The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[sunflower4you]

maybe you saw this:

to UM-POULTRY

Huffington Post:
Chickens Look Way Different Today, And Here's The Reason Why

​

​

Chickens have changed. Today's broiler chickens are several times larger than broiler chickens of past decades -- and a new study by researchers in Canada offers an explanation for why the birds got so big.
(Story continues below photos.)

The chickens shown were all raised in the same manner and photographed at the same age. The Huffington Post added the dates to this image. (Poultry Science, Advanced Access, (2014) doi: 10.3382/ps.2014-04291, Figure 1) (Zuidhof et al, “Growth, efficiency, and yield of commercial broilers from 1957, 1978, and 2005")

For the study, the scientists raised three breeds of broiler chickens: one breed that was common in 1957, another from 1978, and a third from 2005, called the Ross 308 breed, CBC News reported.
"We fed them exactly the same things, so we did not provide hormones," lead author Dr. Martin Zuidhof, associate professor of agricultural science at the University of Alberta, told the CBC. "The only difference that was part of our study treatments was the genetics."
(The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has long banned the use of hormones in poultry production.)
What did the researchers find? The Ross 308 chickens grew to be much bigger than the 1978 breed and four times larger than the 1957 breed.
"We had never actually tested our 1978 line before, but where they fell were very consistent with what we believed would be the case based on historical selection for growth rate and efficiency," Zuidhof told the Canadian news channel CTV.
In other words, today's chickens are bigger simply because they were bred to be bigger. Should we be concerned about eating these big birds?
"There is no danger in eating larger chickens," Zuidhof told The Huffington Post in an email. "That would be comparable to saying it is more dangerous to eat bigger carrots because they’re bigger."
The study was published online in the journal Poultry Science on September 26, 2014.

Check out the development on the comb and wattles on that 2005 bird. Hard to believe genetics alone could increase the growth rate so much.

 

[ronott1]

Check out the development on the comb and wattles on that 2005 bird. Hard to believe genetics alone could increase the growth rate so much.

Each parent is a three way hybrid or more. They are very carefully kept secrets from each hatchery.

 

[sunflower4you]

I'm sure this has been addressed multiple times on this thread alone, but I am going crazy trying to research fermented feed. So many places I read that you need ACV for a starter, but one blog said all you need is to add water to your feed and wait a few days. Then add more feed and more water when you get close to the bottom of the bucket and the fermenting will be continuous. I want to try fermenting feed, but I am afraid it will freeze in the winter. Can anybody point me to a thread or website that simplifies fermented feed?

 

[vpatt]

I'm sure this has been addressed multiple times on this thread alone, but I am going crazy trying to research fermented feed.  So many places I read that you need ACV for a starter, but one blog said all you need is to add water to your feed and wait a few days.  Then add more feed and more water when you get close to the bottom of the bucket and the fermenting will be continuous.  I want to try fermenting feed, but I am afraid it will freeze in the winter.  Can anybody point me to a thread or website that simplifies fermented feed?

I can't link from my Kindle. If you type fermented feed into the BYC search engine you will find several threads.

 

[vpatt]

I'm sure this has been addressed multiple times on this thread alone, but I am going crazy trying to research fermented feed.  So many places I read that you need ACV for a starter, but one blog said all you need is to add water to your feed and wait a few days.  Then add more feed and more water when you get close to the bottom of the bucket and the fermenting will be continuous.  I want to try fermenting feed, but I am afraid it will freeze in the winter.  Can anybody point me to a thread or website that simplifies fermented feed?

...

I'm sure this has been addressed multiple times on this thread alone, but I am going crazy trying to research fermented feed.  So many places I read that you need ACV for a starter, but one blog said all you need is to add water to your feed and wait a

When fermenting "people food" no vinegar is added. I don't see why that would change. Although, I don't ferment grains for myself ......but I still don't think you would need to.

 

[sunflower4you]

I can't link from my Kindle. If you type fermented feed into the BYC search engine you will find several threads.

I know. That's the problem.

Can somebody just tell me if they ferment without a starter? I guess that's my main question. Water and feed sitting in a bucket for a few days is easy enough for me!

 

[islandgirl82]

I'm sure this has been addressed multiple times on this thread alone, but I am going crazy trying to research fermented feed. So many places I read that you need ACV for a starter, but one blog said all you need is to add water to your feed and wait a few days. Then add more feed and more water when you get close to the bottom of the bucket and the fermenting will be continuous. I want to try fermenting feed, but I am afraid it will freeze in the winter. Can anybody point me to a thread or website that simplifies fermented feed?

I did the just feed and water process but after a few days tossed in a splash of cider vinegar with the mother. I've been adding more water and feed to my initial fermentation as needed and I keep it in a 5 gal. bucket with a loose fitting lid in a little nook in my kitchen, ladling it out into a bowl to take to the coop each morning. I've read that some people keep the whole bucket right out in the coop and others keep theirs in the house. Personally, I think keeping it in the house, close to the water source is more convenient than having to add to the mix outside...at least during the winter. My method works for me, my birds love it, and the process is very simple. I did, however, learn that starting with a smaller batch would have prevented it from exploding all over my kitchen within the first 12 hours of starting it.

I had no idea it would expand quite so much!

 

[lazy gardener]

You can ferment feed with or without using ACV with the mother to start your initial ferment. I've used the ACV simply because I think it gets the culture going quicker. Also, the health benefits of ACV alone had me using it before I started fermenting my feed, so I had some on hand. If I didn't have any, I'd most likely try it without, perhaps adding some whey from yogurt with live culture. But, there are enough microbes and yeast floating around in any environment to get a culture going as long as it's left open to the air. You can add the ACV if needed, but will probably find that you have a nice bubbling brew within a few days any way you do it.

 

[sunflower4you]

I did the just feed and water process but after a few days tossed in a splash of cider vinegar with the mother. I've been adding more water and feed to my initial fermentation as needed and I keep it in a 5 gal. bucket with a loose fitting lid in a little nook in my kitchen, ladling it out into a bowl to take to the coop each morning. I've read that some people keep the whole bucket right out in the coop and others keep theirs in the house. Personally, I think keeping it in the house, close to the water source is more convenient than having to add to the mix outside...at least during the winter. My method works for me, my birds love it, and the process is very simple. I did, however, learn that starting with a smaller batch would have prevented it from exploding all over my kitchen within the first 12 hours of starting it.

I had no idea it would expand quite so much!

Thanks. It sounds pretty easy. I wonder if my attached garage would be warm enough to ferment since that is where my water source is. I will have to experiment and see! If the garage doesn't work, I could put my bucket in the corner of the family room next to all of my husband's fermenting wine - it smells like a brewery down there already anyway!

You can ferment feed with or without using ACV with the mother to start your initial ferment. I've used the ACV simply because I think it gets the culture going quicker. Also, the health benefits of ACV alone had me using it before I started fermenting my feed, so I had some on hand. If I didn't have any, I'd most likely try it without, perhaps adding some whey from yogurt with live culture. But, there are enough microbes and yeast floating around in any environment to get a culture going as long as it's left open to the air. You can add the ACV if needed, but will probably find that you have a nice bubbling brew within a few days any way you do it.

I do have a few bottles of Bragg's Organic ACV on hand so I could add a splash to get the reaction going. I have read about this as a good thing to put in the water, but I have not researched all of the benefits. So much to learn!

 

[islandgirl82]

Thanks. It sounds pretty easy. I wonder if my attached garage would be warm enough to ferment since that is where my water source is. I will have to experiment and see! If the garage doesn't work, I could put my bucket in the corner of the family room next to all of my husband's fermenting wine - it smells like a brewery down there already anyway!


I do have a few bottles of Bragg's Organic ACV on hand so I could add a splash to get the reaction going. I have read about this as a good thing to put in the water, but I have not researched all of the benefits. So much to learn!

As long as your pipes don't freeze in the garage, that's likely to be the perfect place for you. The fermenting feed reminds me of sour dough bread...only much stronger...not sure if that would mingle well with the scent of your husband's fermenting wine.

As for the ACV with the mother, I drink it daily and use it to make fire cider for when I need a serious boost. It never occurred to me to give it to my animals until I started reading up on fermenting feed and since I've started giving it to them, particularly my dog who suffers from chronic ear infections, there have been vast improvements to his health and no more ear trouble. It's difficult to say with my flock as they were healthy to begin.