From facebook Terry Fancher (Who I don't know!)
Hehe, no place for a mean bird here either, good for you! I do a chest bump firmly, either my hand or foot when one bites. I have a lil BR thats going to be named bbq
And she shall be named stew-ie for I will eat her soon! Every time I bring treats my ladies eat out of my hand but she always nails my finger as hard as she can. Today she got smacked for it and while the motion was swift not one of the other girls flinched. I swear I heard the gentle applause of twenty other ladies clapping their wings.
Hehe, no place for a mean bird here either, good for you! I do a chest bump firmly, either my hand or foot when one bites. I have a lil BR thats going to be named bbq
Sure do, and you betcha I will
Quote: Its AWESOME on meat birds, really cuts the smells from them. I have done CX (cornish cross) a few times, and I will always ferment the feed from now on! Its very healthy and saves a lot of $ on food. Same for the layers, and My girls are healthy and shiny. Egg yolks are orange and the eggs are wonderful.
I start out with a grain.. cracked corn or scratch. 5 gal bucket with lid. You can get the buckets free from most deli or bakery counters. I use that big a bucket because I have about 150 birds (yup chicken math) Fill the bucket half full of your grain, add water to almost filled to the top, I leave a few inches to allow the expansion of the grain. I add maybe 1/4 cup of Unpasturized Apple Cider Vinegar WITH "mother". (heinz is available anywhere, braggs is good, just whatever you can find) That's your ferment mixture, just remember to replace the grain every few days. You should see the bubbly fermentation when you stir, and i has a sweet.sour-ish smell. (yummy smelling btw) Just remember to stir daily.
I rotate my feed buckets, I always have a set "cooking" So for me, there's 4 - 2 gallon buckets for my adult birds, and any babies that are of laying age.
When I mix up the feed, I add 2 cups of the grain ferment mixture to a bucket. add the dry layer pellets, or crumbles to about 3/4 full.. Pellets work better IMO. add water and start mixing in to moisten. I like it thicker, so I top the food off with about an inch of water. It will absorb most of it, just check and stir once a day. set yourself either 1 big bucket or 2 small, what ever works best for you. this works best for me, I don't have to lug a 5 gallon bucket around, or carry a bunch of food dishes. I go grab a bucket and head to a coop! Once that bucket is empty I remix, and set it back for a few days. It usually is fermenting the 3rd day and warmer makes it work faster.
You can ferment chick feed too, but do not ferment medicated feed, it kills the probotics, and the medicine in the food too.. All of my chicks start at day 2 on the FF. (gro-gel on day 1) I also have buckets mixed up for chick feed, and another set for my pigs, my barn cats and my Pug
Now that i totally confused you, please ask if you have any questions!
ETA this is what fermenting will look like.
Quote:
Thats ok too! I just like adding the grain in, gives them a little varietyOH and forgot to mention, dont use metal, it will leach into the ferment.
