The Aloha Chicken Project

[notinoz2007]

i cant wait to see pictures of your chicks feathering out. hope you get great colors too, i am really happy with what i have here.
i decided to postpone until dec 11 and set eggs for the NYD hatch. if you have any eggs around that time i will come get them the weekend before, if you dont want to hold eggs for me that is ok too. Mr yellow will def have something fertile by december i am sure, lol. and i do believe petey has finally decided to lay me an egg, its a small whitish one, and so very cute. also, i can get laree her hens around that time as well, if you want to get me her contact info or i can pm her through byc. does she know she is getting hens from me? freeloading hens too, lol.

 

[notinoz2007]

how funny that karen mentions fermented feed and then i read about it in the az forums as well. you must be on to something karen!!

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Here is the thread I've spent the most time learning from. It has a link to the fermenting feed link. Just check out Beekissed's threads. I'm not saying I agree with every single thing she says. I am saying I've learned a lot from this thread that will help me keep my costs down.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-horrors-anyone-want-to-follow-their-progress

Here's how fermenting the feed works. Just take what you already have on hand, measure out enough for one day's worth of feed. I put mine in a 5 gallon bucket. (Some use double 5 gallon buckets with holes drilled in one. I tried that and wasn't crazy about it. The water drained too slowly for me so I just use a soup dipper to dip it up into a large strainer that I already had on hand.) Then fill with water, enough to completely cover the feed. Pour in a cup of apple cider vinegar with the "mother" in it. If it has been heat processed, there's no mother in it. I can get mine in the health food section of the grocery store. The brand name is Braggs and it comes in a quart jar. So that I don't have to keep buying the pricier Braggs, I buy the regular ACV at Walmart in the gallon size, pour off enough to accommodate half the Braggs ACV. Combine the Braggs with the regular and it will grow the mother in it, as well. Just keep adding some of the "mothered" ACV to the cheap ACV and you'll never have to buy the Braggs again.

Okay, so now you have your feed, water and ACV in your 5 gallon container. Let it sit. It will begin to get a whitish film on top as it begins to ferment. Depending upon how warm it is where you are, it should be fermented within 6 hours to 24 hours in cooler climates. It will also bubble a bit when it is really ripe, as you stir it. Stir it a couple times per day and add more ACV (just a glug or two) every couple of days and add water as needed, to keep the feed covered. When you take feed out for the day, replace the wet with the same amount of dry feed so it will be ready for the next day. You just keep it going like a sourdough starter for bread. Do not pour off the old liquid, continue to reuse it.

The advantage to the fermented feed is that it is a natural probiotic for your birds and the increased improvements in the birds digestive tract equates to a 12% increase of protein availability, plus an increase in the availability of the other nutrients from your feed. It's like using a higher quality feed without paying for it. I've spent a fortune on 68 Soluble for my birds because they needed the probiotics and extra vitamins to stay reasonably healthy. This is going to save me quite a bit in costs, preventive and after the fact for the birds. The birds go crazy for it and acted like I had been starving them, when in truth I kept dry feed available to them and the neighborhood mice, 24 hours a day.

The most tedious part of this is that I have ducks and chicks so I have to have 3 different feeds going simultaneously. Still, I've decided the extra effort is worth it and my kids have done a reasonably good job of helping me keep it going while I've been sick. The kids are sold on this feed as they love to see the birds run like crazy for the fermented feed. Our birds have always been friendly, but their display of eagerness to get at their food really makes the kids and I feel great. We've only been doing it a week and a half and are looking forward to one of the big benefits -- far less smelly poo!

I am feeling much better -- just need to get my strength back and I'll be ready to rock!

 

[IowaQuackHead]

They are gorgeous!

 

[notinoz2007]

i love the idea of fermented feed, it sounds like it is so beneficial. i will do some more research and hopefully will incorporate that sometime this year.
can i ask, have you also heard of sprouting grains? i usually mix my layer crumble with scratch grains, especially when its colder. do you think i can still ferment the mixture? or only the crumble?

 

[alohachickens]

I'm reading the threads now about the fermenting thing. Really interesting! I bet out here it would be great to add some alfalfa bits to it, like rabbit feed, because our chickies get very little green stuff out here. (Desert - no grass. Go figure.)

 

[Deerfield Acres]

i love the idea of fermented feed, it sounds like it is so beneficial. i will do some more research and hopefully will incorporate that sometime this year.
can i ask, have you also heard of sprouting grains? i usually mix my layer crumble with scratch grains, especially when its colder. do you think i can still ferment the mixture? or only the crumble?

From what I've read, adding the sprouting grains works just fine. I've been fermenting mine in the house but a friend of mine on the Consolidated Kansas group has been fermenting hers in the coop with excellent results. I'm going to move mine to the garage. I bought some sprouting grains to use when there isn't anything green left for the birds this winter but I'll actually sprout them.

I'm reading the threads now about the fermenting thing. Really interesting! I bet out here it would be great to add some alfalfa bits to it, like rabbit feed, because our chickies get very little green stuff out here. (Desert - no grass. Go figure.)

Adding the alfalfa bits sounds like a really good idea out there and here in winter.

I'm really excited about what I'm seeing with the birds. They are definitely shinier and their combs are brighter red. I haven't had any sniffles with the crazy weather changes, so that makes me really happy!

I'm also really happy with the new fence energizer. A wide impedance energizer is the way to go on dry soils. I have another energizer on order that is backordered from Premier 1. It is called the Kube. That energizer is actually better than the one I got and half the price! I just couldn't wait for it to get here since it won't be in till February. I'ts only $136, which is really inexpensive for the joules it puts out on wet and dry soils.

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

Thought I should post an update since I have some nice new pictures.

I have been watching "The Nine" grow up since the day digit appeared with the little surprises in tow. Even my roomies (who shake their heads and roll their eyes at my strange project) have independently remarked how beautiful they all are. Most of my flock is spots now...

Here's my sneaky hen, Digit, who hatched these lovely babies, with two of the little ones behind her. Digit has already disowned them, though, and they spend more time with my frizzled EE, who seems, strangely, to enjoy the company of the teenagers no one else will tolerate.

Below, Digit (mom) at left, and Twisty the Speckled Sussex (dad?) at right, two daughters between them.

Here are the nine chicks all hanging out together.

Closeup of cockeral 1

Cockeral 2

Cockeral 3

Cockerals 4, 5, and 6 (6, the pale one, is the only one showing barring- Huzzah!)

Pullet- "Iffy" (she had me confused for a while about her gender. I suppose she's just an early bloomer)

Pullet "Izzy" (so much resemblance to my missing Larry!)

Pullet "Ix" (She is the largest of the nine and the only one without yellow legs- go figure! She takes after the Sussex a lot!)

And an updated picture of Sokka, my beloved cockeral. He is still a little skinny, but he gets prettier every day. He has started crowing now and doing other roosterly things, but he is still a sweetie! A vast improvement over his father.

 

[nicalandia]

I see Barring on the boys hackle,saddle and faintly on tailfeathers...

 

[notinoz2007]

tam'ra your chicks are beautiful, i really love those spots!

sommer, bad news - we had to scrap the mr yellow project. that crazy roo has been crowing at night (about 3 nights a week) and i finally had to get rid of him. last night at 1 am he was crowing so i put him in the laundry room and found a new home for him today. he was really small anyway so its not a complete disappointment for me. i mean REALLY small. one of my 5 weeks old female chicks is already half his size so i have hope for this generation.
speaking of the 5 week olds, i kept my favorite most beautiful, LARGE spotted girl and rehomed the rest of the yellow legged ones to my friend in phx - included in that batch was another large female and a large roo both with great color, so maybe this spring i'll grab some of her fertile eggs and put them in the bator.

any contact info for laree? i can get her these hens asap, and save a ton of money on my feed bill by switching to fewer mouths to feed!