She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[OldMissionChick]

My last hatch this summer, SC said that if I got a 90% hatch that he would "throw me a parade". I got 100%, so he threw me a parade...lol He did a great job and it became a "thing".  Just a bunch of celebratory pics/gifs and usually with a bit of humorous user specific jokes added in. It is the one thing I hold him in high regards for- his penchant for putting together things like that. So he set his standards for when he would "throw a parade" for hatchers, and if a hatcher met that standard he would put it together.

Since it is left to me to continue with, I want to set the standards to a more reasonable range.

Makes sense sounds like fun too

So when I bought these two hens, the owner gave me a bag of Southern States Rock-N-Rooster Premium Five Grain Scratch. It's basically a high end chicken scratch. My local feed store does not carry it and I loved it. So I decided to make my own. I bought regular chicken scratch, BOSS, corn, hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds. I'm also planning on mixing in some dried mealworms, when my next order comes in. They went crazy over it today! And I'm going to try adding some to my fermented feed as well.

I want to make some fermented feed. Especially since its starting to get cold :/

 

[Tina1972]

My awesome coworkers gave me a chicken shower.

 

[scflock]

My awesome coworkers gave me a chicken shower.

 

[mixedUPturk]

So, I threw some feed in some water about 3 days ago, (and then forgot I did) so today I stirred it up and I don't know how "fermented" it is, it was pretty much a mash, and took some out to see how they would react. It seemed to go over quite well, so I mixed up a regular bucket and set that aside and hopefully I can remember to stir it a couple times and add water if I need to, now I just have to find something(s) big enough to put it in to feed them so more than 3 or 4 can eat at the same time.

does it have an alchol odor? I like to mix in a 13 gallon trashcan

I water out of a large flexible rubber pan with high sides; holds a bit more than a gallon. Not quite the same as fermented feed, I know, but they're both liquid, and both will freeze. Might be handy if the birds don't clean up the feed right away; just flip it over and knock the ice out of it. Since I only use it for water, I don't see all seven of them around it at once (unless I've let it go dry and just refilled it), but I'm sure at least five of them could feed at once. A trash can lid might work, too, but they'd want to be walking in it.

A trashcan lid would be cheap and interesting, ive used reptile water bowls, shoe storage contaniers, crawfish serving trays, anything short tough and heavy doesnt get tipped.

AmyLynn, my neighbor gets 5 gal buckets from a friend, he cuts them shorter and uses those... if you see anyone getting rid of lidless buckets on CL, might be good to try some... old paint buckets are great too... if someone is wanting to get rid of those and paint is no good or don't need it, let it dry out and peel it out... just a thought...

I think i could realistically reuse about 30 5 gal buckets with the 100 uses for them!

My favorite feed bowls i bought from TSC for our calf, heres the link. Actually the smaller one gallon is what i bought.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/fortex-rubber-pan-2-gal-capacity-black?cm_vc=-10005

 

[AmyLynn2374]

My awesome coworkers gave me a chicken shower.

That's a new one! Cute! lol

 

[AmyLynn2374]

does it have an alchol odor? I like to mix in a 13 gallon trashcan
A trashcan lid would be cheap and interesting, ive used reptile water bowls, shoe storage contaniers, crawfish serving trays, anything short tough and heavy doesnt get tipped.
I think i could realistically reuse about 30 5 gal buckets with the 100 uses for them!

My favorite feed bowls i bought from TSC for our calf, heres the link. Actually the smaller one gallon is what i bought.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/fortex-rubber-pan-2-gal-capacity-black?cm_vc=-10005

Honestly, it did not have much of any odor. It's the crumbles and from what I understand, because of all the additives and crap that may take longer to ferment w/o a starter ??? They loved it regardless...lol

 

[ronott1]

Honestly, it did not have much of any odor. It's the crumbles and from what I understand, because of all the additives and crap that may take longer to ferment w/o a starter ??? They loved it regardless...lol

can you get some organic apple cider vinegar with a mother in it? It does not take much to get it going.

 

[lazy gardener]

You'll know you have a good ferment going when it bubbles. I serve mine up in the cheap plastic dog bowls from the $ store. They do a feeding frenzy, but all wander off before the bowls are empty, then come back a bit later to finish up. Sometimes, if I'm letting them out to range, I just dump it on the ground.

 

[mixedUPturk]

Honestly, it did not have much of any odor. It's the crumbles and from what I understand, because of all the additives and crap that may take longer to ferment w/o a starter ??? They loved it regardless...lol

That was my understanding too, but once it was good and started, my only takes about 12 hours to bubble and crack after i add freah layer pellets and warm water. Always warm water, warmth helps it grow. The first batch did take longer but i think like you after a few days i started feeding it.

 

[scflock]

My awesome coworkers gave me a chicken shower.

Didn't you say they were coming next week?