Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[plecostrum]

Hi unpasterized acv?
What is it apple cider vinegar?
What does unpasterized mean?

Do I just add chick crumb water and acv.. (is shop brought acv ok?)
Can someone tell me quantity I need for say 6 chicks?
How long to make it?
Does it go off?




I need to try this for my light Sussex thought I'd split the bunch and experiment lol

Thankyou

 

[Beekissed]

You might want to start at the beginning of the thread...you will find all that information there.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Do you think that putting ground up nuts into a FF would be OK. I just cleaned out my pantry and have several bags of old nuts that I would like to put to some use. They are pecans, walnuts, almonds, and filberts.

I also have several partial bags of beans that I would like to use somehow and know that I have to cook them first. should I just cook them and give the to the birds or should I also add them to the FF? I am feeding layers not meaties if that would make any difference?

Nuts if old can be rancid.

 

[galanie]

Nuts if old can be rancid. 

Very true. Nuts are just chock full of oil and don't ferment well. And that oil goes rancid. Give those old nuts a sniff, they won't mind at all. If they don't smell sweet, they've gone off. I'd still feed them to the chickens and if they eat them, great. If not, nothing lost. I just wouldn't try to put them in the ferment.

 

[Costa Rica Art]

Three days ago I was told to go and collect the new chicks we had been waiting for almost 4 months for.

They are a general purpose bird (I asked but there is no breed name for them) as most of the birds raised here are for commercial egg operations they stop laying at the end of one season. The 2nd day I put a small feeder in the brooder pen with some FF in it. They were checking it out right after I put it in there. Looked this morning and they have been eating it. I will slowly change their feed to all FF. I am fermenting local chick starter with some fine ground corn and will continue to make that combination and change to 50/50 regular feed and cracked corn FF as they grow. The two hens that are laying now are producing great eggs, large, reddish orange standing tall yokes, the whites do not run all over the skillet. Of the 29 chicks left, one passed, we plan to keep one roo and 8 or 10 layers. The cockerels will be raised for eating, I will try and keep track of their growth rate. I will weigh them when they are processed, if I find a scale that will allow me to use a sack to weigh them from a hook/scale then I will weigh them while alive.

This is Momma PJ, a silkie hen that is so good, she was sitting on eggs when I brought the chicks home, they went right for her and she allowed it. She finally left the nest box so more of them could get under her. I toss her some food and the little beggars take the food right out of her mouth. Believe it or not there are 29 chicks trying to get under her. There are two small heat lamps in the brooder area so the ones that cannot get under her can keep warm.

Problems with getting my cursor under the next photo, anyway, this is what they should look like when grown. She is an awesome hen, good weight and lays good, large eggs.

 

[mendocinosunris]

*ahem* Oregano, please don't start eliminating states for this experiment.

thanks for clearin that up. I kinda like visiting oregon and don't want to use it all up. Oregano on the other hand is definitely on the flavored ff list.

 

[texasmomma]

Very true. Nuts are just chock full of oil and don't ferment well. And that oil goes rancid. Give those old nuts a sniff, they won't mind at all.

If they don't smell sweet, they've gone off. I'd still feed them to the chickens and if they eat them, great. If not, nothing lost. I just wouldn't try to put them in the ferment.

There are some who think that nuts are also difficult to digest, for humans. They recommend soaking overnight and then dehydrating to get them back to a more *crispy* state. I think that nuts soaked overnight would be ok, not sure about any other time. We have 9 or so pecan trees on our property. They are huge and old and the squirrels are having a blast picking them. We often get nuts on the driveway and I inadvertently run over them. I feed that to the 4 teenager chooks we have.

 

[mendocinosunris]

Thanks everybody!
I figure the geese will already be tasty, cuz mean birds always make the best dinners. Extra flavoring from the herbed ff will be a bonus, and a fun experiment.

We've had that discussion.... But I don't have meat birds at the moment and the handful of people that are trying it haven't reported back in yet. The theory seems sound, we know that wild game picks up the "gamey" taste from the variety of plants they consume, also I have few chicks herbs before (long story, funny but not worth repeating again) and had their bodies give off the aroma og fresh cooked Dressing for weeks after, so again the theory seems sound. We just don't have any practicum reported yet. Feel free to dump a goodly portion of your favorite herbs and spices into your FF and let us know come turkey... er, Goose Day

lol! mine have raided the herb garden & had rosemary-smelling poo for a while...

I put a bunch of thyme, oregano and sage in my ff like a week before i process my roosters, their insides smelled like oregano, and my husband said they also tasted a little flavored.

cool - thanks! that's very helpful. I'm adding sage, oregano and a little rosemary cause that's whats in my garden

Personally I would start off with sage, it's a good all purpose herb, followed by oregan and/or basil. Simple common and cheap all. buy in bulk from some discount or bent and dent store and dump it in. Also if you REALLY feel enthusiastic do some research into some of the herbs that really pack a punch at giving some boost or the other to the body (ie cinnimon is a great glucose regulator and has had huge benefits to diabetics, tumeric and cumin have been linked to matabolism boosts and higher energy) Most all of our herbs and spices were originally used medicinally, that's why so many other cultures are kicking our butts are the health and weight of their populations, Americans eat pretty bland food (salt excluded) compared to other cultures, and those spices do more than just add flavor. So again, find a recipe that you like the sound of and start adding those seasonings to the FF; can't really hurt, may really help.

hmmm... gotta remember that about cumin...

Anyone wanna throw some Goat Weed in the batch a week before slaughter?

um.... that would be a no. I'll leave that part of the experiment in your capable hands.

 

[Beekissed]

Three days ago I was told to go and collect the new chicks we had been waiting for almost 4 months for.

They are a general purpose bird (I asked but there is no breed name for them) as most of the birds raised here are for commercial egg operations they stop laying at the end of one season. The 2nd day I put a small feeder in the brooder pen with some FF in it. They were checking it out right after I put it in there. Looked this morning and they have been eating it. I will slowly change their feed to all FF. I am fermenting local chick starter with some fine ground corn and will continue to make that combination and change to 50/50 regular feed and cracked corn FF as they grow. The two hens that are laying now are producing great eggs, large, reddish orange standing tall yokes, the whites do not run all over the skillet. Of the 29 chicks left, one passed, we plan to keep one roo and 8 or 10 layers. The cockerels will be raised for eating, I will try and keep track of their growth rate. I will weigh them when they are processed, if I find a scale that will allow me to use a sack to weigh them from a hook/scale then I will weigh them while alive.

This is Momma PJ, a silkie hen that is so good, she was sitting on eggs when I brought the chicks home, they went right for her and she allowed it. She finally left the nest box so more of them could get under her. I toss her some food and the little beggars take the food right out of her mouth. Believe it or not there are 29 chicks trying to get under her. There are two small heat lamps in the brooder area so the ones that cannot get under her can keep warm.

Problems with getting my cursor under the next photo, anyway, this is what they should look like when grown. She is an awesome hen, good weight and lays good, large eggs.

I could be wrong here but I don't think you will be having many hens out of that bunch. They look like production blacks which are a sex link breed...meaning they can distinguish between the males and females at birth...the males have a white dot on the head and the females do not. Yours look to be mostly or all males from that pic. Whoever gave or sold you the chicks knew that when they gave them to you.

http://www.cacklehatchery.com/blacksexlinkpage.html

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Dropping in out of sync with the conversation but just wanted to ask something.

Started my first ferment with Bee's method. (half crumbles/half grains with a good cup or more of ACV and water all in a temp of 70 degrees) Covered with a breathable cotton cloth. Well, it's about 60 hours from the start now and it still smells like cereal as it did when I first added liquid. Should I add more ACV? (I don't wish to use baker's yeast) Am I being impatient. (Using a bit of it for feeds, anyway......I feed 19 birds)

Thanks for your advice!