Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Zootopia]

We have a large freezer and a vacuum packer thing, if you have a place to store them just do 15 or 20 like we did. Ours didn't really last long after the (grown) kids raided the freezer, and the neighbors came for dinner (took a couple home) and then I cooked one for a pot luck at work. We are caponing spare roos this year as an experiment.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I think you could raise meat birds for any size family. You just want to figure out how many you/your family can process in a short window of time, and how much room you have to store the ones you won't eat right away.

To me that's the main disadvantage of breeds like CXs, having to process them according to their timetable instead of the DPs who can instead wait for your convenience. That, and the extra mess & smell of CXs.

*BUT* now we're learning ways to cut down/eliminate that second problem by giving them the FF. Does feeding the FF also alter the first issue? Do CXs fed FF need to be butchered by a specific date before they drop dead on their own? Or is there a longer time period in which to do that job?

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I also experimented with stretching my pricey UP/ACV the way Beekissed recommended, by adding about a quarter cup of it to a quart jar of the regular cheap WalMart ACV. There was still some of the original mother in that quarter cup I added, and I kept the jar open, covered with a paper towel, in a dark room for a week.

Today I removed the paper towel and found a nice layer of whitish thickening at the mouth of the jar, and other things floating throughout. I capped the jar and shook it all up, and spooned a few tablespoons out into a fresh bucket of feed & water, let's see how bubbly it will make that mixture.

I love to save $ !!!

 

[griffinkid02]

Commenting so I can find this thread tomorrow

 

[Erica]

Just thought I'd ask about silage. Does anyone chop/ferment grass etc for chickens? Those who do, is it a good feed?

I've got a paddock full of lovely rich grass, but it's going to die off shortly (I'm in the southern hemisphere) and I'm considering cutting it and packing it in a bin to make silage. It would be fairly high in B vitamins and probiotics, but I'm not sure if it's going to be too fibrous and low in protein.

Would love to hear what others think.
Yours in fermentation,
Erica

 

[Kassaundra]

Just thought I'd ask about silage. Does anyone chop/ferment grass etc for chickens? Those who do, is it a good feed?

I've got a paddock full of lovely rich grass, but it's going to die off shortly (I'm in the southern hemisphere) and I'm considering cutting it and packing it in a bin to make silage. It would be fairly high in B vitamins and probiotics, but I'm not sure if it's going to be too fibrous and low in protein.

Would love to hear what others think.
Yours in fermentation,
Erica

I am also interested in this. I have just started experimenting w/ it. I harvested a batch of comfrey and chopped it up and put it in my ferment barrel (I use a 30 gal trash barrell and keep mine going forever) It didn't harm the fermenting process at all (I didn't ferment it by itself though I included it in w/ the grains). I've been wondering if I harvest my grasses / weeds / silage in the fall how long into the winter I could keep it. If I can add the pumpkin / winter squash throughout the winter? And if I can do that if I feed the ff in the grain and greens, I supplement w/ the feeder insects (I raise them) how close to meeting the nutritional needs I could get?

Along that same line how many barrels it would take for the greens to get me through the winter? That probably is dependent on how much squash / pumpkin I can add through the winter. But if I absolutely needed I could buy the alfalfa pellets then too. Just thinking out loud.

 

[jenny_kap]

I am also interested in this. I have just started experimenting w/ it. I harvested a batch of comfrey and chopped it up and put it in my ferment barrel (I use a 30 gal trash barrell and keep mine going forever) It didn't harm the fermenting process at all (I didn't ferment it by itself though I included it in w/ the grains). I've been wondering if I harvest my grasses / weeds / silage in the fall how long into the winter I could keep it. If I can add the pumpkin / winter squash throughout the winter? And if I can do that if I feed the ff in the grain and greens, I supplement w/ the feeder insects (I raise them) how close to meeting the nutritional needs I could get?

Along that same line how many barrels it would take for the greens to get me through the winter? That probably is dependent on how much squash / pumpkin I can add through the winter. But if I absolutely needed I could buy the alfalfa pellets then too. Just thinking out loud.

2 years ago i had chickens and turkeys. i didn't know about fermented food, but i knew that they eat better if the food is wet. i also saw my turkeys eating the fruits that were falling from the trees, but had problems with the bigger apples. so, i took the apples, i chopped them in my food processor and mix them with the grains i was feeding the birds and water. they were eating like crazy. i also added fresh chopped alfalfa when i had time to go and cut, or zucchini, or pumpkin. both chickens and turkeys had the same diet and i was very pleased with the results.
just to get an idea about how the turkeys were looking like when i harvested them, there are some pictures:

and the pan the turkey is in is the oven pan.
and look how much fat they had at the neck and around the gizzard

and this is one that my husband cooked, with salt and white pepper only. he put 2 sticks of butter inside the turkey, a cup or two of water in the pan and covered it with aluminium foil and baked it for 5-6 hours, paying attention to the water in the pan, do not evaporate completely.

so, dont be affraid to mix your chicken's food with fruits or vegetables, they will love it and it doesn't harm your birds.

 

[myhubbycallsmechickeemama]

Okay...started feeding the meaties the grain mix and they are totally not into it. Haha!! Little do they know that they're going to like it or go hungry!!

 

[Beekissed]

I think you could raise meat birds for any size family. You just want to figure out how many you/your family can process in a short window of time, and how much room you have to store the ones you won't eat right away.

To me that's the main disadvantage of breeds like CXs, having to process them according to their timetable instead of the DPs who can instead wait for your convenience. That, and the extra mess & smell of CXs.

*BUT* now we're learning ways to cut down/eliminate that second problem by giving them the FF. Does feeding the FF also alter the first issue? Do CXs fed FF need to be butchered by a specific date before they drop dead on their own? Or is there a longer time period in which to do that job?

I don't think that has much to do with FF though they could definitely help this due to the reculturing of the bird's bowels and subsequent better digestion without the loss of valuable electrolytes each time they squirt those messy, liquidy stools. With the FF the only squirty poops you will see are cecal poops and even they don't smell bad on the FF.

CX won't drop dead on their own if they aren't over fed and confined to a pen with no chance to build strong bones and muscle. What people forget is that the heart is just a very compact muscle and without exercise it's just flab. The first time those birds experience any stress, the little piece of flab has to do work that it cannot do due to being enlarged and encased in fat...and the birds die. Heat stress, moving the tractor stress, just walking across the pen stress, fighting for room at the feeder or at bedtime for some....then you get the mysterious "flip".

Also the cardiac function is much affected by the loss of electrolytes these birds experience with their rapid digestion and liquid stools. Just drinking lots of water will not replace the electrolytes lost, though it might temporarily replace fluid volume...which they promptly lose again and have to replace once again. With the FF and the UP/ACV in the water, not only are less electrolytes lost when their digestion is improved but any lost during activity or high temps are replaced by the nature of this food and water.

I didn't use FF last time and only occasionally added the ACV to their water and mine were 11 wks when I processed and could have went on from there just fine...no birds showed signs of distress or leg problems and all were healthy and foraging the day before processing. They were fed once a day on layer ration and cracked corn and free ranged all their young lives.

The current batch will be started processing at 10 wks but I'm going to take my time and do 10 every weekend or so, if I can...if I can't, I have no worries about their survival until I can get to them. These CX have proven to be very hardy birds from where I'm sitting. Think about their genetics....Cornish and White Rocks are both very hardy breeds.

 

[shadowmane]

Well this is a first. I went out this morning to feed the pullets and let them out. Usually, they'll stay with me and eat the feed that I've put down for them. This morning, they did what I saw Beekissed's chickens do. They took off out into the yard and immediately started foraging. I was left standing there scratching my head. I went ahead and put the food in the troughs for them, but I'm wondering just how much of it they are going to eat now that they've discovered the joys of eating bugs and grass.