The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

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I hate culling, it is much preferred to find them passed one day. I have few 9 year old ladies, and a few 8 year old ladies, and down the line. I get attach to those older girls that have outlasted the rest from their batch. I currently have a 7 year old d'uccle rooster that is almost totally blind, he is slowly slipping, so it's a matter of time before the decision gets made.

I never bought into the whole fermenting thing either. As mentioned I am an ex farmer. We would put up silage every year. Get it right and it's delicious, for the cow, get it wrong and it's deadly. Fermenting any feed needs to be done correctly every time. We certainly didn't keep silage in the middle of summer either as too much heat isn't good.

I'm not sure why it seems so popular. I think many are just wetting their feeds, which I do in the winter, they aren't actually fermenting. Fermenting require time and keeping a culture going.

Anyways I don't do it. My birds do quite well without all the extra stuff like fermenting and vinegar and everything else I read about. I believe in free ranging and letting animals live in a more natural environment where they can do animal things. Being behaviorally fulfilled goes a long way towards being healthy. My flock is for the most part a healthy happy flock.

That's part of the reason I enjoyed watching you build a bigger area for your birds. In my opinion it can never be too big.
 
oldhenlikesdogs said:
I hate culling, it is much preferred to find them passed one day. I have few 9 year old ladies, and a few 8 year old ladies, and down the line. I get attach to those older girls that have outlasted the rest from their batch. I currently have a 7 year old d'uccle rooster that is almost totally blind, he is slowly slipping, so it's a matter of time before the decision gets made.

I never bought into the whole fermenting thing either. As mentioned I am an ex farmer. We would put up silage every year. Get it right and it's delicious, for the cow, get it wrong and it's deadly. Fermenting any feed needs to be done correctly every time. We certainly didn't keep silage in the middle of summer either as too much heat isn't good.

I'm not sure why it seems so popular. I think many are just wetting their feeds, which I do in the winter, they aren't actually fermenting. Fermenting require time and keeping a culture going.

Anyways I don't do it. My birds do quite well without all the extra stuff like fermenting and vinegar and everything else I read about. I believe in free ranging and letting animals live in a more natural environment where they can do animal things. Being behaviorally fulfilled goes a long way towards being healthy. My flock is for the most part a healthy happy flock.

That's part of the reason I enjoyed watching you build a bigger area for your birds. In my opinion it can never be too big.
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Yes, I agree! Fermenting feed can be dangerous with potential to go horribly wrong as it did for a friend of mine. I talk about it here
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Honestly, I think people make feeding chickens WAY too complicated! I am not going to spend more time making their food than I do my own. I think the overall health of my flocks speaks for itself so why mess with that by starting a questionable practice? Ten year old BR hen, Amanda, laid 13 or 14 eggs since November. She hasn't walked in 3 years because of her crippling arthritis, though she manages to get around using her one good leg and her wings and sheer determination. And she is head hen, too, from a sitting position. Love a tough gal!

Wetting feed just before giving to a bird is fine. I do that on occasion to try to get one to ingest more liquid, but I don't let it sit past a few hours then throw it out if they haven't finished it.
 
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I tried the fermented feed thing once and I won't do it again. None of my birds were harmed by it, thank goodness, but it was a giant pain in the butt. It was actually fermenting because it was bubbling, but it was a huge pain to try to keep a five gallon bucket full of feed and then to keep it actually fermented you had to add fresh feed each day and then let it sit for at least 24 hours, probably longer would be better if you really wanted it to ferment, and then carry the soggy stuff out to the birds.

A lot of effort and really no reward - there was supposed to be a reduction in feed use, which maybe there would have been if I had kept at it, and they were supposed to love it. Mine didn't seem any more enthused about it than their normal feed and at first they didn't want to touch it at all.

But what bugged me the most was when I was doing it a white film formed over the top of the water in the bucket that looked suspiciously like mold. I asked about it and was told it was normal and meant the feed was fermenting but I did not like the looks of it. It was thick enough that it actually trapped escaping air bubbles in it and it just looked pretty gross.

Here's the top of my fermented feed bucket, doesn't look very appetizing to me:

700
 
You are very smart, great information, and a wonderful video. Why complicate things. Everyone should listen to you.
 
You just keep handing out good information and hopefully more folks listen to it. You have taught me a thing or two over the past few years.
 
Cyn I feed my birds feed with fresh whey but its usually gone in ten minutes after being put out.
 

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