Illinois...

[Life is Good!]

I don't have issues with raccoons fortunately.

I never realized how many racoons were in our neighborhood until I got chickens. Or coyotes or skunks or possums...
Make absolutely certain that your brooder is predator proof. Hungry critters do desperate things....

 

[BReeder!]

I have a few of the dog cages myself. Can I suggest that you remove the tray from bottom and use it as a roof. The chicks will walk on the run ground, which is a good thing. Also no need to clean up tray. The larger openings on the cage floor will allow plenty of good walking surface , and chicks will not be getting tripped ether. You can also move cage to grass area when desired.

Tray as a roof... so simple but so genius. I was thinking ray cleanup, but I can just move the cage and tada! fresh ground for the chicks.

 

[Faraday40]

Tray as a floor is useful if in a garage.... but nothing's easier than a grass floor!

I have a play yard & hang the feeders & waterers. I have a piece of garden fence over 1/4 & a piece of scrap fiberglass roofing over the remaining 3/4. (hawk, sun,
& rain protection)

In the evening, I put them into the garage brooder and slide the whole play yard a few feet. Cleaning's all done & they'll get fresh, new grass in the morning

BTW- I'm still dealing with broody fever. Several of my broodies have decided to go for a 2nd round.

1. Cookie adopted the older chicks in the pic above.

2. Smudge went broody just as more chicks were hatching, but there wasn't enough time setting for her body to make the switch from incubation to motherhood. Cookie to the rescue!

3. Cookie adopted all the younger chicks too!

4. My son's Spitz eggs are due on Mon, so Smudge will get to adopt those chicks.

5. DD's silkie has already been a mom in Dec-Jan, March-April, a back up co-broody in June, and is again starting up some pre-broody noise!

Long term broodies (aka: the s-mother hens)

Jewel (my big, blue LF orp) is still with her turkeys

Trouble (sebright) is still with her big babies (2 LF orps) already 2x her weight.

 

[Faraday40]

If anyone's heading to the DuPage Co. Fair, check the kids Ag area for the hatching chicks.... I've got a couple dozen Swedish Flower Hens chicks there, if they hatched!
I'll be there tomorrow to see them! Can't wait to see if there are any new fluffy butts to stick under my first SFH broody!!!

We stopped by the big incubator a few times. I hope you got a decent hatch.

How do they tell which eggs came from which farm? or do you just get a sampling of chicks returned? I saw some cute bantams & some with domed heads - like Polish maybe. I was also surprised to see some quail running around. Of course, I'm probably just more excited about the home-made incubator made from a store display case!!! I've been admiring that for years!

 

[BReeder!]

I know the are forms dedicated to feed and fermentation, but I really like the local touch of this groupfor all things chicken. I started to ferment feed about a two weeks ago. At first we tried the method of starting a batch and then add we feed some to the hens we added more feed and grain to the mother batch to keep it going. This didn't workot for long. After the first 5 days were started having problems with mold and a horrible stench - things clearly went wrong. Ww have switched to a method of 4 mason jars. 1 jar per day for three days and one in the sink/dishwasher. We feed jar 1 on day 1 and then it goes in to be replaced by jar 4 which is filled with feed, grain and water. Then jar 2 is fed on day 2 and replaced by the now cleaned jar 1. On and on the cycle goes and we end up with a jar of fermented seed everyday that has fermented for 3 days. This works in that tge feed is not overly rotted, but takes on a sourdough odor, softens, and obviously expands. The biggest problem now is expansion. At first we simply left at least an inch of water over the feed/grain mixture. The feed/grain exoanded over the top of the jars though and I had to scoop out about 2 inches everyday - a waste and wet feed/grain exposed to air can lead to mold and other nasty things. I tried ls feed/grain. This sorta worked, but the surface of the water would get funky and sunflower seeds in particular seem to float. So I put lids on the jars. Seemed simple enough. However, the lids are now bulging thanks to gas created by the fermentation process. I don't want some type of bio bomb blowing up in my garage, which is were I am doing this fermentation project - started in the kitchen but after some initial funk I relocated it out of our living space.
So, now I need help from my fellow chickonians (just made that up but it has a nice ring to it). Do you ferment feed? What works for you? Is there a budget friendly solution to contain the fermenting feed but sllow the gases to release?
I was thinking of a bubbler - drill a hole in each jar lid and insert a hose barb, then submerge the other end of the hose into a container of water. The gases would travel through the house and bubble out of the water. The water would act as a barrier to prevent air coursing mold spores, bacteria, etc from entering the jar. Anybody do anything like this? It reminds me of a DIY CO2 reactor I once created for a planted aquarium.
Tge other problem I would still be left with also is the fermented feed seems too wet for the chickens. They eat everything down to the water, leaving everything that is submerged alone. If I drain the water off they will eat the rest. Anybody havea solution to this? Different feeding dish maybe that allows the water to run off or a cleaner way to drain the fermented feed? It just clogs a mesh strainer and yhat becomes s nightmare to clean.

 

[cavemanrich]

I am a pragmatist....... I will never load extra work onto myself that is not necessary. There are peeps that ferment feed and claim that they use less feed to satisfy their chickens appetites. Maybe so, but with a handful of chickens, I only see the savings in terms of pennies.
If things get moldy and you end up tossing, then loss rather than savings occur.
Have been keeping chickens for 20+ years now. Never fermented anything... My chickens live long lives.. I get more than enough eggs from them when they are laying.
Most peeps ferment their layer or alflock feed rather than grains. I suppose anyone can ferment whatever they have on hand.
I agree that you do not want to give anything with mold to chickens. I never give spoiled food, or feed to my chickens ether.

 

[Molpet]

I have been fermenting since 2015. I use this method https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/
I use a food grade buckets about 3/4 full to allow for expansion. In the summer I just let it ferment for a day if it's above 80 f or 2 if its 70's f. In the winter it may take 5 days. .. I have it drier so when I go to feed there isn't any water on top left..
You can cover jars with a paper towel or thin cloth held on by rubber bands or hair ties to let gasses escape or keep bugs out. I have several 5 gallon buckets going and don't worry about covering them. I add red pepper and that keeps the mice and dog away .

 

[BReeder!]

I have been fermenting since 2015. I use this method https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/
I use a food grade buckets about 3/4 full to allow for expansion. In the summer I just let it ferment for a day if it's above 80 f or 2 if its 70's f. In the winter it may take 5 days. .. I have it drier so when I go to feed there isn't any water on top left..
You can cover jars with a paper towel or thin cloth held on by rubber bands or hair ties to let gasses escape or keep bugs out. I have several 5 gallon buckets going and don't worry about covering them. I add red pepper and that keeps the mice and dog away .

I only have 5 18 week old hens and 2 chicks right now. The 5 gallon bucket is too large for our small flock. The mason jars seem to be adequate in volume, but I might look into some larger jars to allow for the expansion of the feed/grain. I do like the cloth idea. Since I'm using mason jars, the jar rings should be able to hold a piece of fabric. I'm going to try that.
The red pepper... flakes or powder? And how much would you recommend to a quart sized jar?
Some additional info: I fill the quart jars hallway with 50% laying feed and 50% supreme bird food (that's what our feed store sells it as). I also have started sprinkling in some oyster shell, but that's not necessary as I add it to their scratch.
Our scratch recipe is:
In a 5 gallon bucket:
2 cups oyster shell
2 cups crushed granite
2 gallons cracked corn
2 gallons supreme bird food (Red Millet, White Millet, Cracked Corn, Striped Sunflower, Oil Sunflower, Safflower, Oat Groats, Rape Seed, & Peanut Hearts)

 

[Molpet]

I only have 5 18 week old hens and 2 chicks right now. The 5 gallon bucket is too large for our small flock. The mason jars seem to be adequate in volume, but I might look into some larger jars to allow for the expansion of the feed/grain. I do like the cloth idea. Since I'm using mason jars, the jar rings should be able to hold a piece of fabric. I'm going to try that.
The red pepper... flakes or powder? And how much would you recommend to a quart sized jar?
Some additional info: I fill the quart jars hallway with 50% laying feed and 50% supreme bird food (that's what our feed store sells it as). I also have started sprinkling in some oyster shell, but that's not necessary as I add it to their scratch.
Our scratch recipe is:
In a 5 gallon bucket:
2 cups oyster shell
2 cups crushed granite
2 gallons cracked corn
2 gallons supreme bird food (Red Millet, White Millet, Cracked Corn, Striped Sunflower, Oil Sunflower, Safflower, Oat Groats, Rape Seed, & Peanut Hearts)

home depot or lowes had 1 gal food safe buckets.. but what works for your situation, is best
1/4 teaspoon of ground red pepper per bird is a therapeutic dose .. flakes don't seem to dissolve , the ground doesn't dissolve either but it spreads through the mix better
most people say to feed grit and oyster shell free feed, some birds need more than others.
If your birds have soft eggs or gain too much weight, cut back on the treats: the extra cracked corn and supreme bird food... lots of fats in those... and they may be filling up on them and not getting good nutrition from the layer feed...treats are usually 10% OR LESS of a chickens diet.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chick-treats.1262819/#post-20272871
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...—the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens.47738/

 

[BReeder!]

home depot or lowes had 1 gal food safe buckets.. but what works for your situation, is best
1/4 teaspoon of ground red pepper per bird is a therapeutic dose .. flakes don't seem to dissolve , the ground doesn't dissolve either but it spreads through the mix better
most people say to feed grit and oyster shell free feed, some birds need more than others.
If your birds have soft eggs or gain too much weight, cut back on the treats: the extra cracked corn and supreme bird food... lots of fats in those... and they may be filling up on them and not getting good nutrition from the layer feed...treats are usually 10% OR LESS of a chickens diet.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chick-treats.1262819/#post-20272871
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-treat-chart—the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens.47738/

I was thinking the and grains would mimic their natural diet. Of course my chickens are not exactly wild animals - they are very domesticated birds. I just think that a more natural feed option is better than processed pelleted food. I also make sure that my hens have plenty of access to wild plants (weeds). The devour just about any plant they can get access to. I'd say that wild plant matter (an armful every day or two) and the fermented feed mixture (1 quart per day) are the staples of their diet currently. So far the only things we considered treats were frozen chunks of watermelon and left over corn cobs. The corn cobs (rinsed to remove any butter and seasoning) being the only table scraps the birds have yet to have. I will be sure to do some research on the seeds and grains though and make sure we are providing a well balanced diet.