Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[WIchickens]

Ohhh i like question #2....great idea for in the tractor! But this is my first go round too, so i'd like to hear what the veterans think!

I got my 25 cornish x yesterday. So far so good, drinking lots but not super interested in the fermented food. Is that normal for the first couple days? No where near licking the platter clean like others say they do.

How many cups of fermented feed should i serve for 25 chicks the first week if i feed twice a day? I dont want to waste feed, and i dont want to ferment more than they will eat!

 

[curious chickee]

Ohhh i like question #2....great idea for in the tractor! But this is my first go round too, so i'd like to hear what the veterans think!

I got my 25 cornish x yesterday. So far so good, drinking lots but not super interested in the fermented food. Is that normal for the first couple days? No where near licking the platter clean like others say they do.

How many cups of fermented feed should i serve for 25 chicks the first week if i feed twice a day? I dont want to waste feed, and i dont want to ferment more than they will eat!

If they are day old chicks, they are probably using up their yolk supply first, mine took a couple days before they began to devour it when fed. I would begin with a few scoops and see how much they eat, adjust as you go.

 

[enola]

Personally, I always feed my chickens out of a feeder.

 

[Latestarter]

Quote:

Hello! We are getting 50 CX in May and doing LOTS of reading here. Love this thread--thanks all! Have a few questions:

1. The feed that we can get nearby has flax seed in it. Do you see any potential issues with fermenting it?

2. We were thinking of having them eat the FF off of the grass. Does it work to pour out a line on the grass (to give all chickens an even chance at the FF?

3. Pro's and cons of #2?

Thanks!

I see no potential issues with flax seed... The only problem I see with spreading the FF on the ground is that it will attract other birds, as well as rodents (rats/mice/squirrels, etc) and I don't think feeding them is what you're wanting to do. Of course if this was done inside a tractor where other birds couldn't get to it, why not?

They spend their days scratching around in the dirt eating what they find anyway

Ohhh i like question #2....great idea for in the tractor! But this is my first go round too, so i'd like to hear what the veterans think!

I got my 25 cornish x yesterday. So far so good, drinking lots but not super interested in the fermented food. Is that normal for the first couple days? No where near licking the platter clean like others say they do.

How many cups of fermented feed should i serve for 25 chicks the first week if i feed twice a day? I dont want to waste feed, and i dont want to ferment more than they will eat!

Give those little piggies a couple of days to get settled and you'll have no problems with them eating ANY thing! be careful YOU don't fall down in their pen! really, every situation is a bit different regarding quantity... You just have to serve it up and see how much the devour in 15-20 minutes and then adjust up or down from there. If they finish it in less time, you should give them more... If they only finish 1/2, then you can cut the serving size in a little less than 1/2. The goal is to have just a little bit left after they finish, and they'll polish that off within an hour. Hope that makes sense.

 

[lazy gardener]

No reason not to feed them directly on the grass... but I'd feed them right after moving the tractor, not after they've had time to poop all over the grass!

 

[armorfirelady]

2. We were thinking of having them eat the FF off of the grass. Does it work to pour out a line on the grass (to give all chickens an even chance at the FF?

3. Pro's and cons of #2?

Thanks!

Once the mud is gone I feed my hens right off the grass. I just dump the food out on the grass and the girls eat it right up. I have never had a problem feeding them this way.

The pro is there are no dishes to clean.

I don't know of any con's

 

[Beekissed]

The only problem I can see with feeding chickens on the ground is involuntary over consumption of oocysts that may be in the soils of the run. Many folks who do this report repeated problems with worms or coccidia overgrowth in their birds...but they don't seem to make the connection between making their chickens eat the over impacted, unhealthy soils in their run. I don't make a practice of it on a regular basis. I did in the DL of the coop this winter in the month of Feb. to keep my feed from freezing in the trough in subzero temps, which worked very well, but I wouldn't make a habit of it.

Really no need for it when it's so easy and cheap to make a trough for the feed.

 

[enola]

There really is no reason to clean a trough as long as they are not allowed to poop in it. My hens have their trough clean as a whistle every morning.

 

[Beekissed]

There really is no reason to clean a trough as long as they are not allowed to poop in it. My hens have their trough clean as a whistle every morning.

When you have young ones there is bound to be a turd or so deposited there sooner or later....that's easy. Take a stick, knock it out, place the feed. I never clean out the troughs except for taking a stick or small piece of board and scraping out residue if they leave any behind. If they start doing that, I just decrease the feed and they will clean out the troughs for me. Pick them clean as Enola's whistly troughs!

Kind of silly to clean out troughs when the chickens can have them dirty again by the next day.

 

[enola]