Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[armorfirelady]

You know how you can tell when your hens like their FF?



When they walk out of the run wearing it since they were eating it like piglets........3 hens with dirty faces/chins........I came home from a weekend away thinking they got into the FF bucket I left in the run so my friend could feed them while I was gone.......Thinking the girls need some of those giant lobster bibs

 

[Lacy Blues]

The others will help get her all cleaned up... and then you'll be feeding again.

 

[pigeonguy]

Check to see if there is copper added to the Sweet 16, sheep cannot eat any feeds or mineral supplements with copper in them.

Yes it does contain copper.

 

[Jeanette56]

It may not corn in and of itself that is causing the bloat issue.
However, so much corn in feed these days is GMO and that has been linked to dozens of ills in man & animal.
I suspect that good old-fashioned corn is not that bad for them but GMO corn is often deadly.
Watch the video at this link - kind of long but very eye-opening!

On the rabbit thread, a breeder just lost a humpteendozen or maybe it was a gazillion of his meat rabbits, because of bloat he and the other rabbit people say is being caused by the increasing amount of corn Purina and other feed companies are putting into rabbit feeds!  I do not see any signs if corn in the rabbit feed I am using now, but I lost 2 breeding does overnight, due to bloat, while using Purina!  I think I read somewhere that Beekissed was using FF for rabbits, but I might be wrong. I was wrong once before, when I was younger. LOL ! I don't know to feed it with my rabbit cages all having screens in the bottom of their feeders, so it might have been ACV in their water.  It probably was ACV in the rabbits water to cause more females to be born and larger litters? How about it Bee, are you still here?

 

[pigeonguy]

On the rabbit thread, a breeder just lost a humpteendozen or maybe it was a gazillion of his meat rabbits, because of bloat he and the other rabbit people say is being caused by the increasing amount of corn Purina and other feed companies are putting into rabbit feeds! I do not see any signs if corn in the rabbit feed I am using now, but I lost 2 breeding does overnight, due to bloat, while using Purina!

I think I read somewhere that Beekissed was using FF for rabbits, but I might be wrong. I was wrong once before, when I was younger. LOL ! I don't know to feed it with my rabbit cages all having screens in the bottom of their feeders, so it might have been ACV in their water. It probably was ACV in the rabbits water to cause more females to be born and larger litters?

How about it Bee, are you still here?

Interesting because in the winter wild rabbits here pretty much survive on corn. Any way when we go hunting and jump a rabbit in the middle of a corn Field there is a hole dug where the rabbit was sitting and in that hole is a piece of partially eaten corn. Every once in a while I give my favorite buck a small scoop of FF. Rabbits are in the chicken run.

 

[B J Hopkins]

Here is a link with pictures of different droppings. What you describe sounds like "intestinal shedding". Some of the pictures are really gross.....just a warning...........

http://chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0

Well, that was interesting. Nice to see my chickens droppings are normal.

 

[chicken curious]

What I'm trying to do is get away from the GMO corn & soy, which is a high % of the grower feeds. so I'm looking for something to boost the protein a bit; guess I may have to bite the bullet and have the feed store order some organic for me.... Glad to hear that on your brahmas and orps. I'll be hatching some orps out as soon as these pullets are further along.

maryhysong,

I'm avoiding GM crops and soy in our diets as well as the chickens' diets. For the chickens, this has meant avoiding corn and soy since I can't find/afford to order organic corn. I am new to chickens, but am going to tell you what I'm doing so you can research it and see if it'll work for you (logistically, but also whether it will provide what you want for your flock)...

I ferment with ACV:
3 parts whole wheat
3 parts whole oats
2-3 parts milo/sorghum
1 part BOSS (too much?)
1 part Ultra Kibble

You can search for threads about the Ultra Kibble here on BYC. It was originally created as a supplement for jungle fowl being raised in captivity (zoos, etc) and can be applied to chickens. I order it through amazon with free shipping and a bag lasts a long time b/c you need so little. From what I understand, a tiny bit of UK provides all the nutrition that they need in a slow-digesting pellet, but they need other foods in their diet to feel full and satisfied so I use the whole grains. The UK has some corn and there is the possibility of GMO there, but I feel like I'm doing the best I can to create a 'complete' feed with all the nutrition they need and still have the *least* amount or none of the things I don't want. Here is the owner/creators answer about GMO in UK:



Quote: Resolution


In private PMs with him (he's a BYC member), he said that he does ferment in certain captivity situations where he feels he can control the result. My chickens won't eat much UK dry, but I just put it in the ferment. Some breaks down (and the turmeric in it colors my ferment water), but most stays in little balls.

I hope this helps in your search for something that works for you and your chickens.

As a newbie, I am OF COURSE open to suggestions or discussion about this method.


ON A DIFFERENT TOPIC:

I posted a while back about a fermenting batch that was too big for me and had started to smell off before I could use it all. I was going to try to resurrect it with fresh water rinse, lots of acv, etc...NOPE never came back to something I felt comfortable feeding so I wasted the batch...grrrr. Anyway, live and learn. I'm back to my smaller, more manageable ferment and loving it. The chickens, of course, loved it the whole time!

 

[pigeonguy]

It may not corn in and of itself that is causing the bloat issue.
However, so much corn in feed these days is GMO and that has been linked to dozens of ills in man & animal.
I suspect that good old-fashioned corn is not that bad for them but GMO corn is often deadly.
Watch the video at this link - kind of long but very eye-opening!

Ya GMO freaks me out but I'm not going to live any different because of it. I feel if the powers to be don't do us in with that they will get us another way. They raise us like chickens the strong survive and the ones that do will be able to work harder produce more and live off of less. Like these meaties GMC bread to grow faster get bigger and the kids today around here grow big and at a faster rate. But I'm still eating meaties. I'm going to stop there bad subject to political.

 

[Lacy Blues]

maryhysong,

I'm avoiding GM crops and soy in our diets as well as the chickens' diets. For the chickens, this has meant avoiding corn and soy since I can't find/afford to order organic corn. I am new to chickens, but am going to tell you what I'm doing so you can research it and see if it'll work for you (logistically, but also whether it will provide what you want for your flock)...

I ferment with ACV:
3 parts whole wheat
3 parts whole oats
2-3 parts milo/sorghum
1 part BOSS (too much?)
1 part Ultra Kibble

You can search for threads about the Ultra Kibble here on BYC. It was originally created as a supplement for jungle fowl being raised in captivity (zoos, etc) and can be applied to chickens. I order it through amazon with free shipping and a bag lasts a long time b/c you need so little. From what I understand, a tiny bit of UK provides all the nutrition that they need in a slow-digesting pellet, but they need other foods in their diet to feel full and satisfied so I use the whole grains. The UK has some corn and there is the possibility of GMO there, but I feel like I'm doing the best I can to create a 'complete' feed with all the nutrition they need and still have the *least* amount or none of the things I don't want. Here is the owner/creators answer about GMO in UK:






In private PMs with him (he's a BYC member), he said that he does ferment in certain captivity situations where he feels he can control the result. My chickens won't eat much UK dry, but I just put it in the ferment. Some breaks down (and the turmeric in it colors my ferment water), but most stays in little balls.

I hope this helps in your search for something that works for you and your chickens.

As a newbie, I am OF COURSE open to suggestions or discussion about this method.

Hi there.

I went to Amazon to check out this product. The label cannot possibly be read.

Would you be willing to type out the ingredient label on here please? If no one else wants to see it, you can pm me.

 

[Beekissed]

On the rabbit thread, a breeder just lost a humpteendozen or maybe it was a gazillion of his meat rabbits, because of bloat he and the other rabbit people say is being caused by the increasing amount of corn Purina and other feed companies are putting into rabbit feeds! I do not see any signs if corn in the rabbit feed I am using now, but I lost 2 breeding does overnight, due to bloat, while using Purina!

I think I read somewhere that Beekissed was using FF for rabbits, but I might be wrong. I was wrong once before, when I was younger. LOL ! I don't know to feed it with my rabbit cages all having screens in the bottom of their feeders, so it might have been ACV in their water. It probably was ACV in the rabbits water to cause more females to be born and larger litters?

How about it Bee, are you still here?

Sorry....was napping! Yes, just the ACV. I just got into FF this past spring with meaty chicks but don't think one could feed it to rabbits unless it was dried out brewery grains of some kind.