Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Oregon Blues]

Around here in Hawaii there are lots of wild pigs that are caught and fattened up to slaughter. We also have a lot of macadamia farms and I have heard that feeding pigs the mac nut scraps makes them super yummy. Wonder if it would work for chickens? lol

Macadamia nuts should make good chicken feed. They are too hard for chickens to crack, so would have to be crushed first.

What macadamia nuts are best for is to bread your chicken pieces with crushed macadamia nuts and fry it. Serve with a bit of sweet and sour sauce for dipping. Now that's some good eating.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Macadamia nuts should make good chicken feed. They are too hard for chickens to crack, so would have to be crushed first.

What macadamia nuts are best for is to bread your chicken pieces with crushed macadamia nuts and fry it. Serve with a bit of sweet and sour sauce for dipping. Now that's some good eating.

You could dump about 5 gallons of them in your driveway and then drive back and forth on them.

 

[Jeanette56]

I have been feeding my new BCM chicks FF and even though it gets stomped down in the feeder they wind up eating it down to the metal.
So being packed down will not deter them! LOL They love the stuff and other than what gets on them there is no waste like there is with dry feed.

so today my meat bird chicks started their fermented feed. the amount of feed used is roughly 1/2 of what i would normally. the chicks took to it like raid on entebbe. i am not sure if i like the consistency of the mash. it looks hard for the chicks to get to. the mash gets kinda pancaked down. we will see . so far i like it though.

32 meat chicks cx's today i used 10 soup ladle full

 

[burnyourmoney]

We processed 7 of our birds the other day. They were a few days over 8 weeks. I picked out the larger birds of our 170ish remaining birds (stupid, or rather smart foxes). I wasn't too impressed with their weights, they were all in the 7-8lbs range. However, I have been restricting their food a lot. I only feed them from about 10am to 4pm, other than that they are on their own. I want them to get out in the field and get some exercise. I know there isn't much to eat out there, but the exercise is the real goal. Dressed the birds weighed 4.5-5.5 lbs. Their livers looked absolutely perfect. Actually all their internal organs did. I was very pleased with that. We haven't eaten any of them yet.
I had been mixing grower (15%) and starter (22%) to keep the protein a bit lower to slow their growth but I am going to start feeding only starter since the rest of them only have 2 weeks left and I'm aiming for 10 lbs live.
My birds have had FF since about day 3.
Oh, I know everyone says to make sure you have enough feeder room to ensure that all the birds can eat at once. I don't subscribe to this method of feeding. I have about enough room at the feeders for 60% of the birds at a time. This causes them to have to fight for their food and increases their exercise. I do however keep the feeders full until all the birds have eaten and are sitting down with a full crop. It takes longer to feed them, but I like seeing them work for their food.

 

[siroiszoo]

Today is the day. I'll put my first batch of FF out for the girls and see what they think. It smells great and is bubbling right along. I mixed up 3 days worth of dry feed which turned out to be too much for my bucket. So I had to sacrifice the 5 gallon wine making bucket to keep it all contained. When I mixed it up, I remembered that I had 1/4 bottle of kombucha (an effervescent fermentation of sweetened tea that is used as a functional food) in the fridge with the culture in it; only about 1/2 cup or less. So, for grins & giggles, I threw that in along with the several "good glubs" of raw ACV with the mother. Can't wait to get it strained and out in the feeders.

 

[siroiszoo]

SCORE! They love it!

 

[MonsterClucker]

I have been feeding my new BCM chicks FF and even though it gets stomped down in the feeder they wind up eating it down to the metal.

You have a metal feeder? Just caught that. I don't think you can use metal feeders with the ACV. I think it will corrode the metal. Double check that to be sure!

 

[Jeanette56]

I rarely put ACV in my FF but thanks for the heads up!
Since the feed is in the feeder for such a short time I don't think it would be much of a problem. I don't really like the metal trough style chick feeders because it's too easy to cut yourself on the edges. I think they may have been out of the plastic ones the day I went and didn't have the choice.
However I do use plastic feeders for all the big birds.

You have a metal feeder? Just caught that. I don't think you can use metal feeders with the ACV. I think it will corrode the metal. Double check that to be sure!

 

[MonsterClucker]

Nice! I made my own trough style feeders out of plastic gutter with end caps. I made 3 of them out of 1 ten foot piece of it.

 

[Tivona]

I just found this thread a few days ago but I really am liking the idea. Please let me know if I have this right...

1. Get a container that is nonreactive, such as plastic.
2. Fill the container part way (perhaps 1/4 of the way?) with grain or pellet feed.
3. Cover grain or pellet feed with water.
4. Add ACV (the type with the mother) (perhaps 1/4 of the amount of water?)
5. Cover (but do not seal airtight) and wait till there are bubbles. About 1 to 4 days?
6. At this point it should smell sour (not rotten) and look bubbly.
7. Drain saving the liquid.
8. Feed the wet mash to the birds.
9. Refill the container to about the same amount of dry feed as before.
10. Add the saved liquid and enough water to make sure its all covered.
11. Repeat from #5

I am guessing that older acidophilus caps that have been stored in the refrigerator could be added to the mix for an instant boost to the good bacteria, correct? Just out of curiosity how much of your birds daily feed are we talking about in fermented feed versus total feed excluding free ranging?