Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Beekissed]

The chickens thought so too! I wish it didn't have soybeans, but seems the chooks pick around them anyway, so whatever. Got another egg today too! 4 eggs in 3 days is still pretty pathetic from 6 hens...ok make that VERY pathetic. But after seeing nothing for 3 weeks, I'm excited anyway. I'd love to figure out who is laying though, so I can eat the others. I have all kinds of yummy plans for them.

Do the butt check at night...glove up, gently insert a finger and palpate the next day's egg through the intestinal wall. If not there, she's not laying.

 

[smyers32]

I'll have to trim my finger nails!!

Ah well, needs done anyway!

 

[Oakieridge]

Just posting a brag. I started using FF nearly a month ago. Here is a photo I took yesterday of my daughter's late-June hatch bantam cochin cockerel going through his first molt. Yup - this bird is young and in mid-molt... and I can practically see my reflection in his feathers! Though I have feathers all over my yard and they should all be looking raggedy, all my babies are looking more lustrous each day!



Feed waste has gone down to almost 0 and the birds love the FF. My feed bill has been cut by about 3/4! I have my FF in our laundry room and though you can smell it when you're near the laundry room, it just smells like sourdough bread... and my family ain't complaining about that! I catch my 9-year-old going over there just to smell it. She loves the smell And I love the smell of helping our little flock be healthy!

Beautiful!!! What grains are you using? I want to experiment with some other types of grains the next time I buy feed.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Do the butt check at night...glove up, gently insert a finger and palpate the next day's egg through the intestinal wall. If not there, she's not laying.

I don't remember what kind of chickens you have but some breeds only lay every couple days so not sure if this would be definitive?

By the way, I've never heard of doing this before. Sounds like a good method for birds that are supposed to lay daily.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't remember what kind of chickens you have but some breeds only lay every couple days so not sure if this would be definitive?

By the way, I've never heard of doing this before. Sounds like a good method for birds that are supposed to lay daily.

All birds should lay daily in peak laying season~which this is not~ or, if they are older, every other day...so you check again the next night. If you are feeding breeds that are young and are still only laying every other day it's time to buy real chickens that put out.

If not, and the chicken lays only every other day, I propose only feeding them on the days they lay....that seems fair to me.

 

[smyers32]

All birds should lay daily in peak laying season~which this is not~ or, if they are older, every other day...so you check again the next night. If you are feeding breeds that are young and are still only laying every other day it's time to buy real chickens that put out.

If not, and the chicken lays only every other day, I propose only feeding them on the days they lay....that seems fair to me.

 

[ChickChickChicky]

Has anyone here tried adding Calf Manna to their ff? I've been using ff for a little while and decided to throw a handful of the (dry) calf manna on top of the bowl, and they would barely touch the stuff. I know they used to chow down on the calf manna when I mixed it with their dry food, but apparently it tastes yucky when mixed with the ff. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Beekissed]

I mixed a little with mine and they like it just fine...they can't really tell where the manna ends and the rest of the feed begins, so they just eat it all. Right now they get fed once a day in the evenings....if I put nuts and bolts in the trough they'd eat 'em.

 

[Turkeytruff]

Sometimes it is not about that you are not giving enough protein but are you giving the right kind of protein. I don't know what your protein level is at the moment.
I will tell you what I would do if this was happening to me and I thought my protein levels were good. I would add animal protein and fat into their diet. Hopefully you eat bacon add the bacon lard to their feed. How do you do this with fermented feed. Take the FF out of your main bucket and put into another put in the bacon lard and stir well and feed as normal. Hamburger grease would work also. Do not put grease in your main ferment bucket. Post your protein levels or exactly what is in your ferment by weight or parts and I will try to give you your protein value. Do remember though fats and other minerals are important too.

Thank you Lacy Blues, Beekissed, and Pigeonguy! I really appreciate your replies. I know the dry turkey pellets are 23% vegetable protein. I will look and see what the calf manna is and if it is available locally.
Re: the FF I put 3 parts oats, 3 parts wheat, 3 parts rye, and 2 parts cracked corn. I brew up my own ACV from apples I juice from our tree and it is wonderful stuff. I have been occasionally adding a bit of cottage cheese, plain bio yoghurt, but very rarely any meat as we are about 90% vegetarian. But I will get some meat into their diet if you think I need to - I look forward to hearing what you think the protein levels are

!

 

[Turkeytruff]

Sometimes it is not about that you are not giving enough protein but are you giving the right kind of protein. I don't know what your protein level is at the moment.
I will tell you what I would do if this was happening to me and I thought my protein levels were good. I would add animal protein and fat into their diet. Hopefully you eat bacon add the bacon lard to their feed. How do you do this with fermented feed. Take the FF out of your main bucket and put into another put in the bacon lard and stir well and feed as normal. Hamburger grease would work also. Do not put grease in your main ferment bucket. Post your protein levels or exactly what is in your ferment by weight or parts and I will try to give you your protein value. Do remember though fats and other minerals are important too.

OOPS!

I meant RE: the FF I put 3 parts oats, 3 parts wheat, 3 parts rye,3 parts BARLEY, and 2 cracked corn. THANKS!