Cost Savings from Fermenting Feed for Chickens and Other poultry

By Justine -

I'm an accountant by profession. I am really good with numbers and enjoy breaking things down. I wanted to know what we were saving by fermenting/soaking our feed so I could share it with you all.

We fed dry feed for one week and gauged our total feed provided during that week. The next week we fed fermented/soaked feed.

These are the numbers:

Without soaking we would fill two feeders full of dry that would last 24 hours. Each feeder holds 2 scoops = 8 pounds of feed each. Plus one more scoop to feed the Silkies, and another for the chicks in the brooders.

Total fed was 6 scoops or 24 pounds a day.

Equivalent to 168 pounds of dry feed a week.

That would cost us $62.16a week to feed them. (Feed here costs 18.50 a bag = .37 cents per pound.)

Broken down further, that is about .28¢ per bird per week or $14.56 per year.

Weekly Costs to Feed Flock of 225 (Dry):

• 42 scoops (168 lbs.)
• .28¢ per bird
• $62.16 in feed per week
• Yearly Total: $3,232.32

Costs to Feed Each Bird (Dry):

• .04¢ per bird/day
• .28¢ per bird/week
• Yearly Total: $14.56per bird 

With fermented/soaked feed we do 3 scoops of dry a day + 3/5 of scratch + 3 handfuls of BOSS = total cost of $35.98a week. We are saving $26.18 a week by fermenting/soaking it. (About .16¢ per bird per week or $8.32 per year.)

Costs to Feed Flock of 225 (Fermented):

• 21 scoops (84 lbs.)
• .16¢ per bird
• $35.98 in feed per week
• Yearly Total: $1,870.96

Costs to Feed Each Bird (Fermented):

• .02¢ per bird/day
• .16¢ per bird/week
• Yearly Total: $8.32per bird

For us, fermenting/soaking means a savings of $1,361.36 a year!!!!

 

I’m excluding the grown birds being fed scratch in both scenarios, but to feed them 4 pounds of fermented scratch a day (one scoop) Costs us $1 a day (I am not 100% sure on the price per pound, but putting it at $15 for a 50 pound bag. I know it is less than this. I think it's $23 for 80 pounds, but again, not sure…  It doesn’t make our total savings by soaking it any different. However, it costs us a total of $36.98 to feed all of our birds a week. That is not bad! Not bad at all!

Note: We have at least 40 meat kings, 30 layer chicks, 21 adults, 2 geese, 1 duck, 20 Mottled Houdans that are 6-8 weeks old, 15 Easter Eggers that are 6-8 weeks old, 9 Silkies that are adults (in pens), 1 Margaret, 19 Rocks that are 3 weeks old, 20 Rocks that are 2 weeks, 15 bantams that are 4 weeks, 8 chicks that are 1-1.5 weeks, 16 Silkies that are 7-9 weeks, 5 Naked Necks that are 7 weeks, and 3 Sizzles that are adults in a pen (quarantine).

I had to write that out to make sure I didn't miss anyone. That brings our total to 225 birds. (HOLY COW.) I shouldn't have calculated that - LOL.

- Justine

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Leigh asks -

So tell us…

1. How many birds do you have?

2. What would your own yearly savings be assuming it would cost $14.56 per bird to feed dry or $8.32 per bird to ferment?

         (Number of birds in your flock X $14.56)

Minus  (Number of birds in your flock X $8.32)

      =               Yearly Savings

I myself currently have a flock of 40, therefore, 

 40 x $14.56 = $582.40

- 40 x $3.32 = $332.80

Yearly Savings $249.60

 

LOL – I am NOT an accountant and in high school I thought I’d never need to use basic algebra…

and now I'm using it voluntarily.

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Gender Bender - How to Sex Easter Eggers

Photos By Justine - Write-up By Leigh

There are some breeds that are just harder to sex than others, Easter Eggers being one of them. So how can you tell the difference between pullets and cockerels in juvenile birds? 

  

Of course the birds pictured are adults, but these are the signs to look for in maturing birds.

The first signs you may notice in young birds would be hints of iridescent feathers sprouting on the tail. It should be noted that pullets with a lot of black coloration may develop a few iridescent tail feathers too. Next, watch for the development of saddle and hackle feathers.

The combs won't be as obvious until the birds are closer to sexual maturity in many cases.

   

Justine adds:
They are kind of sexable by quick feathering... The girls tend to feather out faster than the boys - not always, but 80% of the time I find they do. 

You also want to watch for any red patches. Consistent patterning will be girls, quilt pattern will be boys.

Justine & Leigh

For more information and pictures, check out the Sexing Eastereggers page on the Natural Chicken Keeping FORUM!

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Tiny Heartbeat - Chicken Embryo at 48 Hours Incubation

By Justine -

At 48 hours into incubation, I candled my eggs to see if I could see veining for the first time... just out of curiosity, as they are my much anticipated Barred Plymouth Rocks. 

Unfortunately this egg was cracked in two places and leaking Albumen (egg white) - so I had to toss it. Before doing so, I thought it would be interesting to see what was going on at 48 hours.

If you look very closely, you can just make out the heart - still beating.

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The heart continued to beat for roughly 5 minutes. I took this video after it had already started to slow. 

Justine

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Natural Treatments for Sour Crop

Sour Crop, or Candidiasis, is caused by an overgrowth of Candida albicans. Simply put, it is a yeast infection inside the bird’s crop. It causes the mucus membranes within the crop to swell giving the bird the appearance of having something the size of an apple lodged in its neck. This overgrowth of yeast can also create lesions in the crop, esophagus and mouth. 

In a true case of sour crop, the swollen area will feel squishy and a bad smell can be detected from the beak when pressure is applied to the crop. If the crop is hard, it may be an impacted crop and not sour crop, so please be sure to inspect the crop area thoroughly before treating.

What our contributors have to say about treating a true case of sour crop:

Vicki Says:

• Withhold water for the first 12 hours
• Withhold food for 24 hours
• After the first 12 hours, give only clear, clean water with no additives
• At this point I release the bird but I continue observation

If the crop does not empty after the first 24 hours:

• I give the bird only clean water and try to get the crop empty to start treatment
•  Do not feed the bird any solid food at all until the crop is empty. If it is not empty there is a reason. Adding more volume (food) is not going to help
• Use a dropper to give olive or coconut oil
• Massage the crop

 

If the crop swells up again

• Confine the bird to the coop
• I again withhold water for 12 hours and food for 24 hours - you need that crop emptied for treatment to work.
• I massage the crop if it feels hard and impacted. If it is squishy I do a little massaging to get things moving.

 After the crop empties:

• I feed them eggs with a tablespoon of plainyogurt. I just smash the whole egg… shells and all - and stir in the yogurt.
•  I observe for the next 24 hours.
• They are offered plain fresh water at all times.
• After 24 hours, if the crop has emptied, I add plain grain to the eggs.
• I observe for another 24 hours.

I do not do much messing with sour crop. Sometimes they get something lodged in there that needs time to get out. I can usually feel it from the outside and massage it out.

If you are sure it is sour crop, there are many things that can be done to treat this kind of thrush naturally. The key to curing thrush naturally and permanently is to kill the yeast with natural means and also to cure the underlying deficiency or imbalance that allowed the yeast to grow out of control in the first place. You treat all you want, but if the bird is to get better it is imperative to find the core of the issue.

I offer Oregano, tea tree oil, lavender, and a few cloves to all my birds regularly.  Usually this time of year birds develop sour crop from over eating all the lush greens they didn’t have over the winter. I have two that are pooping pure green from the wild strawberries and blossoms. They come in at night and look like they are going to blow up. (They look normal by morning, so I know it’s not a thrush issue.)

I have culled one bird for a chronic crop problem. She just loved to eat the oddest things. I had cut up old pie tins and put them in my garden to deter birds and bunnies, and she loved to eat them. Loved shiny things. Found all my husband’s lost nails, nuts and bolts. She was very odd. If she came across a nail head in a door jam or window, she would spend hours trying to get it out.

 A normal, healthy crop.

Justine Says:

Here is what has worked for me –

Cut out all ACV

Give yoghurt with probiotics

Eggs are also good

No sugar at all - so no fruits, breads, etc. 

Massage crop

When I first noticed that my hen Ruby had Sour Crop, she was bending over to eat and regurgitating. That stuff STANK. Like spoiled milk. Her crop was huge. I took her off food and offered her only water while I did some research. I then bought some plain, sugar free, yoghurt and offered it to her with eggs. She gobbled it up. I massaged her crop twice a day and continued to offer her yoghurt in addition to their regular feed for a week. No treats. She was better after a few days and back to normal after a week.

aaggig Says:

The one thing that I found after searching the internet was Red Wine... You MUST withhold food or grain based food - as Justine says it’s a yeast infection and sugars feed yeast.  Give the chicken a dropper full of Red Wine and wait. Massage the crop in a downward motion. Check the chicken later and if it is not gone give them more Red wine and some plain, organic yogurt. The chicken should be cured in 12-24 hours.

Another chicken owner had the same problem and I told her about the wine. At first she was skeptical but emailed the next day say it was a miracle!  So that’s my 2 cents....

*Please note – Be cautious when administering liquids and oils by syringe or dropper as you do not want your bird to aspirate the liquid into the lungs. Here is a great video on giving chickens medication:

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