***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[Ksane]

Ok, my lazy butt is finally getting started on the fermented feed assuming my energy holds out. I don't know where some of you get your energy.
Some people feed only the fermented stuff-do any of you do it that way? I've got 8 good sized yards and 10 pens & go through 35 lbs of feed a day average. I think that's pretty typical to some others here. I'm trying to decide how much extra bucket hauling that'll entail compardh to pellets only. The 55 gal barrels I have are too deep and I can't reach to the bottom, I'm trying to figure out what would work better....I 'discovered' Cross Brand feed about 30 min down the highway from me. The feed they have is endless. Just their scratch alone is triple screened corn chops, whole wheat & milo. I buy their Pigeon feed already, it's got Milo, wheat, popcorn, corn, 3 kinds of peas & buckwheat. Then their Game Cock feed has most of that same stuff plus sunflower meal, oats, alfalfa meal & rice bran.
I'd like to mix equal amounts of those, corn chops & rolled oats together to ferment. Is that a good idea or is that too many different ingredients? I'm worried about throwing off their vitamin and mineral balance but then again that may be overthinking it. I want to be able to feed it to all the chicks here also. I think I'll leave 1/2 Chick crumbles & 1/2 Gamebird crumbles out 24/7 for their dry food.
Do you all feed it as a main diet or just a few times a week? Really anxious to get started.

 

[Cjarvis]

Hi everyone, I'm new to chickens, and love reading BYC, soo much information. I have a 11 yr old daughter that is brand new to 4H and is going to be showing chickens. She bought a trio of buff brahma bantams at the Newcastle show that she will be showing later this month, but she REALLY wants a trio of SQ white silkies too. If anyone here has a trio of nice SQ white silkies they will part with please let know. I'm hoping to be able to get them for her for Christmas.

Talk to Betsy, she has some of the best silkies in the country, shows them frequently,she is a wonderful person and a real asset to the hobby. I assume you are showing in Shawnee at the OSPF show?

 

[artsyrobin]

Ok, my lazy butt is finally getting started on the fermented feed assuming my energy holds out. I don't know where some of you get your energy.
Some people feed only the fermented stuff-do any of you do it that way? I've got 8 good sized yards and 10 pens & go through 35 lbs of feed a day average. I think that's pretty typical to some others here. I'm trying to decide how much extra bucket hauling that'll entail compardh to pellets only. The 55 gal barrels I have are too deep and I can't reach to the bottom, I'm trying to figure out what would work better....I 'discovered' Cross Brand feed about 30 min down the highway from me. The feed they have is endless. Just their scratch alone is triple screened corn chops, whole wheat & milo. I buy their Pigeon feed already, it's got Milo, wheat, popcorn, corn, 3 kinds of peas & buckwheat. Then their Game Cock feed has most of that same stuff plus sunflower meal, oats, alfalfa meal & rice bran.
I'd like to mix equal amounts of those, corn chops & rolled oats together to ferment. Is that a good idea or is that too many different ingredients? I'm worried about throwing off their vitamin and mineral balance but then again that may be overthinking it. I want to be able to feed it to all the chicks here also. I think I'll leave 1/2 Chick crumbles & 1/2 Gamebird crumbles out 24/7 for their dry food.
Do you all feed it as a main diet or just a few times a week? Really anxious to get started.

mine get some in the afternoon, kind of like their routine, more of a suppliment- all i did was mix crumble, scratch and acv water in it, keeping water just abouve the mix, after a few days it got bubbly and began to smell like sour dough starter, a few of my free rangers found the bucket and jump right in, so it was a hit. Here is a bucket with sweety in it, its not a huge bucket-

 

[mjgigax]

Life is good. Hubby and I celebrated our 26th anniversary yesterday with a nice dinner. Oct 2008, we nearly lost Roger when he had all those trachea surgeries and we are so grateful for his returned health and strength. We now look forward to our future with eager anticipation.
Losing two high school classmates this week makes clear the brevity of life and cements how we need to hold those we love close and hug them longer.

Yes, well said!

 

[mjgigax]

Hi everyone, I'm new to chickens, and love reading BYC, soo much information. I have a 11 yr old daughter that is brand new to 4H and is going to be showing chickens. She bought a trio of buff brahma bantams at the Newcastle show that she will be showing later this month, but she REALLY wants a trio of SQ white silkies too. If anyone here has a trio of nice SQ white silkies they will part with please let know. I'm hoping to be able to get them for her for Christmas.

What a good present! My DH got me a Showgirl last Christmas.

 

[artsyrobin]

Quote: BetsyOK would be the one to get them from, she has high quality birds!

 

[artsyrobin]

Nearly lost this little gal today- i use gallon jugs with a hole cut in for them to drink out of, well, this silly lady decided to climb into it and then was stuck, i cut it apart to get her out- need to come up with another system that they won't spill

 

[Ksane]

mine get some in the afternoon, kind of like their routine, more of a suppliment- all i did was mix crumble, scratch and acv water in it, keeping water just abouve the mix, after a few days it got bubbly and began to smell like sour dough starter, a few of my free rangers found the bucket and jump right in, so it was a hit. Here is a bucket with sweety in it, its not a huge bucket-

She lays in it?? lol Well, typical of my OCD Over Do Everything personality....I ended up getting a 32 gal plastic trash can and mixed the corn, oats, Pigeon grains, Game cock feed and layer pellets together with the cloudy ACV. I just put it in the corner by the back door out of the way. That's the door I use to go out and feed so it'll be handy. I'm just going to go around every day with a 5 gal bucket and pass it out into their pans just like I used to the layer pellets. The more I read and think about it-this is ingenious. I am SOO very glad this got brought back up again recently (thanks, Poco!) This is the perfect solution to the mice not getting their feed. I'll feed them just the right amount that it's gone before night time. And they'll actually gobble this up instead of picking at boring layer pellets. It'll be like getting to feed them big pans full of treats every day :-D Beekissed on the ferment thread used it with chick feed, I made a 3 gal bucket for all the chicks with 1/2 Game Bird starter (I have *1* Guinea baby and a 50# bag of the stuff so need to use it), then I added a scoop of oats and a scoop of corn chops. I've always fed wet mash but i have a feeling this is going to be way more of a hit. So with the adult bird supply-all i do is add back in every day what I feed? That's it??? I'm kicking myself right now for not doing this 2 yrs ago. Edit: I can't believe I didn't bring up Betsy 1st about Silkies! That's where *I have Silkies from ad where I'm getting more from! Duh! For some reason I keep thinking she won't have any til the Shawnee show. I don't even know why I think that! So yes-Betsy is our Silky Lady and Junebug is our Serama lady if you ever want Seramas

 

[Elwood Lightfoot]

Saw this on facebook this evening, I guess all chickens aren't country chickens LOL

Death metal rooster,

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=317520525055521

Not my sort of music but still pretty funny

 

[Ksane]

Nearly lost this little gal today- i use gallon jugs with a hole cut in for them to drink out of, well, this silly lady decided to climb into it and then was stuck, i cut it apart to get her out- need to come up with another system that they won't spill

Oh my! I just saw this post, I must've missed it earlier. I use those 3/4 gal black rubber tubs for smaller birds or small groups of bantams. I've tried about every kind of waterer there is and always come back to these tubs.