Maine

[lazy gardener]

Mama broody is doing well with her 6 babies. She's bringing them out of the nest, and feeding them. I've forgotten how very small chicks are!!! 2 girls for sure, should be able to gender id them when they are just a bit older, based on leg color.

BTW, Anya: You may have a bit of a surprise re: egg color on the partridge colored gals. I found a very tiny white egg under my coop. So... one of my partridge pullets is laying white eggs, or, one of the RCBL hens is laying fairy eggs!

 

[buckabucka]

I don't plan to try and bring the mealworms back. There was a lot of feed on the floor, mostly pellets. My chickens hate pellets, except for my cross-beak hen, - it is all she wants. I think she gets a bigger reward with a pellet when food finally hits it right to enter her very-crossed beak. I use other feed for the flock, but always keep some pellets on hand for cross-beak. When she is not actively working on her dish, the others scatter the pellets far and wide.

I got in the habit of feeding indoors, locking the food in at night, because of the rats. Now that I've rat-proofed the run, all food is outside, and I hope to keep it that way.

 

[lazy gardener]

I tell ya, fermented feed will make spilled feed obsolete!!!

 

[lazy gardener]

Dom with babies:

 

[anyasmifya]

Aww, super cute, Lazy. My new girls are doing well. They now come when I call them. They are exploring the run more and more every day. I can tell which one is going to be the top hen. I can't wait to see what color eggs they lay!

 

[lazy gardener]

Anya, I'm glad they're doing well. Black, or partridge color Alpha?

 

[anyasmifya]

The lighter colored partridge girl is the top bird. I had to catch them the second day I had them. I caught all the black ones first, just like you did when we put them in the cage!

 

[lazy gardener]

Let me know what color eggs you get!

 

[Feather duster]

I tell ya, fermented feed will make spilled feed obsolete!!!

I was wondering if you can use regular chicken feed like Blue Seal to ferment ? Can you explain the process you use with a picture of your bucket set up? This sounds like a great way to go. Last winter I made a mush with hot water in the morning and took it out to them. They always dived right in and wouldn't touch there dry food until it was all gone. I figured it would be a good way to get them hydrated after being on the roost all night. Thanks for any help you might give.

 

[lazy gardener]

There is a fermented feed thread that will provide you with way more information than you need. All you need is some feed (what ever you are currently using), a bucket that will hold twice as much as you estimate that they will eat in a 24 hour period, some water... and time. Fill the bucket 1/2 full of feed. Add water and stir. Keep adding water until the mix is about the consistency of cooked oat meal. Start with a smaller batch, until you find out just how much water it absorbs, and how much it "grows" as it ferments. Common newbie mistake is to put too much in the bucket, and then have it expand over the top of the bucket. Not a fun mess to clean up, but... worse things can happen: like putting it in glass with a tight lid, and having it explode! Now... just let it set for a few days. Stir once or twice/day until you see bubbles coming up from the bottom when you stir. Ever made bread? Proofed the yeast in flour water and sugar? That's what you'll see. The bacteria and yeasts will be releasing gas. You might see the feed puff up, and it will collapse down when you stir it. You might see some white scum sitting on top. All normal. When you get a good bubbling ferment going, feed it out to your flock. Chickens are notoriously fearful of anything new. Some folks find that they are slow to take to the FF, while other flocks attack it, and will never look at dry feed again. My flock easily switches back and forth. So, if they are reluctant to try it at first, it may be a bit too wet. In that case, add some dry before serving it up, and then sprinkle some dry on top. They'll start by picking at the dry, and then, they'll discover the wet underneath. I just use 2 buckets that are easy to carry. Mix the ferment in each one as they get fed out. I try to hold back about a cup full (more or less) to feed the next batch with the bacterial/yeast culture so it will ferment faster the next time around. So, every day, I have a bucket ready to feed out, and a bucket that was mixed up yesterday that will be used the next day. Just don't use metal, b/c the acid will corrode it. I feed in plastic dog bowls, the buckets are plastic, and i have a huge plastic stirring spoon/ladle.