Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[hellbender]

Start with FF chick starter and switch to FF grower on schedule. Having free-ranged birds, I think tractors are better.

I'm focusing on quail now, so someone else will have to answer #4 for you, but it should be around week 8-10, depending on how much you're counting on pasture for feed and if you're limiting them. Butcher at target weight.

Birds in tractors are confined and NOT free ranged. Certainly better than being in a stationary pen but.........a LONG way from free-range.

 

[NotAFarm]

Chicken wire open on all 4 sides. Metal roofing on 3/4 of top.

Air circulation, shade and water......make sure they have those and you should be good! You may find they don't eat much during the heat of the day.

 

[Em Ty]

Birds in tractors are confined and NOT free ranged. Certainly better than being in a stationary pen but.........a LONG way from free-range.

I didn't say tractors are the same as free-ranged. I said that I thought they were better than free range, in my experience.

 

[hellbender]

I didn't say tractors are the same as free-ranged. I said that I thought they were better than free range, in my experience.

Okay but I disagree there too, unless you have such a varmint situation that free-raging will open them to unacceptable risks.

Good luck with your program.

RON

 

[Em Ty]

Okay but I disagree there too, unless you have such a varmint situation that free-raging will open them to unacceptable risks.

Good luck with your program.

RON

That's why I said "in my experience". Packs of coyotes, hawks and a bald eagle make tractoring the only viable option if you want them to get access to pasture.

 

[ttrammell]

Start with FF chick starter and switch to FF grower on schedule. Having free-ranged birds, I think tractors are better.

I'm focusing on quail now, so someone else will have to answer #4 for you, but it should be around week 8-10, depending on how much you're counting on pasture for feed and if you're limiting them. Butcher at target weight.

switch on schedule? Not sure what that is, I've heard two or three weeks, I've also heard feed one bag of chick starter then switch. I'm not aware of what "on schedule" means.

 

[Em Ty]

It's generally accepted that you start to switch at 8 weeks, and many people do that by blending in progressively more grower until they're on all grower. If you're not raising many you can keep feeding starter longer if you still have feed left.

If you use a google search, you'll find a chart that shows when to switch to various feeds. It's probably on this site somewhere too, so use the search function if you can't find it on google.

 

[curious chickee]

Our feed store only sells chick starter 21% and finisher 18% lots of fat. We will be feeding until fair @ 9 weeks. Should I just chick starter 24/7 for first 3 weeks, then keep chick starter but feed about 1/2 cup per bird am only until 2 weeks before show, then switch to finisher keeping am feeding.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

ttramelle, Uh, if you are talking about meat birds, they eat meat bird feed all the way through their lives. There's almost never a "switch over", unless you wanna go with medicated feed for your first bag which is a bad idea to ferment. I feed 20% start n grow their whole lives. It doesn't make much sense to "switch over" a bird at 8 weeks when you are going to butcher them at 8 weeks? Some people even butcher at 6...

Which the answer is, 8-12 weeks is the appropriate butchering age. If they're big enough for your tastes at that point, then they are ready to butcher.

Chikee, the rule of thumb is free feed for the first 2-3 weeks, then feed twice a day, only what they will eat in 10-20 min, however much that is. It will change as they grow. There's no "set amount" because you want them to eat fast and grow big. There's no upper limit and no lower limit, really, because it is about filling their stomachs twice a day with however much feed that is. In the morning, feed them some amount, and come back in about 15 min. If the whole place is picked clean, feed more next time. If there's a little left, that's perfect. If there's a LOT left, feed a little less. Sometimes if they pick it clean you have to watch them eat the next meal to know how much more to add.

 

[WIchickens]

Speaking of meat chicks - I just got my 35 Cornish cross a week ago. I fed them dry feed the first few days and now tried to switch them over to the fermented feed. They absolutely will not eat it! I even cover the top with dry feed - they eat that and then leave the rest.

I work during the day, and I do need them to gain weight, so I put 1 feeder with dry and 1 with fermented feed. When I got home, they didn't even touch the fermented feed - and they were starving! I used fermented feed last year with my meaties and don't remember such a big protest!

Am I missing something?