Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[deedles]

Quick question about bringing home meaties:

Planning on giving some garlic/honey water and also fermented feed. But. Did I read on here somewhere that giving them scrambled eggs for the first meal is recommended? It's seems like I read that once or twice. Tried to search the thread but came up empty.

Thanks!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

What. I never feed my meaties eggs. It's great nutrition for birds, has everything that they need (if you crush the egg shell in too), but it's only relevant if you have sick/unhealthy birds. Healthy birds should thrive on chicken feed. I would skip the honey garlic water personally. If you want to give electrolytes to stimulate them on day 1, the best home solution is molasses and a pinch of sea salt... But I've never needed that.

Unless you have a sick bird feed them what you'd like them to eat from day 1. Otherwise they might get picky and not eat it.

 

[Robert M]

Quick question about bringing home meaties:

Planning on giving some garlic/honey water and also fermented feed. But. Did I read on here somewhere that giving them scrambled eggs for the first meal is recommended? It's seems like I read that once or twice. Tried to search the thread but came up empty.

Thanks!

Feeding cattle feed containing cow parts gave them Mad Cow Disease. IMO, feeding chickens their own eggs, at least to me, would be parallel to same.

 

[Beekissed]

Feeding cattle feed containing cow parts gave them Mad Cow Disease. IMO, feeding chickens their own eggs, at least to me, would be parallel to same.

Seriously? You might want to read up on "mad cow disease" a little more closely. Merely feeding cow parts to cows did not "cause" them to have mad cow disease....feeding them diseased cow parts can, however, transmit the disease to other cows. The cause, however.....

Quote:

Comparing the feeding of eggs to chicken to cattle being fed ground up brain and spinal cord tissue from diseased cattle is completely and utterly foolish, child like even. Chickens regularly eat their own and other chicken's eggs and that's a natural instinctive process and even healthy for the bird....cows, on the other hand, do not regularly eat their herdmate's neurological systems in a natural setting, nor would it be healthy for them, as they are herbivores.

 

[Robert M]

Seriously? You might want to read up on "mad cow disease" a little more closely. Merely feeding cow parts to cows did not "cause" them to have mad cow disease....feeding them diseased cow parts can, however, transmit the disease to other cows. The cause, however.....



Comparing the feeding of eggs to chicken to cattle being fed ground up brain and spinal cord tissue from diseased cattle is completely and utterly foolish, child like even. Chickens regularly eat their own and other chicken's eggs and that's a natural instinctive process and even healthy for the bird....cows, on the other hand, do not regularly eat their herdmate's neurological systems in a natural setting, nor would it be healthy for them, as they are herbivores.

 

[Beekissed]

Nope....but I trust God and God designed these chickens to eat their own eggs in order to keep their nests clean and to keep from attracting predators to their own nest sites, and that trust is backed up by the knowledge that I've been feeding eggs back to my own chickens for the past 40 yrs too, and my mother did it before me and my grandmother did it before her. God and years upon years of experience tells me that thinking chickens will get disease from eating their own eggs is an irrational thought process.

Would I feed my chickens eggs from a commercial battery? Nope. Not because I would fear disease transmission....I'm very confident in the immune systems of my chickens, but simply because even I won't eat eggs from that source either, so I wouldn't feed them to my animals either.

 

[lcertuche]

I too feed my chickens eggs and shells. I grind them up in the food processor adding them to other table scraps. I wouldn't want them to start eating eggs by letting them resemble their eggs. My chicks are too young for laying but I think egg shells are good for their bones. Mine free-range and except for table scraps they feed themselves foraging. I do call and throw out a handful or two of food to keep them tame. Of course on the downside you can hardly take a step without stepping on one of them. I do like being able to pick them up and examine their feet and general appearance.

 

[Turk Raphael]

Feeding cattle feed containing cow parts gave them Mad Cow Disease. IMO, feeding chickens their own eggs, at least to me, would be parallel to same.

NOT.

 

[Beekissed]

I too feed my chickens eggs and shells. I grind them up in the food processor adding them to other table scraps. I wouldn't want them to start eating eggs by letting them resemble their eggs. My chicks are too young for laying but I think egg shells are good for their bones. Mine free-range and except for table scraps they feed themselves foraging. I do call and throw out a handful or two of food to keep them tame. Of course on the downside you can hardly take a step without stepping on one of them. I do like being able to pick them up and examine their feet and general appearance.

I wouldn't worry about that....chickens have been cleaning up cracked and leaking eggs since the beginning of time and it doesn't cause them to eat ALL their eggs or there wouldn't be such a species still around. It's supposed to happen, so no amount of disguising eggs will prevent them from eventually eating a broken egg or even the unfertilized eggs in a clutch they are sitting. It's good for them and it's also a built in instinct to do so.

 

[Latestarter]

I have chickens who occasionally eat their eggs... raw. Not a single one has ever come down with mad chicken disease. Though your cow analogy sounds like a similar situation, it really isn't. First, the cattle feed issue was on an industrial scale and not a back yard herd. There are all sorts of examples of commercial feed contamination. For a back yard chicken keeper, cooking the eggs, either boiling them or scrambling them renders any potential bacteria a non issue. In addition, the bloom coating on the egg (provided your chickens laid the eggs in question, and you didn't wash the bloom off) protects the egg from bacterial infiltration. Chicken keepers have been feeding cooked eggs back to their flocks for decades (centuries?) with no issues, documented or presumed.

As for the scrambled eggs as a first meal... why? I can see feeding them as a treat to the flock, or for use with a weak/sick bird, but just in general or as a requirement? no. If you intend to use FF, then do so from day 1. I use poultry nutri-drench for weak chicks/birds as it is absorbed directly into their blood stream immediately vice needing to be digested and gives them an immediate boost. You can put a little into their water as a "helper" while they are brooding if you wish, or electrolytes, or whatever you want. I have no idea why you'd use garlic &/or honey... But then I'm not a "holistic/herbal" remedy kinda guy