The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[RedRidge]

I have an excel spreadsheet that I have created and have it laminated and hanging in my feed room which calculates feed adjustments according to BSFL on hand that week. It's very crude and was designed for my own personal use.
I don't currently offer BSFL to chicks because I want to assure they each get a consistent diet and the more aggressive chicks would eat them all. I have Underwood RIR and some Rhodebars and am feeding them the chick mix I make which adds more fish meal instead.
Right now it is set up for layers with a ration adjoining for chicks without BSFL. In hindsight I'm not even sure someone else could interpret it without an explanation since I designed it for me alone, but i'd be happy to share if anyone is interested... Just message me.
Sheri
www.red-ridge-farm.com

 

[LillianMae]

How come there aren't many heritage rhode island reds left? Did production hatcheries just try to breed them quicker and mess it all up? Are there other heritage breeds?

Just gonna ask again because no one replied

 

[Mumsy]

I have 10 almost 3 month olds from Ron. And there are getting BIG!! They have been outside since they have been around 2-3 weeks old. Was feeding Home Grown Chick starter by Purina. Switching to Southern States Meat maker. 20%. For chicks and Roos. Then there 16% layer feed for the hens.

Been playing around with fermented feed the last month. I asked Ron for his opinions on it. Anybody else have one??

All my flock from day old to layer get fermented feed from day one. They are all thriving on it. I ferment chick starter for the hatch-lings until four weeks. Then they go on All purpose ferment for the remainder of their life. I'm not a feed expert but mix my mash with what works for my birds. They all free range from four weeks on.

My recipe:

Day old to four weeks Four weeks for life

All Purpose Crumble
Game Bird Grower
Chick Starter Crumble
Unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar Same as chick
Ground Pumpkin seeds
Flake dried Oregano fresh garlic and herbs
Powdered Cayenne
Powdered Garlic
Greek yogurt added twice a week
Minced raw beef liver once a week

I fill feed pans in the morning all they can eat until its gone within a half hour. All are turned out except brooder chicks all day. I feed again before they go in the barn for roost.

I have not lost any chicks except for one accidental drowning. All my birds are growing and thriving in good health. I want to show some birds in the Fall shows. Those birds will go on conditioning ferment when they get closer to the date.

I keep my ferment buckets in the house in the winter. They will go into the barn when the weather warms up a bit more. I feed and care for sixty chickens and six Blue Slate poults with this routine. I won't change anything about it since it is working.


The red pullets are Production breeding and five months old. That dark little pullet in the middle is a five month old bantam RIR hatched from Roslyn Pickens egg. Hanging out after foraging in the garden all morning.

Some of my dark red Ron Fogle hatched chicks taking a drink from the garden pool. I am outside with my flock when they are. Which is nearly every day.

 

[ronott1]

I have three Pullets @ 10 months old from Ron Fogel and 10 chicks that are 6 weeks old.

The six week old chicks went outside yesterday for the first time yesterday. They are very active so I took a video of the and I will post it after vimeo has compiled it:

 

[ronott1]

The Video is ready!

RIRs from Ron Fogel at 6 weeks old:

 

[BantyChickenLuv]

Hi everyone,
I've been lurking in this thread until next year when I'm ready for some HRIR bantams. I just want to chime in on feed though, last night I went to Purina's website. Right now I feed all my birds except chicks Purina Flock Raiser. Feather quality has been great with that feed, as well as weight. But, upon lurking, I read how important animal proteins are and Purina Flock Raiser does not use animal proteins. Has anyone tried Purina Broiler Show Chow? It uses animal proteins, and is at 26% protein. My only concern is younger birds and roo's getting that much protein. If anyone has any experience feeding the Purina Broiler Show Chow, please share your experiences with it, as I'm debating switching feed after this discussion.

 

[monnie662]

Just gonna ask again because no one replied

If you haven't started at the first page of this thread you need to read it, Mr. Bob explains what happened to the HRIRs and the difference between production reds and these "real" reds.

 

[mg15]

Hi,
What is BSFL ?

 

[RedRidge]

Hi,
What is BSFL ?

Black Soldier Fly Larvae

 

[Pozees]

I have 10 almost 3 month olds from Ron. And there are getting BIG!! They have been outside since they have been around 2-3 weeks old. Was feeding Home Grown Chick starter by Purina. Switching to Southern States Meat maker. 20%. For chicks and Roos. Then there 16% layer feed for the hens.

Been playing around with fermented feed the last month. I asked Ron for his opinions on it. Anybody else have one??

I have been feeding FF since last August. I didn't know whether it was making much difference until recently. I had gotten some Egyptian Fayoumis and split them with a fellow Coloradan, and then each of us distributed some to others, all of whom live much nearer to her. There are two main differences between my setup and all the rest. My elevation is about 1000 feet lower (maybe more, I'm at 5400-ish and I believe they are all close to 7000), and I feed FF.

I met the person I split the original order with yesterday to drop off 2 more pairs because she had a dog attack her flock a week or so ago and she lost a lot of birds. She has since strung hot wire around her yard to prevent future attacks. When she saw the EFs I brought her, her eyes got huge. Apparently mine are about twice the size of all the others. They are about 2 months of age, the breed is known to tolerate heat well, forage well, mature very early (hens can lay as early as 4 months of age). I didn't select based on anything when we split them up, I just put half the chicks in a box and brought them to her. I have not had any losses (knock wood), she and one other lost one or two to what they believe was cold. Mine have been in an unheated, uninsulated coop since they were 5 weeks of age, and they've gotten through a night as cold as 11 degrees. I started them on the FF right after I moved them out there. They dove into it as if they had been waiting their whole lives for it.

She believes the FF made the difference. I don't know if that is due to higher bioavailability of proteins, or the fact it contains more moisture and maybe that makes a difference for these desert birds. I only know my birds seem robust, they are very active (!), and fermenting seems to make the food last longer, there is far less waste and it takes less to fill their crops because the crumbles and grains are swollen.

I guess my opinion at the moment is, it is worth the little bit of extra work. It doesn't work for anyone who doesn't have time to visit the coop at least twice a day, it is far from a hands-off method, but I want to look at my birds at least twice a day anyway and once it gets going, the way I manage it anyway, there isn't much to it. If I was feeding a couple of hundred birds I would almost certainly think twice about it, as one would have to balance the extra input against the savings in lower consumption of feed. The most I've fed it to is 60 growing pullets and cockerels and 8 adults.