primarily for dry feed, and they'll be a bear to try and keep clean using FF, but they CAN be used and I've heard of folks using them with no issues. I just wanted easy & low maintenance. I didn't strive for "drier" feed and as I said, my chicks jumped right into the pie plate. They all had FF on them, but within 1/2 an hour after the food was gone, I could pick any one of them up and they were perfectly clean...

It's not "necessary" to add grains to their food from birth to death... The granulated or crumble food in the bag is well researched to be a balanced diet for them. The thing is, would YOU want to eat the same old boring mush every day? Adding the grains lowers your overall food bill, gives them a change of pace as well as some dietary change, and is good for you both, especially since you're fermenting, which allows them to absorb more of the nutrients from the food they eat, hence making them need to eat less to get what they need, again saving you money.

A 50# bag of chick feed should easily last you a month or more starting with ~ 15 day-old chicks. I don't know the exact measure, but my 30+ would basically finish one 9" deep dish pie plate of food twice per day... one in the morning before I went to work (set it in and forget it), and another I'd give when I got home from work. When they were 1 day to ~2 weeks, the pie plates were ~ 1/2-3/4 full. Once they were over 2 weeks, they were full (remember, this was for 30+ chicks). Best to start w/half full and see how long it takes them to clean it up, then adjust from there. same with your feeders. start w/half full and see where you get with that. If you need to add more, no biggy.

 

[Beekissed]

Actually those types of feeders work great for FF and chicks! No need to worry about cleaning them as the chicks will eat around any bedding kicked into the feeder as long as you use a large flake pine bedding. I never clean a chick feeder until it's all over and done with other than knocking the shavings out now and again that are left behind after they've licked the rest of the feeder clean.

Here's a pic of a chick feeder I built for feeding FF and it's about like the plastic ones except it's wooden. Works like a dream!



Here's a pic showing it next to a larger feeder for the adult flock. This little feeder is only about 18 in. long and 3-4 in. high.