Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[neopolitancrazy]

I am really looking forward to what you share on this topic, Karen. I have chick grit in the brooder, waiting for my first hatch. I plan to offer live yogurt to the chicks for the first 2 months of life, as I am no longer fermenting feed for the whole flock. How "developed" are your sprouts when you feed them? I fed them when the little plants were ~2" tall. I would love to find amino acid or probiotic formulae for my (BLRW) chicks.

Best wishes,
Angela

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Along these lines ...

I was having a discussion recently about feeding powdered eggs to birds. Normally this is cost prohibitive, so not a lot of research has been done. At least not that I have found.

BUT ...

I did find some research that seems to indicate feeding powdered egg yolks to fresh chicks does seem to help the chick develop a stronger digestive tract AND better immunities.

I posted some of the research I dug up on that at the local poultry association's facebook page, but they deleted the discussion of feeding powdered eggs to poultry. Weird.

My guess is feeding the flock's own eggs back to young chicks would enhance the benefit the chick gets from absorbing the yolk prior to hatching. And since chicks hatch in spring when egg counts are up, it shouldn't be too much of an economic hit.

 

[gjensen]

Grow2max is a probiotic mix for young birds. You can find it on Amazon.

Chopped boiled eggs is an excellent supplement for young birds, or even adult birds. That is if you have extra eggs, and most of us do. Young tender clean sprouts is a good option for chicks. I range my adult birds, and the qty. required convinced me that it was not a practical option for me. Chicks on the other hand, do not require much. Both of these would be supplements, so a little goes a long ways.

Into the spring there is probably some young tender weeds in your yard that you can cut and carry. Young cleaned greens help add variety, interest, and entertainment to growing birds. Not to mention that there is something to be said for food that is alive.

As beneficial as sprouts can be, they are young tender plants. Don't neglect what is readily available and free for the cutting, early in the spring especially. Here I have a surplus of chickweed etc. while I am brooding chicks.

Karen, keep in mind that the intestines of commercial broilers are more fragile than what we might raise. They are genetically different animals. Also consider that the dietary needs of a growing meat bird is different than an adult bird.

Southern States mixes a breeder ration called Super Breeder which is formulated for game birds, but is an excellent feed for our breeding birds. Probiotics is in the mix, and I have had excellent results with this feed. Unfortunately, I cannot get it anymore. It is superior to RocknRooster etc. if you do not mind crumbles. It is a breeder ration. If it is possible, a breeder ration should be preferred for adult birds.
I would not come to recommending a ration without having been convinced of the quality.

I can no longer reliably get a breeder ration. I instead supplement with calf manna, and hulled sunflower seeds. Birds that do not have access to range has some fresh greens cut and carried to them accordingly. Again, a little goes a long ways.

 

[neopolitancrazy]

I found grow2max on Amazon, but it says it is likely to stop up the new nipple watering system we put together yesterday. I also found SuperDFM-poultry on Amazon, which sounds like it will work well in the watering system and be easier than making yogurt.

I am currently picking tender grass for the one pen I cannot move to fresh ground. (The four birds in that pen clean up one generous fistful daily.) This is "greens" season in this part of the country. When the weather heats up, the grasses rapidly toughen until the birds refuse to eat them, although they will eat a little purslane. I plan to plant a couple of my grow-out pens in white clover this winter, and see how that goes.

Looking forward to my first hatch.
Angela

 

[DesertChic]

Just wondering...at what age do you deem your birds to be old enough to breed? 8 mos? A year?

 

[gjensen]

You can breed them once their egg size gets up. It is generally recommended to wait until they are hens. There could be reasons to do otherwise at certain times.

 

[bnjrob]

Just wondering...at what age do you deem your birds to be old enough to breed? 8 mos? A year?

I've had to breed birds that were less than a year - due to needing to get more birds on the ground as insurance against any predator losses, since I have birds that aren't easy to come by. But I prefer to have them at least a year old, if not older. Had a cock show up with a side sprig in his comb around his 2cd birthday - yet side sprigs showed up in his male offspring when they were juvenile birds. Egg sizes have also increased during the year from some of the hens first and second birthdays. I would rather start hatching from birds that are a couple of years old, but it all depends on what is going on and what kind of priorities and needs that you have.

 

[debp]

Why use hulled sunflower seeds? I thought you could feed unhulled sunflower seeds to chickens?

 

[gjensen]

Why use hulled sunflower seeds? I thought you could feed unhulled sunflower seeds to chickens?

The hull is waste and takes up space. The do not digest coarse high fiber items well. They are not rabbits or goats etc.

You can feed it to them of course, and you will not harm them. They will get more out of the seeds if they are hulled, however. One is better than the other, but you will do no harm if you do otherwise.

The only reason I feed them sunflower seeds is for the oil. Most bagged rations do not have enough fat. It goes rancid fast. Then I only use it during conditioning or when I am setting eggs. Maybe a little while they are molting.

If you want to feed them unhulled sunflower seeds, you certainly can.

 

[debp]

Thank you for the explanation. I have a bunch of unhulled seeds and was feeding small amounts of those as entertainment, mostly because they love them. Glad to hear they will not do harm.