Jan. 20, 2025

Bantams-Part 2

Bantams-Part 2

This episode of the Poultry Keepers Podcast features hosts Mandelyn, John, and Rip discussing the care and feeding practices for bantam chickens. They delve into the history of poultry feed components, emphasizing the importance of amino acids over protein, and the role of nutritional density. 

Discussions include comparisons between bantams and large fowl, highlighting bantams' resilience in cold climates, efficiency in feed conversion, and lesser need for space. They also explore breed preservation, predator vulnerabilities, and practical tips on feeding and managing both bantams and large fowl chickens. 

The episode concludes with a nod to the growing popularity of bantams in poultry shows and a reminder of the importance of breed preservation.

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WEBVTT

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Welcome to the Poultry Keepers Podcast.

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In this episode Mandelyn, John and Rip wrap up their thoughts on the minatures of the poultry world.

00:00:07.950 --> 00:00:10.580
So, let's join their conversation on Bantums.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

00:00:21.672 --> 00:00:33.322
I think what was happening, people were raising bantams and they weren't getting the growth and they weren't getting the feather quality and, and all those things that we were seeing in some of our large fowl breeds.

00:00:33.322 --> 00:00:35.311
And so they figured it had to be the feed.

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So they would start adding to it.

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They would add in like dog food, cat food, fish food.

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Well, that was also the time that a lot of the feed manufacturers started utilizing adjuncts from other industries that were waste products.

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So they didn't.

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Equate the two.

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Right.

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They just realized My thought on

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it, if your feed is full of filler Where it's the wheat middlings and just, you know, the junk food that holds a crumble together.

00:01:04.902 --> 00:01:13.251
But it's going into a bird the size of a peanut, how much of that nutrition is coming off into that bird based on its capacity to eat it?

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Versus if you fed a genuinely good feed, it's not going to be chasing additional and trying to eat too much because it doesn't have the fillers in it.

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Because I was told Nutritional

00:01:25.382 --> 00:01:27.191
density here is something that's important.

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I would say.

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Late 80s, early 90s, I was just told feed them like turkeys.

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Give them turkey food.

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People were thinking, when they started mixing these other things in and forming all these secret recipes, so to speak, they were seeing improvements in their birds, and they realized, they knew that they were giving them a higher protein feed.

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Okay?

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So they attributed all these improvements to higher protein.

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And it was never the protein

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and giving them a more diverse amino acid profile.

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It was increasing the amino acid levels.

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Yeah.

00:02:04.906 --> 00:02:05.796
Come to find out it's

00:02:05.796 --> 00:02:07.126
the amino acids, not the protein.

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And it was diversifying the amino acid profile because you're now you have all these different constituent building blocks for proteins coming from different sources.

00:02:17.861 --> 00:02:28.171
Well, they, that was at about the same time when poultry feed manufacturers were trying to convince us that chickens should be vegetarians.

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And so they should be a pellet.

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That was also the time where they convinced everybody that everything should be a pellet.

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Boy, it would be great to have Jeff on and give us a history of.

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Yeah, I'm sure he has.

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I don't want to, I don't want to pick

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on his age, but I mean, he's been in the industry so long that he saw the industry change.

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It would be a wonderful perspective, if you're listening, Jeff,

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I'm thoroughly convinced that this all happened at about the same time we saw the switch to all vegetable based protein, which lowered the amino acid levels.

00:03:01.931 --> 00:03:08.852
And when they started mixing in other feeds, they were bringing back in some meat proteins that were missing from poultry feed.

00:03:09.651 --> 00:03:10.192
Yes.

00:03:10.361 --> 00:03:11.641
Folks are not vegetarians.

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They're omnivores.

00:03:13.062 --> 00:03:13.481
Yes.

00:03:13.521 --> 00:03:14.401
If you don't believe it.

00:03:14.592 --> 00:03:20.651
A little mouse run across the coop where my Rhode Island Reds are, and he's a goner.

00:03:21.451 --> 00:03:25.822
That was one of the first attributes of my Chanticleers that endeared them to Mandy.

00:03:26.581 --> 00:03:30.641
When a mouse tried to run across one of my, one of my pens.

00:03:30.882 --> 00:03:33.102
One of her pens of my Chanticleers.

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Yeah,

00:03:34.752 --> 00:03:42.842
they dived right for it, and then a couple of months after that, I was down in the back field, and a little field mouse popped into the Muscovy pen.

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And the mama duck in that pen grabbed that mouse and her beak, beat it against a stone step three times and swallowed it whole.

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I was like, wow.

00:03:53.201 --> 00:03:53.532
Nature's

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a cruel.

00:03:55.641 --> 00:03:56.882
Yeah, nature's mean.

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I had a buff coaching cockerel one time that grabbed about a half grown rat and swallowed him whole.

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That's when I learned real quick that they don't need really fine food particles.

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They can swallow a whole rat.

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But they need to summarize

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because

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they have vanoms with higher nutrient density without the fillers in the feed.

00:04:20.692 --> 00:04:22.382
And then you don't have to do anything special.

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Feed them exactly like you would your large bow.

00:04:24.891 --> 00:04:29.072
So long as the feed formula is appropriate and true to what it should be.

00:04:29.872 --> 00:04:30.992
And honestly.

00:04:31.687 --> 00:04:34.307
The large fowl would benefit from being raised that way.

00:04:34.607 --> 00:04:41.726
If you have a well balanced, age appropriate, nutritionally dense feed, they're going to do better on it.

00:04:42.197 --> 00:04:57.117
And they're not going to require as much protein as you It used to horrify me, because I went down this road myself, because I would add in catfish chow, I would add in cat food, I would add in dog food.

00:04:57.916 --> 00:05:01.966
It was costing me a fortune to buy all those different feeds and combine them into one ration.

00:05:02.766 --> 00:05:13.317
When didn't know it then, but if I had bothered to do a little studying about it and realize the importance of amino acids, oh, wow, that would have saved me a ton of money over the years.

00:05:14.117 --> 00:05:29.526
Now, when it comes to their cold hardiness, I don't remember ever doing anything special for mine in the wintertime until it got consistently below freezing and my parents were generous enough to give up a basement room of our old, old house.

00:05:29.536 --> 00:05:30.086
So it was.

00:05:30.887 --> 00:05:38.896
like a, a cellar room, but they let me set it all up so I can bring my delicate little birds down there and winter them over for two months.

00:05:39.557 --> 00:05:43.666
And then I'd put them all back outside again for spring, but for January and February.

00:05:44.211 --> 00:05:50.982
I did put them up because my coop was not really a proper coop in the insulated wood built thing.

00:05:50.982 --> 00:05:54.362
It was like a glorified rabbit hutch that was giant.

00:05:55.161 --> 00:06:02.331
I, I never did anything unusual for bantams that I didn't do for my large fallow birds.

00:06:02.882 --> 00:06:04.132
And they handle cold weather.

00:06:04.692 --> 00:06:05.862
Remarkably well.

00:06:05.862 --> 00:06:08.232
Now with that said, I'm in Florida.

00:06:08.232 --> 00:06:14.201
You guys are much further north than I am, and I don't have to contend with the temperatures you folks do.

00:06:15.002 --> 00:06:19.382
I knew they weren't gonna survive winter in February with nothing but hardware cloth

00:06:20.091 --> 00:06:20.721
probably.

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That's pretty close.

00:06:22.531 --> 00:06:23.851
Yeah, because you gotta have,

00:06:23.851 --> 00:06:26.942
I'd love to give them another try, but I had predator problems.

00:06:27.742 --> 00:06:31.911
Just going through the research for this episode makes me want bantams again.

00:06:32.711 --> 00:06:32.802
Mm-hmm.

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I miss them.

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They're so fun.

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They have really cool

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personalities, too.

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They do.

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I've tried three times.

00:06:40.521 --> 00:06:45.052
I just They just seem a little bit more finicky to me.

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They're more vulnerable to predators, I've found.

00:06:48.541 --> 00:06:49.911
Oh yeah, they're definitely Because the

00:06:49.911 --> 00:06:53.291
smaller predator will go for the smaller Bird.

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Yeah, they're chicken nuggets.

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Perfect.

00:06:55.002 --> 00:07:02.141
So, predators that would not even bother with normal chickens will go after a bantam just because it's smaller inherently.

00:07:02.382 --> 00:07:04.302
Yeah, even little little kestrels.

00:07:05.101 --> 00:07:05.951
Mm hmm.

00:07:05.951 --> 00:07:06.151
Mm hmm.

00:07:06.601 --> 00:07:14.411
I think, in a sense, bantams can be a little bit more finicky to feed and manage than a large fowl.

00:07:14.971 --> 00:07:20.031
But, they're certainly not extremely finicky.

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They're not very needy.

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But as long as you meet their needs and you're using a good quality feed, you've got them in a good coop, they'll be fat and happy.

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I would say generally speaking, if you're in an extremely cold environment, like zone three or less that a Bantam may be a better choice for you than the large fowl equivalent.

00:07:43.851 --> 00:07:52.451
Just in that environment, it's inherently a little bit tougher and more resilient and just designed for that environment a little better.

00:07:53.252 --> 00:08:01.682
Well, and the space they need is so small that you can build better on a smaller footprint to protect them.

00:08:02.281 --> 00:08:03.432
Mm hmm.

00:08:03.432 --> 00:08:04.482
As long as you protect them.

00:08:05.281 --> 00:08:09.641
From a sustainability perspective, that's, I think they're pretty awesome.

00:08:10.442 --> 00:08:25.266
And you know, we talked about saving money on feed and all this kind of stuff, but another big savings to me is they don't have Unless you're going to raise a lot of them, you don't need really big pins and really big runs.

00:08:25.817 --> 00:08:32.057
I had a lot of four by eight foot pins that I could put five, six manoms in easily.

00:08:32.856 --> 00:08:34.346
And they did great in that size.

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Where with large fallow, you could put about two in that.

00:08:38.616 --> 00:08:51.687
And unlike quail, which their eggs are a pain to break, if you're looking for egg production, you can put twice as, well, more than twice as many hens in the same amount of space and maintain the same production.

00:08:52.116 --> 00:08:55.836
So, yeah I don't really see a downside at all.

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Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I'm like, can I find a lady petal?

00:09:01.027 --> 00:09:02.216
Given the temperament

00:09:02.267 --> 00:09:04.136
One of my favorites was the sea brides.

00:09:04.136 --> 00:09:05.586
I had silver and gold both.

00:09:06.331 --> 00:09:12.231
And the two males I had, I named them Jibbers and Jabbers because all they did was jibber and jabber all day.

00:09:13.032 --> 00:09:13.511
Mm hmm.

00:09:13.892 --> 00:09:14.062
Mm

00:09:14.111 --> 00:09:14.322
hmm.

00:09:15.121 --> 00:09:16.782
Here's a challenge for you, Mandlin.

00:09:17.581 --> 00:09:21.711
You ought to get some white rock bands.

00:09:22.511 --> 00:09:22.522
Oh.

00:09:22.562 --> 00:09:23.961
Are you going where I think you're going?

00:09:24.162 --> 00:09:25.231
I probably am.

00:09:25.231 --> 00:09:26.341
I know you like your project.

00:09:27.142 --> 00:09:32.292
And you get a male and cross him onto some small sized breast females.

00:09:32.822 --> 00:09:38.981
Like the really round bowling ball ones that I won't use in the purebred pens because they're just too round.

00:09:39.682 --> 00:09:40.131
Do they have a

00:09:40.511 --> 00:09:40.552
rose

00:09:40.552 --> 00:09:40.751
comb

00:09:40.792 --> 00:09:41.231
version?

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I don't think there's a rose comb breast, is there Madeline?

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No, in the, in the white rock.

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No, it's a single comb.

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Oh, okay.

00:09:49.942 --> 00:09:50.131
If you

00:09:50.131 --> 00:09:54.511
want a rose comb version, get a white wind up, but they are, they're much rounder.

00:09:54.511 --> 00:09:57.501
The body conformation is much different than a breast.

00:09:58.091 --> 00:10:00.101
What about replicating my big project

00:10:00.152 --> 00:10:01.361
in the miniature version?

00:10:01.751 --> 00:10:02.251
Yeah,

00:10:02.662 --> 00:10:02.802
we

00:10:02.802 --> 00:10:05.831
gotta get rid of those ridiculous combs and waddles for the northern

00:10:05.831 --> 00:10:06.182
climate.

00:10:06.192 --> 00:10:10.251
You could, you know, you could go another 10 or 15 years getting all that straightened out.

00:10:10.631 --> 00:10:11.542
You'd be good to go.

00:10:11.552 --> 00:10:12.562
Keep you occupied.

00:10:12.932 --> 00:10:15.662
But I could raise three times as many birds if they were bantam.

00:10:15.662 --> 00:10:17.802
I know.

00:10:17.802 --> 00:10:18.871
I

00:10:19.672 --> 00:10:20.721
like your optimism.

00:10:21.422 --> 00:10:25.052
So overall feed conversion ratio, right on point.

00:10:25.851 --> 00:10:27.402
I'd say they're more economical.

00:10:28.072 --> 00:10:28.361
Yeah.

00:10:28.442 --> 00:10:28.642
Yeah.

00:10:28.642 --> 00:10:29.182
Oh, yeah.

00:10:29.331 --> 00:10:29.831
Oh, yeah.

00:10:30.631 --> 00:10:31.131
Hands down.

00:10:31.142 --> 00:10:32.081
You just need more of them.

00:10:32.312 --> 00:10:34.152
And that's okay because that's the fun of it.

00:10:34.461 --> 00:10:35.211
For a bunch of

00:10:35.231 --> 00:10:38.231
large fowl breeders, we're talking ourselves out of a job.

00:10:39.032 --> 00:10:44.322
Large fowl, talking about feed conversion, three and a half to four ounces of feed per day.

00:10:44.981 --> 00:10:45.361
Yeah.

00:10:46.162 --> 00:10:52.562
Phantoms, most of those breeds you're talking about may be an ounce, maybe ounce and a half of feed per day.

00:10:52.562 --> 00:10:52.621
Yeah.

00:10:52.621 --> 00:10:52.636
Yeah.

00:10:53.437 --> 00:10:56.307
Yeah, it's easier to switch over to grams and

00:10:56.667 --> 00:10:57.366
Their growth rate?

00:10:57.366 --> 00:10:58.976
When do they hit their adult size?

00:10:59.667 --> 00:11:02.397
About the same as largefowl five, six months.

00:11:03.197 --> 00:11:06.326
Some of the breeds like the Asiatics are just like largefowl.

00:11:06.326 --> 00:11:08.466
They're slower to come around to develop.

00:11:09.267 --> 00:11:18.356
Well, some of the largefowl types like Jersey giant and Brahma and stuff like that, you're feeding them eight, nine, 10, 11 months before you get to that advertised weight.

00:11:19.157 --> 00:11:21.576
But the phantom version, five, six months.

00:11:22.376 --> 00:11:22.787
Pretty much.

00:11:23.106 --> 00:11:28.267
No, no, it'll take you longer than that on the, You're going to follow the same basic.

00:11:28.787 --> 00:11:34.626
Trans and bantam breed as you will in the comparable large fowl breed.

00:11:35.427 --> 00:11:40.527
Now, did you ever mix your bantams with your large fowl or did you keep them all separate?

00:11:40.647 --> 00:11:41.876
No, I kept them separate.

00:11:42.677 --> 00:11:45.346
I always had either or I never really mixed them.

00:11:46.147 --> 00:11:54.427
I found that I wouldn't even do it at day old because a large fowl would bully the bantams and they weren't eating and drinking like they should.

00:11:54.466 --> 00:11:58.067
So I gave them their own brooder and that kind of followed through.

00:11:58.267 --> 00:12:04.067
And of course the Bantam doesn't realize he's a Bantam, so he's going to try to take on the large fowl carpels, and that doesn't end well.

00:12:04.866 --> 00:12:06.017
No, I'd imagine it wouldn't.

00:12:06.817 --> 00:12:14.777
But you know, Bantams, as long as you treat them like chickens and feed them like you should, the only difference is the size when it comes right down to it.

00:12:15.576 --> 00:12:29.307
Now I have in the past, for the sake of brooding space and efficiency, if I had two week old Bantam chicks, It wasn't unheard of for me to drop a couple large foul chicks that were much younger in with them.

00:12:29.307 --> 00:12:34.907
'cause the younger ones almost respected the older ones, even though they were smaller.

00:12:35.091 --> 00:12:36.152
You can get by with that.

00:12:36.871 --> 00:12:38.626
Mm-hmm But if you do it the other way,

00:12:39.427 --> 00:12:40.172
oh, they're gonna get trampled.

00:12:40.591 --> 00:12:41.091
You're asking

00:12:41.892 --> 00:12:42.611
trampled.

00:12:43.192 --> 00:12:43.552
Yeah.

00:12:43.552 --> 00:12:45.052
If you're gonna mix your sizes.

00:12:45.851 --> 00:12:53.062
You get the little ones going first so that they automatically have some clout just by age and not necessarily size.

00:12:53.861 --> 00:13:00.581
I was staggering my quail to be about a week older than my large fowl chicks if I was going to brood them together.

00:13:01.052 --> 00:13:02.032
And that worked out pretty good.

00:13:02.831 --> 00:13:09.371
And if you wanted to, you could do the same sort of sex link crosses with Bantams that you can with large fowl.

00:13:10.172 --> 00:13:24.966
Like I said, my friend that across the New Hampshires and the Rhode Island Red Banffs got astounding production out of those birds, and they're a little bit bigger, so there was more of a carcass there than just a purebred bird.

00:13:25.767 --> 00:13:30.601
Well, that F1 generation is always going to have that heterosis.

00:13:31.402 --> 00:13:44.611
I guess the one thing that I would like to leave with people out of this, Is it if you like large fowl or you like bantams, I would give the advantage to being easier to care for and less costly to feed the bantams.

00:13:45.412 --> 00:13:49.611
But other than that, they're pretty much the same type birds, just the size is different.

00:13:49.802 --> 00:13:50.241
That's it.

00:13:51.042 --> 00:13:54.812
And showing, I think bantams have a larger.

00:13:55.611 --> 00:13:58.152
There's a lot more bantams at shows than there are in large fowl.

00:13:58.261 --> 00:13:58.721
Showing.

00:13:59.522 --> 00:14:05.881
And with the last show I was at, it was said that the bantams are going to keep growing and growing because they are more efficient to raise.

00:14:05.881 --> 00:14:09.932
They are cheaper per bird to raise out.

00:14:09.981 --> 00:14:16.802
And I would hazard a guess, gosh, probably 70 percent of the show was bantam.

00:14:17.522 --> 00:14:17.761
Yeah.

00:14:17.902 --> 00:14:23.662
And we're always talking about this rule of 10 that you need to even maintain decent bantam.

00:14:23.662 --> 00:14:23.677
Yeah.

00:14:23.996 --> 00:14:39.697
Genetic direction in your flock, so if, if you're having to hatch out a hundred eggs a year, it's going to be much more cost effective and easier to manage all the way down the line if they're bantams than large fowls.

00:14:40.496 --> 00:14:53.652
Well, since I started with bantams, they were my crash course, and if I had started with large fowl probably would have been more intimidating because you just can't do the numbers and scale and experimenting that you can do with the smaller ones.

00:14:54.451 --> 00:14:55.961
Talk about my little science projects.

00:14:55.981 --> 00:14:59.412
Now you should have seen my seabrights crossed into this and that and this and that.

00:15:00.211 --> 00:15:00.292
Well,

00:15:01.091 --> 00:15:04.072
I know where I can go for some nice Chanticleer bantams.

00:15:04.871 --> 00:15:05.501
Where?

00:15:06.302 --> 00:15:06.741
Oh.

00:15:06.812 --> 00:15:07.272
Tripp has

00:15:07.272 --> 00:15:11.052
me curious now on replicating my other project in the miniature form.

00:15:11.621 --> 00:15:13.282
Well, these are Chanticleer bantams.

00:15:13.292 --> 00:15:13.991
You're going to need.

00:15:14.341 --> 00:15:18.802
No, they're yours doesn't exist yet, so you should be used to make them.

00:15:19.501 --> 00:15:20.741
Oh, we're such enablers.

00:15:21.542 --> 00:15:22.052
Be honest

00:15:22.052 --> 00:15:22.282
with you.

00:15:22.282 --> 00:15:23.522
Those are bad for chicken math.

00:15:23.642 --> 00:15:24.851
Bantam breasts.

00:15:25.331 --> 00:15:29.552
To be honest with you, Madeline, in retrospect, I said a white rock.

00:15:29.552 --> 00:15:32.682
It might be better to start with a white Orpington.

00:15:33.481 --> 00:15:33.892
Hmm.

00:15:34.221 --> 00:15:35.422
Because of the skin color.

00:15:36.221 --> 00:15:40.432
With my current project, I'm seeing a skin color go in different directions.

00:15:40.432 --> 00:15:42.861
And I think I can find what I need just by selection.

00:15:43.657 --> 00:15:45.187
Oh, you could you could,

00:15:45.986 --> 00:15:50.866
but as we know, it's a numbers game and a percentage breakdown of who gets what within a batch.

00:15:50.876 --> 00:15:52.706
And if they all had.

00:15:53.152 --> 00:15:54.322
That right trajectory.

00:15:54.322 --> 00:15:56.062
It's one less thing to select through.

00:15:56.861 --> 00:15:57.282
Hmm.

00:15:57.761 --> 00:15:59.562
What makes you think about this?

00:15:59.922 --> 00:16:02.081
You're getting into polygenetic selection.

00:16:02.491 --> 00:16:02.581
Yeah.

00:16:02.642 --> 00:16:11.642
Where each generation, you're like, oh, and I can select for this and this and this now, because you know, things are starting to tighten up in all the departments.

00:16:11.961 --> 00:16:12.591
Right.

00:16:12.591 --> 00:16:14.062
And it's that whole watch.

00:16:14.091 --> 00:16:21.491
Watch the spread, look at your percentages, figure out what's going on and what you can pull from to move forward with.

00:16:21.491 --> 00:16:22.392
'cause sometimes.

00:16:23.067 --> 00:16:24.907
Half of them will be decent.

00:16:24.937 --> 00:16:30.576
Other times it's 10 percent or less that popped off as usable for that next generation.

00:16:31.376 --> 00:16:37.927
So yeah, eating a lot of chicken, laying a lot of eggs feeding, you know, what,

00:16:38.726 --> 00:16:40.067
20 percent create balance.

00:16:40.187 --> 00:16:41.616
You're going to be needing more chickens.

00:16:41.616 --> 00:16:42.677
If you can't buy the head.

00:16:43.476 --> 00:16:45.667
Talk about efficient use of Penn space though.

00:16:45.726 --> 00:16:46.547
I've got a barn.

00:16:47.346 --> 00:16:52.226
Anyways, so we'll see if this becomes the Bantam Keepers podcast in a few years.

00:16:52.616 --> 00:16:53.716
No, it won't.

00:16:53.767 --> 00:16:56.086
My meat buyer still wants those big ones.

00:16:56.397 --> 00:16:57.317
And I do too.

00:16:57.346 --> 00:17:00.317
They fill in my Dutch oven really nicely.

00:17:01.047 --> 00:17:07.606
And I think it would take probably three Bantams to fill that Dutch oven, but then I'm calling them three at a time as well.

00:17:07.606 --> 00:17:08.336
So there's probably

00:17:08.586 --> 00:17:08.906
would.

00:17:08.906 --> 00:17:09.257
Yeah.

00:17:10.057 --> 00:17:10.416
Hmm.

00:17:10.537 --> 00:17:11.846
I need to get off this topic.

00:17:12.646 --> 00:17:24.777
Well, something else that I do see bandied about a lot is a lot of people do want to feed crumbles and there's this misconception that crumbles are water soluble and you don't need grit.

00:17:25.576 --> 00:17:28.507
Bantams still have gizzards.

00:17:28.586 --> 00:17:31.767
They still have the same physiology as their larger counterpart.

00:17:31.846 --> 00:17:33.207
All birds need grit.

00:17:34.007 --> 00:17:35.497
Crumbles are not water soluble.

00:17:35.626 --> 00:17:41.326
Crumbles are, crumbles are just pellets that have been ground down because people think that's what they need.

00:17:42.126 --> 00:17:50.896
And another thing about crumbles and pellets, they all are going to, they have to have a filler in there to make the pellet hold together.

00:17:51.426 --> 00:17:53.467
Yes, I can't make it without a filler.

00:17:53.586 --> 00:17:55.987
No, it needs a binder to be a pellet.

00:17:56.146 --> 00:18:01.136
So if you're milling your own feed and sourcing your own grains, you're already well ahead of the game.

00:18:01.136 --> 00:18:03.696
You've probably been listening to this podcast for a little while.

00:18:04.326 --> 00:18:06.741
So we don't need to be talking to you folks.

00:18:07.541 --> 00:18:16.412
But if you're going to use some nutritional supplements, there's, you know, there, there are a few products out there that do what they say that they're supposed to do.

00:18:17.211 --> 00:18:26.642
And a lot of the good ones, they're just amping up those amino acids and the micronutrients and your B vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin D, all those essential things.

00:18:27.442 --> 00:18:32.102
Well, that's because the quality of the commercial feeds anymore is so poor.

00:18:32.652 --> 00:18:33.942
We don't really have any choice.

00:18:34.082 --> 00:18:39.051
Either make our own, find somebody that will do a custom mix for us or supplement.

00:18:39.852 --> 00:18:40.231
Yeah,

00:18:41.031 --> 00:18:47.622
I'm doing a supplement route over top of a crumble feed currently because I still haven't found a meal within a half hour.

00:18:48.422 --> 00:18:50.321
That can mix it the way we need it mixed.

00:18:50.342 --> 00:18:53.301
And I'm not prepared to go out and buy all the stuff to do it our own.

00:18:54.102 --> 00:19:00.442
I don't have a silo for long term grain storage because I do appreciate how your whole grains will store.

00:19:00.852 --> 00:19:08.422
For so long, you really can go out and get bulk corn, bulk wheat, bulk, however you're blending.

00:19:08.971 --> 00:19:12.672
And it'll store in its whole form for years.

00:19:12.951 --> 00:19:18.071
But the very moment you mill that feed, you've got three months or less to use it up.

00:19:18.362 --> 00:19:18.451
Yeah.

00:19:18.451 --> 00:19:20.071
The bulk

00:19:20.071 --> 00:19:21.872
already mixed, already milled.

00:19:22.531 --> 00:19:23.852
You can't stock up.

00:19:23.882 --> 00:19:25.061
It's going to get too old.

00:19:25.082 --> 00:19:26.221
And what is it?

00:19:26.221 --> 00:19:29.321
The B vitamins are the first to go in the degradation.

00:19:30.122 --> 00:19:31.872
Well, guys, I don't have anything else.

00:19:31.872 --> 00:19:36.116
I think I need to lay on the folks that we've covered it pretty well.

00:19:36.336 --> 00:19:36.616
Yeah,

00:19:36.717 --> 00:19:37.686
Bantams are awesome.

00:19:38.096 --> 00:19:45.156
And when it comes to showing, you know, you can interment APA shows or ABA shows, American Bantam Association, because they have all We didn't

00:19:45.156 --> 00:19:49.446
even mention them yet, the American Bantam Association, they have their own club and everything.

00:19:49.767 --> 00:19:56.477
Yeah, and it's so important from a breed preservation perspective that we have people active.

00:19:57.277 --> 00:19:59.846
In this area of,

00:20:00.646 --> 00:20:01.326
excuse me, breeding.

00:20:02.126 --> 00:20:06.307
I'm going to lay this out there and then I'm going to get down off my soapbox and be quiet.

00:20:07.106 --> 00:20:20.156
But from a standpoint of breed preservation, I always hear them talking about large fowl breeds, but there are plenty, plenty of Bantam breeds that are in need of breed preservation or they're going to be lost.

00:20:20.957 --> 00:20:23.747
As soon as the cornerstone breeders retire.

00:20:24.172 --> 00:20:25.942
Who's picking up the torch?

00:20:26.741 --> 00:20:29.142
Well, that's happening all around the poultry industry.

00:20:29.942 --> 00:20:35.622
So I guess, or any, you guys have anything you want to bring up before we go?

00:20:36.422 --> 00:20:38.271
I think we pretty well covered it.

00:20:39.071 --> 00:20:39.422
Good job.

00:20:39.852 --> 00:20:42.882
Next time we're diving into the whole other category of poultry.

00:20:43.682 --> 00:20:55.781
The end of 2024, we hit 50, 000 downloads and we also had 43- 4400 downloads just for the month of December, that's the first time we've ever done that, so.

00:20:56.332 --> 00:20:59.031
You know, we're not doing too bad for a little 18 month old podcast.

00:20:59.832 --> 00:21:01.501
Yeah, it's blowing my mind a little bit.

00:21:02.301 --> 00:21:12.701
Thanks for listening and we hope you'll join us next Tuesday when we'll be back with another episode of the Poultry Keepers podcast where we talk poultry from feathers to function.

00:21:13.501 --> 00:21:13.821
Bye now.