Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[jrsckn]

Both are measured dry. I make sure to measure carefully and use a complete bucket before moving on to the nest. I figured there would be too much variance in the saturation of the crumbles to use moist weight. The amounts seem off to me too, I've been combing over my notes for the past day trying to see if I added an extra ff bucket in there that wasn't really there but I've been so busy with my 3 sets of chicks, the 12 week olds in the coop, just had a new roof installed Mon and Tues, got my acceptance letter from Michigan State, daughter got on varsity cheer team (she's only a freshman eeek), calling 5 times trying to get direct tv out to realign my dish and constantly getting disconnected grrrrrr, not to mention working my 5 dogs aroung the roof debris; I've been distracted to say the least. I should be able to get it figured out tonight after everyone goes to bed early since DTV can't come out till tomorrow so I'll let you know for sure either way.

P.S. Make sure you're looking at individual feed/weight because I have 8CC and 18FFC; even so they shouldn't be eating almost the same amount per chick and gaining less weight

 

[KeilFamilyFarm]

Working your dogs? Do you compete with them?

 

[jrsckn]

Yes. We have 5 american pit bull terriers and we have a show this weekend. We do conformation and weight pull. We decided to retire our 10 year old titled pull dog and are starting to train our two year olds but want to wait to compete with them until they have their dual conformation championships. One is almost grand champion in one registry and half way to her CH in the other while our other is 1 point away from CH in one and only has a few puppy points in the other. We also have a 6 year old who is almost always in heat when the shows are close so she's in heat now and she'll miss this show. And our youngest is 1 year old and just gets regular exercise because we don't have a small enough harness for him.

 

[KeilFamilyFarm]

Thats awesome! I show Border Collies and Australian Shepherds We do conformation, obedience, rally and agility! Nice to meet another dog shower on here Good luck this weekend!

 

[tallgrass]

My cx are 5 weeks old now and average 4 - 5 lbs. I got them from Myer Hatchery and they seem to be doing great weight and forage wise. I let them out of the tractor now a couple hours at a time twice a day, morning and evening. I wish I could let them out all day, but I am just not confident enough in their ability to fend for themselves. Maybe next time when I get 50 instead of 20... it will be this fall and I won't have my garden to worry about, lol. I have also just added scratch grains to the grower mix, so we will see how they like it this morning. I am sure I will get some funny looks!

Can you give us any info on how much you have fed and the costs? Once or twice aday feedings?

Thanks

 

[jrsckn]

Thats awesome! I show Border Collies and Australian Shepherds We do conformation, obedience, rally and agility! Nice to meet another dog shower on here Good luck this weekend!

Thanks! Thats cool, I always thought rally and agility would be fun to do but I don't trust my dogs off leash 100%

 

[myhubbycallsmechickeemama]

Both are measured dry. I make sure to measure carefully and use a complete bucket before moving on to the nest. I figured there would be too much variance in the saturation of the crumbles to use moist weight. The amounts seem off to me too, I've been combing over my notes for the past day trying to see if I added an extra ff bucket in there that wasn't really there but I've been so busy with my 3 sets of chicks, the 12 week olds in the coop, just had a new roof installed Mon and Tues, got my acceptance letter from Michigan State, daughter got on varsity cheer team (she's only a freshman eeek), calling 5 times trying to get direct tv out to realign my dish and constantly getting disconnected grrrrrr, not to mention working my 5 dogs aroung the roof debris; I've been distracted to say the least. I should be able to get it figured out tonight after everyone goes to bed early since DTV can't come out till tomorrow so I'll let you know for sure either way.

P.S. Make sure you're looking at individual feed/weight because I have 8CC and 18FFC; even so they shouldn't be eating almost the same amount per chick and gaining less weight

Duh

I guess I wasn't really thinking!! Sorry and yes, I have noticed that mine are not gaining weight the way they have in the past on the FF but I'm okay with that because they are eating less, stink A LOT less and forage more.

 

[myhubbycallsmechickeemama]

Okay, I just weighed a couple of my meaties and at 6 weeks an average sized cockerel weighed 3 lbs 15 oz and an average sized pullet weighed 4 lbs 5 oz. Quite disappointed in their weights as they are off standard by over 2.5 lbs for the males and 1.5 for the females. Really shocked that the males seem to be smaller than the females.

Seems odd that they are not pooping out feed like before but they don't appear to be utilizing it all either.

Maybe I'll start feeding crumbles dry and fermenting the grain and mix before feeding.

One the other hand...my little layers are doing awesome. The Delaware chicks are getting so big and they all have really nice feathers.

 

[booker81]

We'll hubby is building me a new "coop" and run for meaties, so I'll be getting 50 in the next week or two. I'm hoping to try FF, but I have the "issue" that we usually go up north for the weekend, and therefore I usually leave feed out from Friday night through Sunday (I don't withhold feed, just feed a lower protein amount). Has anyone found a way to successfully FF and not be around for a couple days? (The neighbors keep an eye on stuff, but I don't want to make them feed the critters too, though I could if I must).

 

[WalkingWolf1]

I'll post a couple of pics of some CornX meaties that are just making 6 months old. We intend cross with a white rock for a rooster line. The hens are eating out of a bucket full of FF that is headed to a pen of FR. The FR are doing well. They are 7 weeks old and are growing well. Some look nearly ready to dress. (sorry no FR pics -- what was I thinking). These birds free range on pasture and forage well. Often are the last to come in in the evening. Sometimes I think they are watching the RIR and wait to come in after them

. They eat some with the rest of the flock when they come in but not the ravenous appetites like when they were younger.