Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Tivona]

I started just over a month ago and have always back slopped. It has been bubbling good since a week in. I have added a bit of ACV a few times (maybe 3? can't really remember) since starting it. I am just surprised by the comments on it smelling anything like pickles/vinegar/sour/etc.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Mad Vent and Rooster Schmutz..... best comments I've read all day.

Don't forget "vental"

 

[Kassaundra]

as far as being to lazy to chew, i think i will have a port put in next week.

 

[Taniamax]

Gorgeous birds! I forgot to add the quotes, but this is referring to the birds pictured about 10 pages back. They look so beautiful.

 

[pigeonguy]

Good enough! As usual, thanks!

Now, I DO put BOSS in their FF, but it isn't a lot.

To give you an idea of my current blend, I mix 1.5 (red plastic Folgers) coffee cans of wild game feed, 1 16 ounce butter dish of whole oats, 1 16 ounce butter dish of scratch, and about a half a butter dish of BOSS together into the bucket each day. There is always already some FF in the bucket because I keep mine going perpetually, but that is what gets added back in each day. (*ETA - and I add a glug of ACV whenever I see fit)


Oh, and I read the 'recipe' Al uses for his birds and will probably add oil to my regime - should I add THAT to the FF, or just top-dress with it on occasion?

Hey Bee, if you had a sack of blood meal and a sack of bone meal you wanted to use up, how would you use them as a supplement in your feed so that it was good for the chickens? I noticed in the OT thread that you mentioned TOO much protein at a time is NOT good for the chickens. I want to use it up, and boosting the protein content in the chicken feed IS a good use for it, I just don't want to much of a good thing at once.

Also, would you put it IN the FF as it is 'cooking' or would you top-dress your feed with it when you fed? If you add it to the feed, how much and how often would you add to a 2 gallon bucket of feed, and if you top-dress with it, how much and how often would you sprinkle on a 5ft. trough that was full?

Lots of questions, I know.

I appreciate any/all thoughts you have on this.

Thanks
Maven

Guess I'll start with protein.
1.5 / 3 lb coffee cans (or 72 ounces) wild game feed = 9 parts @ 25% protein.
1 / 16 ounce butter dish whole oats = 2 part @ 12% protein.
1 / 16 ounce butter dish scratch grains = 2 part @ 7% protein
.5 / 16 ounce butter dish (or 8 ounces) = 1 part @ 10% protein


9 x 25 = 225% protein
2 x 12 = 24% protein
2 x 7 = 14% protein
1 x 10 = 10% protein
_______________
14 parts / 273% protein = 19.5% protein in current feed depending on the actual amount of protein in your wild game feed and scratch I took a guess at those but should be close.
Now for the bone meal that's 50% protein you could go with a less % protein on the wild game feed say to 16% that might make it wild game feed anymore but still poultry feed.
Now use the same parts as above and add 2 parts bone meal that's 1 / 16 ounce butter dish and that will give you 18.25% protein or if you add 3 parts bone meal it would be 20.1% protein.
Now do understand to be real accurate these parts need to be weighed so it would look like this
4.5 lbs feed
2 lbs oats
2 lbs scratch
1 lb boss
2 or 3 lbs bone meal depending on protein value you want.
The reason I did this was if you buy a 16% feed instead of 25% it would probably save you money on feed cost.
Now on to the blood meal. I personally would use it in the garden to keep unwanted pest out. That is because it is said that it is not very palatable and would not want to take the chance of making the feed to were they don't want to eat it. Plus the fact that I keep it on hand to keep the rabbits and ground hogs out of the garden and would not want to waste it in the chickens.
Hope this helps with your decision and yes BOSS is only 10% protein a lot of people have the misconception its higher but it is only 10% it is high in fat though and that is why we should watch how much we feed. I think any of the recipes above are fine though.
And just or the record I was going to do this last night when I noticed the post but just as I hit submit the internet went out and I lost it all.

 

[pigeonguy]

I forgot you will raise the protein value a tiny tiny bit fermenting but not enough to make a difference. Fermenting is more about making available protein usable.

 

[Maven]

Guess I'll start with protein.
1.5 / 3 lb coffee cans (or 72 ounces) wild game feed = 9 parts @ 25% protein.
1 / 16 ounce butter dish whole oats = 2 part @ 12% protein.
1 / 16 ounce butter dish scratch grains = 2 part @ 7% protein
.5 / 16 ounce butter dish (or 8 ounces) = 1 part @ 10% protein


9 x 25 = 225% protein
2 x 12 = 24% protein
2 x 7 = 14% protein
1 x 10 = 10% protein
_______________
14 parts / 273% protein = 19.5% protein in current feed depending on the actual amount of protein in your wild game feed and scratch I took a guess at those but should be close.
Now for the bone meal that's 50% protein you could go with a less % protein on the wild game feed say to 16% that might make it wild game feed anymore but still poultry feed.
Now use the same parts as above and add 2 parts bone meal that's 1 / 16 ounce butter dish and that will give you 18.25% protein or if you add 3 parts bone meal it would be 20.1% protein.
Now do understand to be real accurate these parts need to be weighed so it would look like this
4.5 lbs feed
2 lbs oats
2 lbs scratch
1 lb boss
2 or 3 lbs bone meal depending on protein value you want.
The reason I did this was if you buy a 16% feed instead of 25% it would probably save you money on feed cost.
Now on to the blood meal. I personally would use it in the garden to keep unwanted pest out. That is because it is said that it is not very palatable and would not want to take the chance of making the feed to were they don't want to eat it. Plus the fact that I keep it on hand to keep the rabbits and ground hogs out of the garden and would not want to waste it in the chickens.
Hope this helps with your decision and yes BOSS is only 10% protein a lot of people have the misconception its higher but it is only 10% it is high in fat though and that is why we should watch how much we feed. I think any of the recipes above are fine though.
And just or the record I was going to do this last night when I noticed the post but just as I hit submit the internet went out and I lost it all.

***


I forgot you will raise the protein value a tiny tiny bit fermenting but not enough to make a difference. Fermenting is more about making available protein usable.

Oh my goodness, pigeonguy, thank you SOOOOO much!

What a sweet thing to do; I really REALLY appreciate your analysis!! I think I will do exactly as you suggest and adjust my feed then use only the bone mean in the FF! Lord knows we have enough trouble with critters in the garden and I never heard of using blood meal that way, no sense in taking a chance on ruining a whole batch of feed!

And you are right; I thought that the BOSS had a lot more protein in it than it apparently does!

Again, thank you SOOOOOO much; what a nice thing to do for a total stranger!

 

[Taniamax]

I read a long discussion about the similarity between ACV and Kombucha. It seems that the ACV "mother" and the Kombucha "SCOBY" are almost identical. There is one microorganism in the SCOBY that isn't found in the mother. But there are some 6 or 7 other microorganisms that make up each that are identical. And there are those that have in fact made "Kombucha" with ACV "mother" rather than SCOBY. It can't be said to be true Kombucha but the guy says he can't tell the difference by taste. So yes, I'd say the Kombucha stuff would work great.
If interested, go to the link at the end of this paragraph. Scroll down to what appears at first glance to be a picture of horribly moldy bread. After that is the discussion of the similarity. http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/kombucha.htm
So far as caffeine, I can't imagine they'd get enough to affect them.

Thanks for this link. It is a good one. I make my own Kombucha and for my current batch of FF am going to add a couple of glugs just to see what happens. I'm sure it will be great.

 

[Taniamax]

I'm not shocked....I washed a hen's butt with a bleach solution last night.

Now that, I understand...

 

[Missa Chickabee]

Thanks for Kombuchu info. Was wondering about this today!