Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[The Hawk]

Yes the bar works great. With out it they poop, walk and scratch in the feed. They are so fat and lazy its too much work to get up on the bar. The bar can spin so the one i did see jump up never lasted long before he lost his balance. It is amazing how fast they grow. Bet they are three times as big as the BR that are the same age.

 

[Jacqdiva]

Now THAT'S a beautiful picture!!!  A wonderful feeder and good looking, clean birds in a clean place....can't get any better than that.     



Actually, that bar is perfect...it keeps them from walking in the feed and crowding one another out of place.  They might poop in it, that is true, but CX could care less if they have poop in their food.  I've got a bar like that on my current feeder and wonder why I didn't do it years ago....and not one bird has pooped in the feeder yet.  And that's with youngsters and adults alike...not one bird has perched on that long enough to drop a bomb. 

You wouldn't have to change much to eliminate the bar. You could fix a length of pvc cut in half round side up. That would create a hood to put their head under, and stop faeces getting in the feeder.

 

[The Hawk]

You wouldn't have to change much to eliminate the bar. You could fix a length of pvc cut in half round side up. That would create a hood to put their head under, and stop faeces getting in the feeder.

Yes that's a great idea on the PVC, just used scraps that i had laying around. Wish i had some old PVC as it works good for building lots of things.

 

[Beekissed]

It shouldn't have mould. It should always be submerged in the water.

Nope...it shouldn't always be submerged in water. Not a bit necessary.

 

[Beekissed]

You wouldn't have to change much to eliminate the bar. You could fix a length of pvc cut in half round side up. That would create a hood to put their head under, and stop faeces getting in the feeder.

Would make it more difficult to load the trough, having to work past the hood.

 

[Robert M]

Now THAT'S a beautiful picture!!! A wonderful feeder and good looking, clean birds in a clean place....can't get any better than that.

Actually, that bar is perfect...it keeps them from walking in the feed and crowding one another out of place. They might poop in it, that is true, but CX could care less if they have poop in their food. I've got a bar like that on my current feeder and wonder why I didn't do it years ago....and not one bird has pooped in the feeder yet. And that's with youngsters and adults alike...not one bird has perched on that long enough to drop a bomb.

That's all well and good, but you should have found the center of the pole and drilled a 1/8" hole for a 16d nail on each end and a 3/16" hole in the end pieces. You could still move it around by the bar and when they tried to "roost" on it, at which point they WILL poop in the feed, the bar will roll and it will still be there to keep them from crowding each other. Here in MD, the Health Department will cite you for having feces in the food, and sometimes shut businesses down. That's why Jim Perdue has them in separate abodes with a wire floor, and it all goes in a basement to be scooped out with a loader. Zero contamination if a chicken would happen to have diarrhea. You can't even go in where his chickens are without donning scrubs and booties, in lieu of your own clothing.

 

[Beekissed]

Sorry....but that just got me tickled. This isn't a business and their own poop in their feed on occasion isn't going to contaminate a thing....they walk in it, peck around in it and otherwise live in the environment of their own feces...they are chickens, that's their world. Not only that, they pick around in the feces of other animals as well.

All that biosecurity and those places STILL have problems turning out clean food that's safe for human consumption and maintaining healthy chickens, so I'm not sure I'd be following any practices where they have birds dying daily under their care. No amount of sterilizing things or trying to keep feces out of the chicken feed is going to change Perdue's problems, that's for sure.

In a backyard setting, it's just ridiculous to try and implement all those measures. If the occasional fecal dropping in a feed trough can cause any illness in the flock, your problems are much, much more serious than "contaminated" feed.

 

[Aprildeesunshin]

Big question. I started my meaties on FF and my laying hens are and turkeys are on it. I keep it in a blue plastic tub and ferment one bag at a time with the leftovers we couldn't scoop out (the culture). I am finding that at the end the feed is slimy and i have to stir it often because a mold forms on top. Now I have chickens with the runs and by what I can tell, they are not sick but my egg production has decreased. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could do better!

 

[Robert M]

Big question. I started my meaties on FF and my laying hens are and turkeys are on it. I keep it in a blue plastic tub and ferment one bag at a time with the leftovers we couldn't scoop out (the culture). I am finding that at the end the feed is slimy and i have to stir it often because a mold forms on top. Now I have chickens with the runs and by what I can tell, they are not sick but my egg production has decreased. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could do better!

Try starting it with yeast instead of just mixing it with water and letting it take care of itself. There are yeasts in the air that cause mold. Throw a pack of yeast in and cover with a piece of saran wrap, and put a rubber band around it. The band will let the gasses off and keep foreign yeasts out. And don't set it in the sun, try keeping it at room temperature.

 

[Beekissed]

Big question. I started my meaties on FF and my laying hens are and turkeys are on it. I keep it in a blue plastic tub and ferment one bag at a time with the leftovers we couldn't scoop out (the culture). I am finding that at the end the feed is slimy and i have to stir it often because a mold forms on top. Now I have chickens with the runs and by what I can tell, they are not sick but my egg production has decreased. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could do better!

What you are seeing is not mold, but yeast formation, which is not a bit harmful and can be stirred right back into the mix. If your mix is a little soupy, you'll see more runny stools and if the feed is slimy I'm guessing it's because it's too soupy. A dryer mix never really presents as slimy towards the end of the bucket...at least, it never has for me. You could try going for a dryer mix to decrease the runny stools but the yeast is just going to form at this time of year...it's due to the increased heat causing an increase in the growth of the organisms in the mix.

If you've just started the FF, it could be you are coinciding with a natural laying slow down as the heat of summer rises and some molting starts to occur. You can do an experiment and go back to feeding dry and see if laying picks back up again while doing so. If not, it's just the heat and time of year more than the feed being fed. If you are fermenting the same feed you feed dry, the birds aren't missing anything at all that would constitute lack of lay.

If it's very hot where you live, increased water consumption can also contribute to a looser stool which happens at this time of the year as well.