Help Chicken rickets

[rjohns39]

@Mary Monk the best advice I can offer is pick up the phone and call fertrell. As a fertrell customer you have access to their nutritionists. Call them and tell them you want to blend your own feed and need assistance with the recipe. Tell them everything you're currently doing and using. Don't be surprised if they suggest adding some things.

 

[BrindleFinch]

My advice to you about Purina would be that not all of their formulas are the same - not even the formulas for the same species.

They have very high end foods and very low end foods - foods that are made for optimal health and foods that will keep an animal alive/provide them with the basics of what they need.

I would never feed a basic Purina food to any of my animals, as a general rule. However, it's important to not write off an entire brand because of one formula. While I would never give my cats cat chow, they get Beyond dry food which is made by Purina as well but has much better ingredients. Both cats have done wonderfully on it - while they did poorly on cheaper food. Some cats do fine on cheaper food, and may even do better on it than expensive food. For example, my older cat is sensitive to a lot of things in food. I always went for lower ingredients - which often meant higher prices - but I was actually recommended Fancy Feast by my vet! As you could imagine I was not keen on the idea.

Yet, looking at the actual formula and the ingredients instead of the brand that makes it made me realize that not even two cans of the same line of Fancy Feast are the same. Some varieties are okay for my old guy, and they're doing great.

I encourage you to take some time at your local feed store and actually look at the ingredient labels - without thinking about who makes the food. Having specific wants for what goes into your chickens - and your eggs! - is totally understandable and acceptable. I would also take a list of the minimum nutritional requirements for chickens with you, and observe what feeds meet or exceed these standards.

Only you know what's best for you and your flock, but I'm telling you not to rule Purina out as a whole; not everything they do is the same, and they have several branches that focus on different aspects of animal health/feeding.

 

[Kiki]

The fertrell is separate. I put a teaspoon on their food every day. I also mix an eighth of a cup of kelp in their fermented food each day. I didn't want the vitamins to degrade during the fermentation process. I ferment the grains which are all mixed up and then when I take it out and rinse them off (this removes toxins according to what I read) blend them so they are easier to eat ...then I fill their bowl mixing in the teaspoon of fertrell and the 1/8 cup of kelp. ( as I mentioned kelp is also in a bowl by itself for anytime they want it on top of thier regular feed)

I think you are wasting your time with fermenting them only to rinse them off. You should not be rinsing of the fermentation, that defeats the purpose.

Chickens can eat whole grains...it is not hard for them, but I like that you do grind it up some because that will help prevent them from picking out particular grains that they prefer and not eating a little bit of everything. This picking out and only eating certain grains is a problem and can cause them to not get a complete diet.

I am not sure yet if the grains you are using are making a complete diet...I am going to work on that today.

I am also not sure that you are mixing the right amount of Fertrell in each day.

Fertrell says you much mix 60lbs into 2000 lbs of feed/grains.
I broke it down really quick like this:

Do you have a scale?
Before you start your fermenting process can you weigh the amount of feed you feed per day and tell me how much it weighs.

 

[Mary Monk]

I think you are wasting your time with fermenting them only to rinse them off. You should not be rinsing of the fermentation, that defeats the purpose.

Chickens can eat whole grains...it is not hard for them, but I like that you do grind it up some because that will help prevent them from picking out particular grains that they prefer and not eating a little bit of everything. This picking out and only eating certain grains is a problem and can cause them to not get a complete diet.

I am not sure yet if the grains you are using are making a complete diet...I am going to work on that today.

I am also not sure that you are mixing the right amount of Fertrell in each day.

Fertrell says you much mix 60lbs into 2000 lbs of feed/grains.
I broke it down really quick like this:
View attachment 1531091


Do you have a scale?
Before you start your fermenting process can you weigh the amount of feed you feed per day and tell me how much it weighs.

yes but I just saw this. I will weigh it tomorrow. I do have a kitchen scale. I will stop rinsing. I read that when you soak them...not to give the water with the grain b/c it has toxins in it. I was just being extra careful. I will stop rinsing that does make sense now that you say it. I gave her a sardine with some caster oil this morning. She is running around quite perky. I've been watching all of the chickens since about 8am and it is 1:30 now. She seems less wobbly today. We did have some sunshine until about an hour ago. It is raining now. I'm going to let them out every day all day so they can forage more. I also removed some shade cloths off of a couple of my garden beds that were blocking the morning sun from their coop.

They knocked my compost down about 2 feet today. They got lots of mycilium, bugs and worms for sure. I emailed Fertrell twice but have not gotten a reply. I haven't found any reasonable instructions online.

I really appreciate your help.

 

[Kiki]

Great I am glad she is feeling better.
I'm still trying to figure out the feed stuffs.

 

[Mary Monk]

I think you are wasting your time with fermenting them only to rinse them off. You should not be rinsing of the fermentation, that defeats the purpose.

Chickens can eat whole grains...it is not hard for them, but I like that you do grind it up some because that will help prevent them from picking out particular grains that they prefer and not eating a little bit of everything. This picking out and only eating certain grains is a problem and can cause them to not get a complete diet.

I am not sure yet if the grains you are using are making a complete diet...I am going to work on that today.

I am also not sure that you are mixing the right amount of Fertrell in each day.

Fertrell says you much mix 60lbs into 2000 lbs of feed/grains.
I broke it down really quick like this:
View attachment 1531091


Do you have a scale?
Before you start your fermenting process can you weigh the amount of feed you feed per day and tell me how much it weighs.

Oh wait...I just realized you wrote "before"...ok, 2 lbs of feed give or take an ounce or two.

 

[Kiki]

Oh wait...I just realized you wrote "before"...ok, 2 lbs of feed give or take an ounce or two.

Yes before...dry weight.
Ok so what I am trying to figure out right now is how much Fertrell needs to be added to that 2 lbs.

Can you weigh 1 cup of Fertrell for me?

 

[Kiki]

I haven't gotten to calculate your grains yet.

 

[Kiki]

I think you are wasting your time with fermenting them only to rinse them off. You should not be rinsing of the fermentation, that defeats the purpose.

Chickens can eat whole grains...it is not hard for them, but I like that you do grind it up some because that will help prevent them from picking out particular grains that they prefer and not eating a little bit of everything. This picking out and only eating certain grains is a problem and can cause them to not get a complete diet.

I am not sure yet if the grains you are using are making a complete diet...I am going to work on that today.

I am also not sure that you are mixing the right amount of Fertrell in each day.

Fertrell says you much mix 60lbs into 2000 lbs of feed/grains.
I broke it down really quick like this:
View attachment 1531091


Do you have a scale?
Before you start your fermenting process can you weigh the amount of feed you feed per day and tell me how much it weighs.

Do you see these bottom numbers..
You are feeding about this amount (About 2 pounds) per day and you are adding only 1 teaspoon of the Fertrell to it correct?
You should be adding at least .06 pounds of Fertrell to the feed.
Which I think is going to be closer to two TABLESPOONS.

I cheated:
http://www.onlineunitconversion.com/pound_to_tablespoon.US.html

3 teaspoons equal one tablespoon so if you are only adding one teaspoon you are not added enough.

Do this make sense? You should probably be adding closer to 6 teaspoons to their 2 pounds of feed per day.

 

[Kiki]

Next is the calcium.
Can you weigh what you think they are eating each day?