The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[SallyinIndiana]

The 1/2 cup must be of the already fermented feed. I know my production hens did not get that much when I had them free ranging. My heritage birds get close to that on average but I have lots of roosters and they eat more. I used soaked Rural king feed or feed I can buy from Rural king.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: I have a new one that I LOVE - What do you think of this one? I also love seeing all the different colors. It's a happy "party on the counter"!

 

[Leahs Mom]

AFL - I don't know how much they get. I put some out and just put more in later in the day if its empty. Sometimes they eat it all; sometimes it's in there for 2 days before they eat it.

I do know that, in general, they go through 1 lb. per bird per week during the last few weeks. I know that because I was grinding a 10 lb batch at a time and going through it in exactly 1 week. Not purposely, it was just what they used. I have 10 adult birds during that time. Not sure how that will change during winter.


To clarify: That is 10 lbs of DRY food. I ferment which, of course, adds physical weight to that. I'm counting the dry weight. In addition to that they were in the compost/scraps and they get about 1-1.5 cups of sprouted sunflower seeds almost daily in the evening. And ranging up whatever else.

 

[Myrth]

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

Leah's Mom, your set-up includes a jar lid rather than a cloth like most people on this thread recommend for a top. Are you doing anaerobic fermentation? Or is that jar vented? Excuse the ignorance, but I make yogurt, cheeses, and sour dough. I have not yet tried fermented feeds. I have read about aerobic and anaerobic methods. Thanks!

 

[pigeonguy]

pigeonguy! nice to see you here after so long.
if you really have too many marans, illinois isn't that far from minnesota - I'ld come get some. I figure, hey, gas, time off, plus chick cost, um......oh well!

Those would be some expensive chicks concidering I paid $120 for 12.shipped. With the price of gas I could give them to you and you would have 3 times that in them.

Whew. PG, I thought something serious had happened and I'd never hear from you again. So glad you're okay!!!!

PM me about your Marans...maybe I'd take some...

My heart pounds fast as I hear the sweet sound of your typing. I missed and thought of you often but new If I got on here it would be hard to stay away as it is now. Seriously now my eggs are only a 4 or 5 on the marans scale or maybe I am to critical on my own stuff but if you want some I will pm you and we will figure out a way.I still can't be here every day yet still a lot to do before snow flies.
I am a grandfather now as of December 1st 2012 he is Bulldog Jr. I mentioned before I think that Bulldog is my sons 2nd middle name. So much to teach him so little time.

Hurray, pigeonguy is back!

As a technically challenged person, when you have time I would really like to know more details about how you built your incubator, it sounds really neat!

I will post a step by step on this for all in the incubator section and post a link here so it is easy to find this winter when time permits. Is bulldog mama still around if so I will PM her for help on writing (wink wink BM)

 

[Leahs Mom]

I'm doing lacto-fermented feed which should be anaerobic. Yes, I keep it tightly covered and keep a layer of water on the top.

Realistically, just opening the feed to get some out regularly introduces air, but I try to keep it as much under the water level as a buffer as possible.

Same kind of fermentation as with sauerkraut or pickles. (Lacto-fermenting - not alcohol fermenting.)

 

[Myrth]

Leah's Mom, thank you for that link! I have mesophilic starter on hand.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Pigeon guy, I'm interested in your incubator how to. However bulldog mama is now mainly on a forum she and a few others started. If you need help finding her, send me a pm. I'm thinking you know where she is.

 

[aoxa]

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 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?

For the lawn - I keep only grains in the two bucket system. I let it drain for a minute and take the bucket and scoop with me, sprinkling where the grass is long. They scratch around finding all the grains and even out my lawn. It's a very mutual beneficial situation for both parties

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.

Here's your answer

 

[aoxa]

AFL - I don't know how much they get. I put some out and just put more in later in the day if its empty. Sometimes they eat it all; sometimes it's in there for 2 days before they eat it.

I do know that, in general, they go through 1 lb. per bird per week during the last few weeks. I know that because I was grinding a 10 lb batch at a time and going through it in exactly 1 week. Not purposely, it was just what they used. I have 10 adult birds during that time. Not sure how that will change during winter.


To clarify: That is 10 lbs of DRY food. I ferment which, of course, adds physical weight to that. I'm counting the dry weight. In addition to that they were in the compost/scraps and they get about 1-1.5 cups of sprouted sunflower seeds almost daily in the evening. And ranging up whatever else.

Wow that is a lot per bird dry. I go through a little over half of that per bird a week. I go through 3 bags of dry a week. That's 150 pounds for roughly 220 birds. A lot are young, but I'm considering the fact that meat kings eat a crazy amount compared to a chick, so it averages out to .68 lbs of feed per bird per week. No I'm not including scratch.