Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[normanack]

Really, normanack? This has my full attention. How cold do you get and how much snow? We're a couple of states west of you in northern MN. I have been thinking about overwintering kale but didn't think it could take our winters. We grow Swiss Chard, too. Would think that may not be quite as hardy. Interested to know where you got your seeds, etc. Thnx

Well, where I am it's gardening zone 5. Winter temps usually in the 20s and 30s, though the teens are common, single digits happen, and below zero maybe a couple days every few winters or so.

Snow -- varies by the winter. Often no snow before Christmas, but if it snows in January it tends to stick around. February is miserable, icy when it's not snowy.

The kale gets buried under the snow. It seems unaffected by freezing. Now, it's not actively growing that I can see, but whatever is there in the fall is usually still there and looking quite edible in the spring. A woodchuck ate ALL the chard this fall so I won't have any of that. As I recall it's excellent right through Christmas and some is still there looking good in spring.

Seeds? The cheapest I can find, hardware store or Wal-Mart or the supermarket. I used to buy Johnny's Selected Seeds and Pinetree Garden Seeds by mail, years ago, and they were great, but I'm not good at planning ahead, and money is tight.

 

[griffinkid02]

If you do this in the garage, put them on a tarp or a sheet of plastic.....big mess when they lose their fluids. Your hubby will scream about that if you make a syrupy mess in his garage floor.

That's why I always store them in my broody pen in the winter...not in use and will dry up and be worked into the old wood long before I get a broody sitting.

Uh-huh. Says you. I have a broody sitting as I type, and two that that are seriously concidering it, lol.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I tried Walmarts brand of Monostat 3 diff times and she has been on ACV water since I got her. What do you do with the epsom salt?

Do you feed yogurt? I like to use Mountain High brand of plain, unsweetened yogurt. It's nice and thick and is easy to serve, no need to stir. It has something like 5 different beneficial bacterias in it. Greek yogurt does too, but its pricey! I think if I had done all that without results, I might make a douche with yogurt and treat a few times every day until the bird is better. Feed it as well.

 

[pigeonguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miss Lydia

I tried Walmarts brand of Monostat 3 diff times and she has been on ACV water since I got her. What do you do with the epsom salt?

Have you tried the nustock. Beekissed is having good results with it. Also going by what bee said about epsom salts flushing good and bad bacteria I would not use it on my birds. This is just my opinion.

 

[Celie]

Bragg's is the foremost brand and I've heard of it being sold in many places. I had some of my own make and also some Bragg's, so I just split it off into regular ACV that you can buy in any old store and just "infected" it with the mother spores. Thus, you only have to really find one gallon of "mother" vinegar to make more of the same.

I'm no more concerned about botulism in my grain fermentation than I am in my sourdough mix. Actually, the vinegar I use to jump start my fermentation is a known prevention for botulism.

Very interesting !!!!!

 

[pigeonguy]

I started feeding the fermented feed Friday. I made my starter like this.
100 pounds oats 12% , 100 pounds corn 9%, 100 pounds poultry base 36% = 19% protein ground into chicken mash
In a 5 gallon bucket
1: Filled bucket with mash to the 1 and 1/2 gallon mark
2: Put warm water in to the 2 and 1/2 gallon mark.
3: Put in 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar raw, unpasteurized, with mother.
4: stirred till thoroughly mixed.
5: Put a towel over bucket to keep out flying critters.
6: Let sit for one week. Stirred mixture 2 times a day morning and night.
Through that time it smelled like vinegar then I don't know but not completely unpleasant then back to smelling sort of like vinegar but a little sweeter.
The way I am feeding goes like this. The day before the first feeding I scooped from bucket 1 into bucket 2 four quarts of the ff without straining juice off then I put 1 quart of dry mash in bucket 2 and stirred all of the juice in it was still a little sloppy. Then I added 4 quarts of dry mash back into bucket 1 added water to bring it back up to the 2 and 1/2 gallon mark and stirred.
The next day all the juice had soaked into the mash in bucket 2 (this was 24 hours later) it also had a good layer of what looked like mother on it so I stirred that in and fed it to the chickens. Then I made my bucket for the next day.
One problem I had in bucket 1 I found that 4 quarts of wet out does not equal 4 quarts of dry in because the next morning when I went to stir bucket 1 it had soaked up all the juices so I had to add more water it was fine when I made feed that afternoon. I only put 3 quarts dry mash back in then.
The way I am doing it each feeding is guaranteed 48 hours of ferment time. I also do not have to go threw the draining process.
I would like to tell you they loved it but it doesn't matter what I take to them as soon as the gate opens they are running at me saying Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine. I set it down and they start eating even if they look full crazy birds.

 

[Island Roo]

Quote:

Too funny

That sounds like a great system - I wish I could get a source for the poultry base. Is that a mash-type product?

 

[pigeonguy]

Too funny

That sounds like a great system - I wish I could get a source for the poultry base. Is that a mash-type product?

My local mill makes it. Has a lot of vitamins and minerals in it. I looked up Poultry base made by hubbard. Follow this link:
http://www.hubbardlife.com/poultry/chick-en-egg.aspx

Ask your mill if they have it or something similar.
I don't know if the base is mash but my recipe is ground into mash.
I also added a cup of rabbit pellets (alfalfa) to my ff tonight see how that works.

 

[pigeonguy]

Sorry just noticed location I was going to try and help you find it but I can't call outside of USA and all the mills I found in BC only give their phone number but then it is the same in my area.

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Well, where I am it's gardening zone 5. Winter temps usually in the 20s and 30s, though the teens are common, single digits happen, and below zero maybe a couple days every few winters or so.

Snow -- varies by the winter. Often no snow before Christmas, but if it snows in January it tends to stick around. February is miserable, icy when it's not snowy.

The kale gets buried under the snow. It seems unaffected by freezing. Now, it's not actively growing that I can see, but whatever is there in the fall is usually still there and looking quite edible in the spring. A woodchuck ate ALL the chard this fall so I won't have any of that. As I recall it's excellent right through Christmas and some is still there looking good in spring.

Seeds? The cheapest I can find, hardware store or Wal-Mart or the supermarket. I used to buy Johnny's Selected Seeds and Pinetree Garden Seeds by mail, years ago, and they were great, but I'm not good at planning ahead, and money is tight.

Well,I guess we could try. We're zone 2. Colder than Alaska in winter. Deer got in and polished off everything except the squash and tomotoes. Was hoping the kale would take us into November but will have to wait til next summer to experiment now. Winter temps here vary quite a bit.
Can be -20 F for a month or 20 above. You never know. Thanks for the info, normanack.