Country chicken lady 2024
In the Brooder
- Mar 10, 2024
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details:
50 meat chickens, chicken tractor, really want to continue feeding fermented because its better for gut, lowers feed costs and provides extra water in the Texas heat.
Okay so how do I feed fermented feed successfully to my meat chickens? You can see my previous post of my chicken tractor I built. long story short I don't trust the cattle panels to hold multiple fed troughs (gutters) and not rip the screws out. I was feeding fermented feed in a 10 foot long trough (gutter held up with cinder blocks, and was a pain having to move everyday, having to maneuver around chickens, catching chickens that escaped during the event, carrying out 3 cinder blocks and the gutter every night to move them and then putting back in, all of this is taking the fun out of meat chickens)and having to refill 3 times a day with how much they eat. troughs are a no go since they walked and pooped in it and then at night slept on the cinder blocks and pooped (using corid for coccidia because at least one has it)
I recently bough a 5 gallon bucket and chicken feeders to add to the bucket. I added 4 to it. The fermented feed started pouring out as soon as I put in it creating a mess and wasting food. I even secured the lid to see if it created a vacuum but it didn't. I tried to make it not as wet but then it would become too dry during the day and not flow and then I tried to pour in water at the top of feed to see if that would keep it moist enough to move down as they fed, but it didn't work. Poor guys were starving during the day.
I am at a loss. I really want to feed fermented feed with the bucket since it takes up less room but not sure how to do it . And don't even get me started on the watering cups for their water, those little monsters run around and tilt them and then waste their water.
Does anyone have any other ideas? I am going to feed them dry feed for now. Really trying to get a reliable system down for when I start working, I don't have to worry about their feed situation while I am away.
50 meat chickens, chicken tractor, really want to continue feeding fermented because its better for gut, lowers feed costs and provides extra water in the Texas heat.
Okay so how do I feed fermented feed successfully to my meat chickens? You can see my previous post of my chicken tractor I built. long story short I don't trust the cattle panels to hold multiple fed troughs (gutters) and not rip the screws out. I was feeding fermented feed in a 10 foot long trough (gutter held up with cinder blocks, and was a pain having to move everyday, having to maneuver around chickens, catching chickens that escaped during the event, carrying out 3 cinder blocks and the gutter every night to move them and then putting back in, all of this is taking the fun out of meat chickens)and having to refill 3 times a day with how much they eat. troughs are a no go since they walked and pooped in it and then at night slept on the cinder blocks and pooped (using corid for coccidia because at least one has it)
I recently bough a 5 gallon bucket and chicken feeders to add to the bucket. I added 4 to it. The fermented feed started pouring out as soon as I put in it creating a mess and wasting food. I even secured the lid to see if it created a vacuum but it didn't. I tried to make it not as wet but then it would become too dry during the day and not flow and then I tried to pour in water at the top of feed to see if that would keep it moist enough to move down as they fed, but it didn't work. Poor guys were starving during the day.
I am at a loss. I really want to feed fermented feed with the bucket since it takes up less room but not sure how to do it . And don't even get me started on the watering cups for their water, those little monsters run around and tilt them and then waste their water.
Does anyone have any other ideas? I am going to feed them dry feed for now. Really trying to get a reliable system down for when I start working, I don't have to worry about their feed situation while I am away.
