Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[RaZ]

A bit of good news on the small farm front.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2014/10/small_mattawan_farm_judged_com.html

 

[Amy PT]

@Brennigan, my ladies were a duet from August - May. They did just fine.

 

[tntchix]

A bit of good news on the small farm front.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2014/10/small_mattawan_farm_judged_com.html

 

[Leahs Mom]

Hello Michigan folks!

I've been on the thread here on occasion at @HollyDuckFarmer s invitation from time to time.

I hope it's okay to post this here!
I just wanted to stop in and say that It's time, again, for me to purchase a bag of Fertrell Poultry Nutribalancer. I mix my own feed and this is the mineral mix. It is rated for organic.

Problem...Right now my best shot to get it in a 60 lb bag which is enough for a ton (2000 lbs) of feed. So I will never go through all that before it is beyond shelf life.

If there is anyone in the Southern part of Michigan - or within driving distance - that may want to purchase some of my bag, send me a pm and I will give you price by the lb. I'm in the South Bend area.

I am not trying to make money .... will sell at the same price per lb that I get it at. I just don't want it to go to waste and maybe someone wanted some and also doesn't want to have the whole large bag.



http://www.fertrell.com/poutrynurtibalancer.htm

Thanks!

 

[iamfivewire]

Thanx L M - ill check w my DW if we would maybe purchase some for our birds

 

[fuzzybutt love]

I would eat the eggs, Brennigan

I am super intrigued by this supplement. It is minerals- what of the vitamins? What do you use for filler?? I think you are too far from me this year but i do a lot of mix and match supplementation for my birds. I would love to make my own feed, go soy free.
Autopsy, how to i.d. diseases. Good explanations of them (i could never do it)
http://www.canadianpoultry.ca/chapter_v.htm

 

[Leahs Mom]

If you look at the link in the original post about the Fertrell, it shows the ingredients. Every feed has a mineral mix in it - (often referred to as the "premix" if you're getting it from a feed mill or making your own feed).

Since I make my own feed I purchase my own mineral mix. I just don't have enough birds to make a ton of feed in a year's time!

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Right, but what of the b's and a? Etc. I guess i am asking the long way how you make your feed?

 

[matt44644]

http://ucanr.edu/sites/placernevadasmallfarms/files/102993.pdf

 

[Leahs Mom]

Well...there are a lot of recipes out there. I am soy-free so I use field peas instead of soy...which can be used raw though they still contain a good amount of anti-nutrients.

I started out having the feed mil grind it for me but I had to buy a minimum 300lb batch and I don't like it sitting around getting rancid. I ended up purchasing the grains and field peas (50 lb bags from the mill) and fish meal and mixing my own according to their recipe.

Mine is made primarily from (organic) field peas, corn, (oats &/or barley depending on costs), fish meal, calcarb, and Fertrell Nutribalancer. I make it at an "all-flock" protein and calcium level so that the whole flock can use it; the elders get free-feed calcium source and the youngers get extra protein from various sources.

I follow a very simple recipe for the main feed and then they get other things. I may use more variety in the basic feed if they didn't have other opportunities, but this is considered a good standard feed recipe if only corn, peas, fishmeal and the pre-mix is used.


In summer they free-range about 1/2 acre (will be expanding that next year). They also get some daily sunflower seeds and occasional raw meat and mealworms, and free access to the compost. In winter they get additional raw ground meat from time to time, sometimes chopped raw grass-fed liver (I don't use it if it's not from a local source whose animal husbandry I'm familiar with) some mealworms, sunflower seeds, kale or cilantro when it's on sale, lard-based "suit" cakes (for skin and feather health), sometimes dried nettles, etc. And usually not all those at any one time...just variety over time.


I actually grind mine in an old industrial "Vita-Mix" that my mom had at her house that wasn't being used. Otherwise I would have looked for a yard-sale blender with a glass container. I like it to be "cracked" pretty coarsly but it is still a "mash" type feed that is pretty powdery by nature. I like to soak or ferment it so that it all gets used...but I do offer dry as well.

Some good recipes and ideas are at this link...but, again, it doesn't have to be fancy. Just the basics are okay.

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Making-Poultry-Feeds-3.html

I know he lists a lot of things in his feed, but you don't have to get that extreme with ingredients.

You do have to pay attention to ratios for the every-day feed as there are percentages of certain grains that you should not go above. For example too much oats can cause loose stools, Buckwheat is can cause poto-sensitivity and needs to be used in moderation, etc .(I also have some sources that spell out those percentages if folks are concerned about that.) There are other items that cannot be fed raw (soy and amaranth for example) as they are toxic.

But I have a policy that if something is toxic if eaten raw it doesn't belong in a chicken's diet anyhow as I've never seen mine go out on range and build a fire to roast their food.....

The link above is part of a 3 part article that starts here:
http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Making-Poultry-Feeds-1.html