The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[nicole63021]

B
Besides bugs they get on their own I give my hens mackerel ,ground beef, turkey, chicken, liver, chicken hearts and livers.......they get any meat we eat. Cooked or raw. They esp like chicken wings and turkey carcasses. Plus they gets eggs fed back as well.

We have given them hard boiled egg, as a treat, and they liked it as well. I'm asking more since we are vegetarians, and obviously don't have meat scraps to give them. There are several great butchers and fish mongers (one of our good friends is a butcher, lol), so I can access things like organ meat, especially liver and hearts, as well as fish heads. Since we already have insects they of course get those, from the yard and what we suppliment, just wondering if insect vs. vertabrate protein is significant, and what others do. We are new to chickens, and ours aren't even old enough to lay yet, just want to make sure they have what they need.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I use ground beef since I can easily break it up into small pieces so I can be sure they all get some. Also chop up some beef liver on occasion - chopped appropriate size for the chickens and so that they can all get some.

Was just informed today that my butcher shop is now selling "dog food" meat. They put it in their freezer section in 1 lb packages. It is ground chicken, ground chicken bones, beef liver, and various other stuff. $1.50/lb at this point in time. This butcher only does local meat from farms that don't use antibiotics and hormones. Not necessarily organic, but way better than what you get from the feed lot grocery store fare.

I think I'll try some. I imagine the contents are going to change based on what they're butchering at the moment.

 

[Leahs Mom]

My plan was going to be to ask this butcher to see if they would save the stuff for me...sounds like they already thought that through and are going to make it available in their freezer case.

You could try approaching processing places (like that do venison, etc.) and see if they'd save you the scrap stuff. They might even run it through their grinder and give it to you or have you pay a small price. I have an old friend that processes deer every year. I think I'll contact him and see what he says. He's state certified.

 

[delisha]

We eat a ton of chicken in our house. I probably cook two a week. My DH insists on meat will every meal, so the dogs and he eat like kings and the birds love all the leftovers. I am the only one who eats organ meat. I do not eat intestines or any other offal from the birds. When I butcher out the birds I keep what I want to eat and let the rest of it stay on the grass. The birds do not let it lay around very long and are usually underfoot during processing. I do not process many birds at once, perhaps 6 at a time. The dogs get the feet and usually the only thing i have to toss on the meat pile is some intestines, feathers and beaks. The bugs love the leftovers and the chickens love the bugs.

I have compost piles that are just meat related further down from my regular compost pile. The birds visit all those piles daily. One of the meat piles have red worms buried too. I always have liver in the freezer for new chicks. I could not guess how much of my birds diet consists of meat, but this time of year it is pretty high. I will butcher out more birds in late October and November to get ready for winter. I do not like to house more than 40 birds over the freeze. (January-March). (I also have an incubator full and I will keep the best pullets and butcher the rest in late November). I will shut off my incubator when these hatch until February.

 

[AletaG]

Was just informed today that my butcher shop is now selling "dog food" meat. They put it in their freezer section in 1 lb packages. It is ground chicken, ground chicken bones, beef liver, and various other stuff. $1.50/lb at this point in time. This butcher only does local meat from farms that don't use antibiotics and hormones. Not necessarily organic, but way better than what you get from the feed lot grocery store fare.

I think I'll try some. I imagine the contents are going to change based on what they're butchering at the moment.

If you try any for dogs... find out the % organs and bones. Sometimes the shops don't realize the right proportions 80%meat(inc. heart) 10% bone 10%liver/kidney/lung etc. Too much/too little calcium makes for unhappy puppies. Too much/too little offal, ditto. Wish our local place would offer prices like that. Anything they set aside for "pet food" is over 3/lb! And it's usually over 50%bones. Foolishness!

 

[Jewelwing]

Scratch has value to any FF bucket though. It helps drain. So much draining...

I feed quite a bit of scratch in the summer. Much less in the winter.

Why would it be bad for them though Del? It's Barley, Oats, Wheat and sometimes Corn here. I also add BOSS to my scratch and ferment it separately. I use this as a lawn mower. I bring grain up further and further and they keep the lawn at a good length. It has low protein value, but I wouldn't think it would be 'bad' for them. All of these grains are in the feed anyway.

It helps me cut my feed costs down as well.

I like the lawn mowing idea! When you say you bring grain up further and further, do you mean you change where you dump it on the grass (I'd say sprinkle, but it sounds like you're fermenting it first)? Or are you talking about the composition of your ff?

Also, what do you mean it helps drain? So far I've only fermented my starter and grower mixes, which are not pellets but separate chunks of food bits. It kind of becomes a gruel, and I just decant off the liquid at the top as best I can and scoop out the ff into their bowl.

I'm trying to figure out a way to make more ff at a time, use the draining method, but not use plastic. I guess I'm not sure how to make something not plastic that drains since it's not as easy as drilling holes in the bottom.

Also, it'll be a challenge to do this in my garage this winter! I may have to take up part of the laundry room.

I raise a few mille fleur d'Uccles each year specifically for broodies... they are broody all the time and make great moms...

I had never heard of those, so I just googled them. Wow! Those are very cool looking birds! I see where they get their name from. Are they friendly as well?

 

[AletaG]

Also, what do you mean it helps drain? So far I've only fermented my starter and grower mixes, which are not pellets but separate chunks of food bits. It kind of becomes a gruel, and I just decant off the liquid at the top as best I can and scoop out the ff into their bowl.

I'm trying to figure out a way to make more ff at a time, use the draining method, but not use plastic. I guess I'm not sure how to make something not plastic that drains since it's not as easy as drilling holes in the bottom.

Chaos... it's easier to drain liquid off grains than pellets or crumble, because they don't go into solution, they just soak up liquid and maintain their shape.
Not sure how you're going to avoid plastic. If you can find a HUGE glass lined outer container, perhaps you could make a wooden interior bucket? For many chemistry reasons, the acidity of the solution you are working with here can't touch metal long term. Or, just aforementioned large glass lined container, and use any materiel scooper you choose. Many people just mix it really thick, and use a shovel. In my case, I have 28 birds, and use about 6 big round colander style spoonfuls a day. They are a buck at the Dollar T*** and are about 6" across. A Cash N Carry or other restaurant supply place might have a nice metal one (just don't leave it in the FF mix to leach bad things into the food). They also might have a really big glass lined container. My 3 gallon bucket lasts about 5 days before I need to add more grains and water.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: Thanks for that info. I'll check with them and see what they say.

I like the lawn mowing idea! When you say you bring grain up further and further, do you mean you change where you dump it on the grass (I'd say sprinkle, but it sounds like you're fermenting it first)? Or are you talking about the composition of your ff?

Also, what do you mean it helps drain? So far I've only fermented my starter and grower mixes, which are not pellets but separate chunks of food bits. It kind of becomes a gruel, and I just decant off the liquid at the top as best I can and scoop out the ff into their bowl.

I'm trying to figure out a way to make more ff at a time, use the draining method, but not use plastic. I guess I'm not sure how to make something not plastic that drains since it's not as easy as drilling holes in the bottom.

Also, it'll be a challenge to do this in my garage this winter! I may have to take up part of the laundry room.

You wouldn't need to have anything with holes. Just scoop it out and put it in their dish. Or you could use a strainer if you want to strain out some of the liquid.

How many birds are you feeding? I have 10 adults and 3 chicks. Still using the 2 gal glass container easily. It holds quite a bit. I scoop our with a large spoon then sometimes put it in a strainer to get a little of the liquid out and sometimes not. Works fine for me. And if you need something way larger you could get a big crock and do the same (be sure it's lead-free before purchasing.)

Here's what I'm still using:


I got it at Walmart; cost 9.99 I think.

I may get a second one and rotate which one I feed from if I ever need larger amount. They're small enough to keep on the counter and large enough to hold a good amount of feed.

If I had 30 birds I'd probably go to a 3 or 5 gallon, lead-free crock but they are HEAVY. Maybe I'd just stick with a couple of these for ease of use.

 

[SunnysideupstateNY]

I have the same ceramic egg holder! And I found one in a pretty blue that holds a full dozen. I like seeing the eggs out rather than covered up in regular cartons.

 

[armorfirelady]

Leah's mom how much do you feed per bird? I know Delisha said 1/2 c per bird was a good start. I use a 3 gallon bucket. If I don't refill it it lasts about 3 days. Hmmmm maybe I didn't measure 3 cups right. Now I'm going to have to check again lol

I'm hoping to get grains Tuesday to switch them over. I have to see if my son can figure out that pearsons square thing you use to figure out how much of each grain to use. I'm not good at math and it gives me a headache when I try to figure it out lol

I'm out of grower and was mixing the leftover layer into it, I hate to use it with 2 girls not laying but I don't want to buy more grower either.