Illinois...

[Life is Good!]

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!

Just a few of us donate eggs to be hatched at the Fair, so we can pretty much tell whose chicks are whose.
You might have noticed the eggs are marked - date anticipated hatch, owners initials and a 'y' for yes, fertile.
Last year someone hatched out ducks... this year were some quail...every year is different!
Yes, there were 3 Polish chicks, a lot of EE's, some Black Java's, my SFH, and some barnyard mixes.
One of the brooders was new-got cracked in storage and had to be rebuilt Monday before the Fair opened. Never dull!

Back to the FF discussion.....

 

[Faraday40]

Couldn't resist holding the little silkie-serama mix. She's so tiny & looks mostly silkie - including the 5 toes!

The fluff color is a nice shade of red-auburn but looked blackish at hatch due to the black skin. The beak is brown. There's no dome-head but I'm not sure on the cheeks.

I wanted to get a pic of a chick inside a tea cup.... but this little chick is too tiny for the smallest cup I could find. Instead I held her on a teaspoon in front of the cup. (If at the same distance, you'd see that she's less than 1/2 the size of the cup!)

I already have someone interested in her - before hatch. Now I'm seriously tempted to put some of my silkie's eggs (currently in the fridge) into the incubator. She stopped laying about 5-6 days ago - trying to go broody.

 

[chickendreams24]

It's very cool that this conversation has come up and I'm excited to participate in it and also of course as always to learn more.

We've been fermenting feed for a couple months now and it's going great. We do it in 5 gallon buckets.

We're still tweaking our plans but so far this is how it's going and what we've done. Then I'll tell you what werew researching and planning to try.

Our birds love the fermented feed and and having over 100+ birds not counting all the spring chicks makes feed costs a problem for us. I really need to go through and get an exact count of the adult flock. This has made our feed use and costs go down but we are still tweaking the amount we feed.

We were getting a 20+% mash from our local feed mill but they closed in March this has made things dificult only in that we are having trouble finding the protein we want for a price we can afford. Ideally we want a higher protein feed we can feed to all of our birds(chickens quail guineas and turkeys-once grown). Without a doubt our chickens do not do as well on a lower protein feed. While some continue to thrive some begin to lose weight.

Currently we have been feeding 18% mash although have also had to make do several times with only a 16% layer. This is of course only what's being fed to the adult birds.

Now pellets and crumbles pretty much turn to mush when fermented so that makes no difference. Mash as well pretty much does the same.

We've been using the three bucket method with 5 gallon buckets. Two buckets nested with the inner bucket having holes in the bottom for drainage. A small amount of the feed does seep into the bottom bucket and each bucket is started over every third day. That is to say when the bucket gets fed it is removed from the outer bucket and left to drain for a couple hours in the yard. The outer bucket is dumped in the yard after the inner is removed and the chickens eat the food bits off the ground. We have a pig feed trough in one of our coops we have talked about using but as of yet spread the fermented feed on the ground as it encourages the birds to forage more. Most of our flock are great foragers but we do have some lazy birds in the flock as well.

As an added bonus feeding them in the yard/or being able to move them to where we want them to eat has added benefits. Some of which including cropping the grass, preventing weed growth, tilling soil etc.

We dug most of our potatoes last week and have been able to feed them on the freshly dug Earth allowing them to also make the most of bugs, worms and grubs that were exposed and has kept weeds from coming up.

I would definitely suggest looking into finding some smaller food grade buckets to ferment feed in. We do lay lids on top even shut them a little but we don't shut them tightly. Any bugs that are dumb enough to climb in add to the protein. We have never had trouble with mold. Each bucket after it's fed is sprayed clean with the hose and started again.

We haven't decided what room we will ferment the feed in come winter right now the buckets are on our well pump slab.

We did originally add acv with the mother to each batch of fermented feed to help start it but DH2B noticed that it fermented the same without it in the heat of the summer.

We are also looking into mixing and fermenting a whole grain feed ration and will be picking up bags for a trial run this weekend. I forget but I believe the feed mix in question is used by Justin Rhodes who is a YouTuber. We are also researching and looking up a number of other mixes.

As well as this last weekend we were told by our feed guys that someone is thinking of renting the feed mill from them that is a few blocks from our house that we used to use. Which would be a huge blessing.

I haven't tried acv. Do feed stores sell it? I have had success taking a spoonful or two from a jar that on or two days old and adding it to the next jar. It acts as a starter culture I feel like. I have not done this every time, but it seems like a practically free starter option.
@chickendreams24 how large are the holes in your inner buckets? When we started with a bucket I tried the double bucket method. The inner bucket designed very poorly though because the holes would clog with the soaked pellet feed. I tried 1/8" and 1/16" holes, and a lot of them.
Lastly, feeding on the ground may not be the worst idea. I am not certain that would work come winter, but it would eliminate the problem of puddling in the tray I use currently.

I have heard that you can use liquid from a batch that's ready to start the next batch some people never clean their set-up. I just prefer cleaning ours and you'd always have to add fresh water anyways.

No we don't plan to feed this way come winter and the idea of a piece of gutter sounds awesome! Not sure how we'll do it but anything to keep them hydrated just so long as they don't get frost bitten toes. Our birds generally like going out in the winter after the first couple snows and the shock wears off. Still I worry.

Some of you may remember my pure blue Ameracauna cockeral last year had to be put out of his misery after he spent too long outside and his feet froze solid. I brought him in we thawed his feet and treated him but the damage was too great. He survived and seemed to be healing and doing well but then in spite of clean bedding in the warm bathroom, regular foot soaks, and physical therapy gangrene set in. There are places he could have gotten out of the snow including several out buildings and the coop. We also had a guinea lose the ends of two toes the same way but it survived although it lost the toes. No one ever accused guineas of intelligence though.

I will ask DH2B about the size of the holes in the inner bucket. He didn't teot me the size just handed me the drill with the bit in it and said drill holes lol

what is up with the feed mills closing?? mine is supposed to close today, but they didn't get to my last order yet. They are going to mill it next week, which is good because I bought 3 months worth of turkey (what my little suv will hold) a couple of weeks ago, and had 2 months already before they sent the notice. So I will put some in the freezer, because it gets stale after 6 months. I will have to can tomatoes and meat instead of freezing them this year.

They were 1 1/4 hrs away.. the others I found are 2 1/2 hrs away.
I can get organic chicken grower crumbles, but organic turkey feed I haven't found except the mills... and a place online that with shipping came out to $40 a 50lb bag and I need away to unload a truck

Ugh I know it's terrible. I've been searching for one nearby and there is one in a town nearby but you have to order a minimum of 2000 lbs. When I asked about making our own mix, so I could feed one ration to all the flock and offer oyster shell on the side, I got fed a line about how their mix is better. That kind of made me not want to work with them.

The one we used to use a few blocks from our house you only had to buy 500 lbs but we bought 1000. Apparently they weren't making money but they always had a steady stream of customers. I would rather they up the price a little but reopen it. I mean you can't beat 8-9$ a bag and they bent over backwards to make sure we got the mix we wanted.

As I've been looking for other places I would have to go almost up to the UP of Michigan to find another place! How can that be?!

when I was feeding the ff wetter, I used a piece of gutter with open ends. The extra liquid ran out the ends

I love this idea although probably couldn't do this in winter with our concrete coop floor.

apple cider vinegar is carried by grocery stores by the vinegars..

don't
lots of people ask the same question

Yep I remember asking when I was new. Lol just make sure when you buy it it says it has the mother(living part of the vinegar) in it. We also use it for cooking when needed as it is healthier for us as well.

Aldi sells ACV - the kind with the mother - and is the least expensive I've found.

DS's spitzes have all hatched. The last one had a little membrane stuck on the head, so it has an adorable mohawk. (They do get crests around 2 weeks old, but this was just a little bonus cuteness.)

.... and here's Smudge, the "happy" mama:

Who doesn't love the broody stink eye?

Along with DS's spitzes, we hatched a few Easter-orps.

DD's silkie started laying again after being broody. She happened to be with DD's bantam cockerel (who had just discovered the joys of mating).
We slipped the egg into the incubator & here's what we got, a silkie serama mix

Can't wait to see how she/he looks all dried & fluffy. We already want to hatch more..... but the silkie is starting to go broody again...... She's in the tractor with the young serama cockerel, so hopefully he'll help her get over the broodiness hormones.

It's an unexpected color, b/c both parents are so light.
Mom: splash silkie

Dad: light colored silkied serama

Eek so cute!! I can't wait to see how the serama silkie turns out!! Good chance it will be silkied I would bet.

I do have some sad news we lost one of our chickens to what appears to have been a car accident. One of my dear little chocolate English Orpington hens, Faith. RIP Faith. It is unclear if this is exactly what happened as DH2B didn't feel a bump. He's a very careful driver and I know it was an accident. It was only after he had been in the house and gone back out did he see her body under the car. No other signs or symptoms other than some bruising on her head and a possible broken neck.

 

[BReeder!]

Back to the FF discussion.....

My mention of fermented feed has really turned into a full on conversation. I love it!
I had a jar that came out perfect in texture, odor, and moisture content IMO. My wife likely feed it to the hens today because it was the next in line in our 4 jar system yesterday when I took a look at the jars we had going. I haven't tried a cloth lid yet, and this particular batch of feed may convince me not to. I filled the jar 3 days ago with my 50/50 feed and grain/seed mixture. The remaining half was water to just to below the one quart line. The metal canning style lid was put on. The lid was pressed outward like an unsealed jar lid, but not dented out. The feed inside expanded to the lid. The feed was airy and fluffy thanks to all the gasses, not dense and packed like wet sand. The grains were swollen from expansion. All of the water was absorbed. The odor was something like sourdough but slightly floral from the seeds I think and had a bit of an over ripened vegetable scent that was mild though - after all, this is fermentation not bread making.
If I had a cloth the texture may not have been so fluffy because the gases would have escaped easily. Also, the fed and grain would be pressed against the cloth and moisture would quickly wick out, perhaps even causing a puddle on my workbench. I do still think I need to vent the jars and I may switch to half gallon containers if I can find some durable food grade ones with lids. However, I am going to go with the vending through hose barvs in the lids that allow me connect hose that will run into s container of water.

 

[BReeder!]

Couldn't resist holding the little silkie-serama mix. She's so tiny & looks mostly silkie - including the 5 toes!

The fluff color is a nice shade of red-auburn but looked blackish at hatch due to the black skin. The beak is brown. There's no dome-head but I'm not sure on the cheeks.

View attachment 1489882

View attachment 1489881



I wanted to get a pic of a chick inside a tea cup.... but this little chick is too tiny for the smallest cup I could find. Instead I held her on a teaspoon in front of the cup. (If at the same distance, you'd see that she's less than 1/2 the size of the cup!)View attachment 1489879 View attachment 1489880


I already have someone interested in her - before hatch. Now I'm seriously tempted to put some of my silkie's eggs (currently in the fridge) into the incubator. She stopped laying about 5-6 days ago - trying to go broody.

This might convince me to get a silkie. Do let me know if you hatch more. I love the saramas and my wife likes the silkies. I still have room for one more chicken in or flock.

 

[Molpet]

took some eggs to a customer , he needed a ride to town , bank and stores.... got back 4 hrs later and an almost 8wk(6/2/18) old poult was missing.. they all were fine when I left.
Heard some flies buzzing and found it dead and stiff under a tree no external marks.. except fly eggs on it.. must have died right when i left.
so out of 26 eggs, 18 alive after 3 days, I am down to 11 poults. between poults being so fragile, the turkey hen being overly protective and the feed mill closing, it is very discouraging
Chickens are a lot easier for me

 

[Faraday40]

took some eggs to a customer , he needed a ride to town , bank and stores.... got back 4 hrs later and an almost 8wk(6/2/18) old poult was missing.. they all were fine when I left.
Heard some flies buzzing and found it dead and stiff under a tree no external marks.. except fly eggs on it.. must have died right when i left.
so out of 26 eggs, 18 alive after 3 days, I am down to 11 poults. between poults being so fragile, the turkey hen being overly protective and the feed mill closing, it is very discouraging
Chickens are a lot easier for me

So sorry it happened again.

 

[Faraday40]

This might convince me to get a silkie. Do let me know if you hatch more. I love the saramas and my wife likes the silkies. I still have room for one more chicken in or flock.

I, of course, love the BIG orps, but over the past few years, those "useless chickens" have found their way to our yard.... and hearts. For 4 years I swore we'd never get a silkie but DD finally wore me down. Silkies look funny, are not an intelligent breed, don't lay big eggs, don't lay many eggs, love to go broody, can't fly or run fast to escape predators, and have very poor survival skills. Why would anyone want to own one? AFTER DD hatched some & I got to experience how much they love to cuddle, I actually liked our 2 silkies. I was devastated when a hawk ate Gilfie, and our remaining silkie needed another companion. That opened the door to hatching more useless chickens.

People are always trying to buy our silkies, but they must stay. Emotionally, the chicks are a lot easier for us to sell. We just try not to get attached & rejoice when we find them good, loving homes. I'm sure I'll hatch more in the future. They won't be purebred - just cute cuddly little chickens. What I really want to hatch are some purebred silkied seramas. We got a serama egg - then nothing for a few days now. She could be hiding them or they could be soft-shelled, breaking open, & then devoured.

 

[cavemanrich]

My mention of fermented feed has really turned into a full on conversation. I love it!
I had a jar that came out perfect in texture, odor, and moisture content IMO. My wife likely feed it to the hens today because it was the next in line in our 4 jar system yesterday when I took a look at the jars we had going. I haven't tried a cloth lid yet, and this particular batch of feed may convince me not to. I filled the jar 3 days ago with my 50/50 feed and grain/seed mixture. The remaining half was water to just to below the one quart line. The metal canning style lid was put on. The lid was pressed outward like an unsealed jar lid, but not dented out. The feed inside expanded to the lid. The feed was airy and fluffy thanks to all the gasses, not dense and packed like wet sand. The grains were swollen from expansion. All of the water was absorbed. The odor was something like sourdough but slightly floral from the seeds I think and had a bit of an over ripened vegetable scent that was mild though - after all, this is fermentation not bread making.
If I had a cloth the texture may not have been so fluffy because the gases would have escaped easily. Also, the fed and grain would be pressed against the cloth and moisture would quickly wick out, perhaps even causing a puddle on my workbench. I do still think I need to vent the jars and I may switch to half gallon containers if I can find some durable food grade ones with lids. However, I am going to go with the vending through hose barvs in the lids that allow me connect hose that will run into s container of water.

Looks to me like you have the portion quantity of each ingredient just right. Including amount of water, since it all gets absorbed.
No bad odor, and no mold

 

[Life is Good!]

Anyone here interested in a purebred Black Java hen or two or three?
Layers between 1 and 2 yrs old... Our 9 yo layer still lays every other day!
Each hen averages 4 eggs/ week, year round.

I took a good hard look in the coop last night and realized chicken math had struck! Too many broodies, more than anticipated from the Fair = too many birds! There's not going to be room come late fall - so hard decisions have to be made.

This is the part of chicken keeping I don't like. And sorry, not building another coop! That's not in the cards...!