Naked Neck/Turken Thread

[DesertChic]

I tried fermented feed back in the winter and they liked it a lot and as you say the waste was minimal. Trouble I had was it was too cold in my shop to keep the feed warm enough to ferment. Are you all using some type of heated vessel or are you fermenting the feed in your house? I read that egg production is better with less waste and consumption and the benefits go on and on. If I can figure out where to set up my ferment I will go that route.

Do you back fill the ferment to keep it continuous or are you doing separate containers throughout the week? And do you use the pellets or crumble? Reason I ask is I fermented some pellets and they did good but I thought maybe the crumbles may be better for some reason but can't think why except maybe for stiring in the existing if back filling daily.

I live in southern AZ so cold is rarely a problem here. Quite the opposite, actually, which is why I indicated wet/fermented. I have three 5-gallon buckets that I mix the feed in, mixing one bucket of feed per night. Each bucket usually rests for 2-3 days maximum depending on the birds' appetites. The summers are harder because if I do more than soak the feed for one day it will quickly begin to go moldy, so summer is wet feed only. And the feed I use is typically mash, not pellets or crumble, but I have used those as well. The only backfill comes from any feed left in the bucket when I begin to mix more. I sometimes add whey from yogurt we eat, hot pepper flakes, kefir, ACV, powdered probiotics, etc depending on what I have available and what I think my flock may need.

 

[codieshell]

Does anybody have bantam Turken eggs for sale

 

[nchvac]

I live in southern AZ so cold is rarely a problem here. Quite the opposite, actually, which is why I indicated wet/fermented. I have three 5-gallon buckets that I mix the feed in, mixing one bucket of feed per night. Each bucket usually rests for 2-3 days maximum depending on the birds' appetites. The summers are harder because if I do more than soak the feed for one day it will quickly begin to go moldy, so summer is wet feed only. And the feed I use is typically mash, not pellets or crumble, but I have used those as well. The only backfill comes from any feed left in the bucket when I begin to mix more. I sometimes add whey from yogurt we eat, hot pepper flakes, kefir, ACV, powdered probiotics, etc depending on what I have available and what I think my flock may need.

I used kefir whey from when I make yogurt to start the feed I fermented. It was winter and I only tried it a couple of days.
Is back filling not effective?

 

[DesertChic]

I used kefir whey from when I make yogurt to start the feed I fermented. It was winter and I only tried it a couple of days.
Is back filling not effective?

From what I understand it is. I just have a hard time getting past the smell.

 

[nchvac]

What is your process and what keeps it from smelling?

 

[chickengr]

I add some feed to the fermented feed but for 2-3 days only. it becomes smelly so I prefer to start over.

I had 1 NN's egg under a muscovie duck broody and it is missing. I guess a rat got it as I found some rat's droppings.when and if a duck hatches any chicks I will have to knock down that coop in order to get rid of rats. the roof has insulation and rats found the way to get in.

tomorrow evening will be day 21 with the hired broody. 5 of 11 eggs are NN's

3 are bcm and 3 olive eggers. and under the duck there are 4 bcm, 3 olive eggers and 1 araucana/wyandotte cross. they are due on april 12th.

 

[nchvac]

I add some feed to the fermented feed but for 2-3 days only. it becomes smelly so I prefer to start over.

I had 1 NN's egg under a muscovie duck broody and it is missing. I guess a rat got it as I found some rat's droppings.when and if a duck hatches any chicks I will have to knock down that coop in order to get rid of rats. the roof has insulation and rats found the way to get in.

tomorrow evening will be day 21 with the hired broody. 5 of 11 eggs are NN's

3 are bcm and 3 olive eggers. and under the duck there are 4 bcm, 3 olive eggers and 1 araucana/wyandotte cross. they are due on april 12th.

Are you using an airlock?

 

[DesertChic]

What is your process and what keeps it from smelling?

I add some feed to the fermented feed but for 2-3 days only. it becomes smelly so I prefer to start over.

I had 1 NN's egg under a muscovie duck broody and it is missing. I guess a rat got it as I found some rat's droppings.when and if a duck hatches any chicks I will have to knock down that coop in order to get rid of rats. the roof has insulation and rats found the way to get in.

tomorrow evening will be day 21 with the hired broody. 5 of 11 eggs are NN's

3 are bcm and 3 olive eggers. and under the duck there are 4 bcm, 3 olive eggers and 1 araucana/wyandotte cross. they are due on april 12th.

I do the same thing as @chickengr...2-3 days maximum soak/fermentation time. The feed I buy is corn-free, soy-free and and canola-free and uses fish meal as the primary source of protein, and spring peas as the secondary. That fish meal REALLY stinks after day 3 and even the chickens turn up their beaks at it.

@chickengr Good luck with your broody hatch!!!! So exciting!!! And I can empathize with the rat problem. The pack rats have found my aquaponics setup and the little buggers are eating my produce.

 

[draye]

@Kev
Couple of questions. Three really.
1). Can a Brown Ted rooster over a Wheaten Duckwing ( best description I can come up with) produce these two?

One has a reddish cast to it, and these other is more of a silver look.

2). A crops between a Columbian (Cinnamon) rooster over a White (few black spots) produce these Columbian colored chicks?

Three of them appear to be Columbian marked.

3). Are partridge chicks hatched out as a brownish red color?

 

[chickengr]

Are you using an airlock?

I just put the lid on top of the jar so the air can pass.