Cowman42
Active member
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2023
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Sounds like a fake story. Go around any dairy and the birds and pigeons are around in flocks.
Didn't say that it was not a real option. I have fed broiler litter put through a complete heat with cracked corn during droughts. But the writer had no proof of dairies feeding litter but just spun a story off of "what if". That is not journalism based on reporting facts.I have seen feed ration tables that include "poultry litter" from ag uni's.....This forum has a couple threads from the aughts discussing it......It's real.
Chickens are very inefficient food processors. Probably getting about 35% of the food they eat digested. Chicken litter is about 25% protein, 24% fiber, and contains about 12 or so different minerals.What nutritional needs is the chicken litter meant to meet? I have heard of this but know nothing about it.
I tend to agree with OP that at least at face value it is probably not the best PR for the beef industry. Is there a public misconception around this?
Not yet, but thats the intent of the author.Is there a public misconception around this?
Greater risk is migratory birds and small flocks of home chickens.
Chickens are very inefficient food processors.
No, lots of food passes through undigested or partially digested, That is why it makes such good fertilizer. Chicken litter tests about 25% protein. Cow manure, horse manure, etc, don't even come close to that.I would have thought a creature that can convert a pound and a half of feed into a pound of bird would be considered pretty feed efficient.
Every story we don't like is fake. Everything we like is real. Thus ends the great endeavor to learn and become better.Sounds like a fake story. Go around any dairy and the birds and pigeons are around in flocks.
The folks I know who have fed it did exactly that, dumped it by the bucket full into the bunk straight out of the litter shed. One told me he had to mix it with molasses at first to get them to eat it and slowly weaned off the molasses.Any fed litter is typically processed. It's not like you scoop up a bucket of litter and dump it in the feed bunk.
"straight out of the litter shed" - Assume that is out of a litter stacking shed where the litter has been removed from the chicken house, deep stacked in a shed and gone through a heat? As opposed to direct from the chicken house? That is what I meant by "processed" - mixed some from the removal and stacking process, moisture equalized from the storage time, and heated up. A little more processed from what is on the chicken house floor.The folks I know who have fed it did exactly that, dumped it by the bucket full into the bunk straight out of the litter shed. One told me he had to mix it with molasses at first to get them to eat it and slowly weaned off the molasses.
Gotcha, when I read processed, going through a heat wasn't what came to my mind."straight out of the litter shed" - Assume that is out of a litter stacking shed where the litter has been removed from the chicken house, deep stacked in a shed and gone through a heat? As opposed to direct from the chicken house? That is what I meant by "processed" - mixed some from the removal and stacking process, moisture equalized from the storage time, and heated up. A little more processed from what is on the chicken house floor.