Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[enola]

If your chicks are getting wet and chilled, that is not good. Make the FF thicker with dry feed until it will stand on your spoon in a large clump. It will have the same benefits as soupy FF.

 

[Herdsman01]

So I started my 31 Columbian Rock chicks on the FF. They took to it pretty quick and seem to really like it. I am definitely looking forward in seeing how these guys grow out on the FF. I know their not necessarily meat birds but the plan right now is to butcher most of the cockerels and any pullets we don't want. I'm interested so see what their rate of gain and finishing weights (so they use this term in poultry? lol) are as well as what the meat quality is like. I think this will be a fun experiment. Not sure if I like the feeder I'm using or not, but it may be the best option for now. I cut some old wire fencing and attached it to the top to maybe discourage them standing in the the feeder. It sorta worked, they still really love to stand in the stuff. I've attached a picture of the feeder and tonights feeding frenzy. I thought they were going to take my hand off when I put the feeder in the brooder.

 

[Beekissed]

Looks like you could use a smaller fencing pattern. If you don't have it, maybe you could overlay the one you are using now to create more bars across the open areas. That will help keep them out of it more.

 

[Herdsman01]

Yeah I think it could use a smaller fencing patter too. I know we have some, Ill have to look around and see what I can find.

 

[RachelJG]

Is there a list of what you can and cant ferment for chickens and ducks? So far I have used spaghetti noodles Egg Shells sweet peppers banana peels and potato peelings and left over pancakes which is something all that I would give to the without fermenting. But I read somewhere chickens like meat and was wondering if that was okay?

They do like meat! Think about it: They like/need bugs, and bugs are just very small bits of meat. There are some concerns about whether or not to cook it, and making sure it's fresh and the possibility of spreading parasites, but lots of people feed small rodents, roadkill, freezer-burnt beef/pork, etc. I've fed wild hog pork chops that were too gamey to eat to my cornish cross chicks. Don't ferment it though. I don't feed them chicken, but some people do.

 

[LadyIsadora]

So im sitting in my sunroom trying to soak up some ray s on this partially gloomy & windy day, doing research on different grains to add to my FF, and I keep hearing this blub blub blub sound. Now it is very similar to the sound my phone makes when there is a new post to BYC or FB or something of that nature, but im on my computer and my phone is on the opposite side of the room. Weird. So I ignore the blub blub sound and keep reading.
There are lots of weird sounds in my sunroom anyway. wind blowing trees against the glass, a critter running here & there. ducks splashing in the pond nearby so I dont think much of it ....for a while. That blub blub sounds so close. What the heck could that be? I finally look around and realize it is my tiny bucket of FF. Its making quite a bit of racket in there. I swear it sounds just like my phone.

 

[osbmail]

I have started my broilers on a a ferment feed of sorts. I have been using spent brewer grains, which is barley that is sprouted than dried and then cooked in water.What you are lefted with is a wet ,high protein ,low carb feed. Which seems ferment naturally. Going to feed 20% while a inside than up that to 50% when they hit the grass.I will try and do some updates .

 

[cortner1195]

Good morning!

My 24 cornish cross, and 5 broilers are now four weeks, and a day. They look good. One has leg issues, but is able to get to food. I will be watching him closely. The fermented grain is doing beautifully. I am rotating buckets so that I have a three + day supply, and the other bucket fermenting. They are starting to eat more, and I will need to add a third bucket into the rotation this week. If you think they are ravenous little monsters as babies, you should enjoy the raucous frenzy of feeding month old's. Crazy moments until they all settle. I feed the 29 birds in seven dishes spread out.

I do have a question. I am ready to move these little terrors outside! Our temps are 55-62 during the day, and mid 30's to low 40's over night. I am going to move these guys to my empty pig pen. The three sided pig house has heat lamps mounted in the ceiling. I plan to use straw bales to insulate the house, and close the open side except for a path out. That way they can stay warm. I was thinking to either put a bedding of either straw, or pine shavings on the ground in the house to insulate them from the cold ground. They have their feathers, but as is the usual, they have some bare spots. Are they old enough, big enough, and feathered enough to tolerate the temps outside? They have heat lamps in the utility trailer that they are in now, and the temp in the garage is in the 60's at night.

I have two garages. One is a 2 car garage with the trailer full of meaties, and a dog kennel with a young adult chicken I found on the side of the road. She acts like she had some kind of injury. A little off balance, quiet, slow. She eats well. Breathes well. Likes to be held. She had super long toe nails. She doesn't appear to know how to forage, or free range. I had her out in the grass. My rooster came over and danced around her a little, then attacked her. It didn't look amorous. I laid her on her back, and trimmed her nails, and a dirty dry clump on her back side. When I picked her up she was gasping. We found her in an uninhabited area, so we think she may have been tossed from a car. She has red paint rings on both legs. Sad little girl.

The other garage has another utility trailer with 8 layers, and 2 silkies. I am really ready for some of these guys to move outside.

Is it too cold out there for the meaties?

Thanks for any advice.

Karen

 

[JJSS89]

Sorry to say but YES. They could have been outside a few weeks ago.

What do you mean 24 Cornish cross and 5 broilers? What are your broilers?

 

[JJSS89]

And if I may ask, why do you keep your chickens in utility trailers?