The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lalaland]

Leahs mom,
good info. how much brewers yeast are you feeding?

 

[Leahs Mom]

I use a "mash type" feed...ground grains/legumes with nutribalancer and fish meal so it is pretty "mealy" rather than pellets or crumbles so you'll have to kind of adjust for whatever you are using. I think it probably works out to about 1.5 - 2 T. in about 2 C. of dry feed. I have a little scoop that holds about 2 T. that I just keep in my container. Sometimes I only use about half of the scoop. I don't feed it all the time, just on occasion. But I haven't had to use it to re-build either. If I were going to use it as an "every day" item, I'd use less than that.

Nice thing about BY is that is it has a good amount of protein too. And somehow I think I can count it as "animal protein" in a certain sense. I "think" it has a better bio-availablity rate than veg protein for sure.

It you want to get the powers to stick to the feed you could always melt a little lard and stir in into the feed with the BY. That lard is great for skin and feather health and would be a good addition too.


I'm a little hesitant to use it as an everyday item because of the phosphorus to calcium ratio so I just give it maybe ever 2-3 weeks. However, since my birds do range and get a variety of other items to eat I think it would balance out with no problem over the long-haul.

I would certainly not hesitate to use it in your situation for a week or so after the amprol. You would want to wait until the amprol dosing is done since it is going to block the thiamin...which is it's job since the cocci thrive on the thiamin and it needs to be blocked to kill them off.

 

[lalaland]

yeah, I use an 18% mash. I usually try to soak overnight but won't be doing that when it freezes. If I haven't soaked it, I mix it with water/milk/stock/ - whatever liquid I have around so the flour parts kind of stick together. less waste and they get the parts that are vitamins, etc. So it will be easy to add brewers yeast to that when I am done with corid.

today I mixed the mash with corid, and also have corid in the drinking water.

Sad because today I saw two of the older chickens, astrolorps, have some eye color changes going on which is a mareks symptom. Good news is that a missing pullet turned up outside the gate - she is the one that still refuses to use the chicken door to return to the coop. Isn't impressed by the log stumps as an alternative to the ramp, either.

And, when the chickens came out this morning, they were pretty nervous and kept eyeing the sky. I kpet looking too, and couldn't see any raptors. Then something caught my eye and there was a ruffed grouse in the run up on a pine branch, looking down on the flock. He watched them for 15 minutes or so and then flew off.

thanks, Sue, for all the help and info.

 

[armorfirelady]

It you want to get the powers to stick to the feed you could always melt a little lard and stir in into the feed with the BY. That lard is great for skin and feather health and would be a good addition too.

Just butting in on the conversation. I saw Lala doesn't ferment & I had a few ideas. (tho I don't know if they would work)

Could you mix it into yogurt?

How about using some lard and putting it into homemade suet cakes?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Joining the conversation....or even changing the subject.... isn't "butting in"!!!!!


It's "taking part"

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I'll participate in the changing the topic, just because I have questions not because the topic needs to be changed.

The plywood floor gave out in our duck / spare rooster coop. What are the benefits to building up or filling in that area with dirt and litter to basically have a dirt floor compared to replacing the plywood floor every 2-3 years?

 

[ronott1]

I'll participate in the changing the topic, just because I have questions not because the topic needs to be changed.

The plywood floor gave out in our duck / spare rooster coop. What are the benefits to building up or filling in that area with dirt and litter to basically have a dirt floor compared to replacing the plywood floor every 2-3 years?

Did you use exterior plywood? Is the coop raised off of the ground or was the plywood on the dirt?

exterior grade plywood should last longer.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I'm hoping people w/ducks will chime in on this one. I'm wondering it it would be healthier to have the dirt floor vs. the wood that will continue to rot out. Probably not a good idea to use treated due to the toxic issues - especially when it's constantly wet.

Wonder if @aoxa might see this and have some advice.

 

[islandgirl82]

I used to have a bevy of 8 ducks and they slept in a 12' x 24' stall in my barn with a dirt floor and spent their days either foraging around my yard or swimming in the pond. Honestly, because of the mess they make with their water, I loved the dirt floor and so did they. The water would get soaked up in no time instead of destroying the shavings and hay. They also preferred to dig out holes to lay their eggs in instead of using the nests. I never had a sick one (lost them all during a blizzard when a window blew out of the barn and a fox got in). I would add more bedding in the winter for insulation but always kept it away from the water and I would move the water bins around so one area wasn't getting saturated. In the spring, I'd rake up all the loose bedding, then use a garden fork and loosen the dirt, load some up in a wheelbarrow and take it directly to the gardens. Because there were so few birds to such a large space it worked well for us but I can easily see it turning into a mud pit in no time if there were too many in the space.

 

[Shan30]

I'm hoping people w/ducks will chime in on this one.  I'm wondering it it would be healthier to have the dirt floor vs. the wood that will continue to rot out.  Probably not a good idea to use treated due to the toxic issues - especially when it's constantly wet. 

Wonder if @aoxa
might see this and have some advice.

I think all of aoxa's floors are either concrete or earth.

I think if you put down hardware cloth first, connected to the base of the walls, and then build up the soil it would work. Keep in mind any wood that is in contact with the built up soil will rot much faster.

We currently have a plywood floor which is covered in linoleum and is hasn't rotted yet even with deep litter. However when we get around to building the barn we are going with a concrete floor.