Layer feed has more calcium for egg production,you might be able to get by without layer seeing that they free range but you should at least provide them with oyster shell.
As far as bulk buying you could probably check out your area to see if there is a commercial egg producer in your vicinity ask them if they can put you in touch with their supplier or buy a ton off of them. Also go to where your buying the fifty pound bags and ask them if you order forty bags of feed if they can cut you a deal and pay in advance. Dont know if you will have luck with Purina or Blue Seal but give them a call,maybe they have a facility in the Pacific NW.
I have mostly mixed flocks of laying hens, roosters, growing birds and older infrequent layers. I feed a 16% protein grower to all of them. Chicks get fishmeal mixed in 10:1 to up the protein. I keep a container of oyster shell next to feed and next to nests with each flock. It's been working well and no kidney problems.
How many chickens do you have? I would not buy in bulk because of storage/pest problems unless I had over 100 chickens. Two fifty pound bags
of feed will store in a galvanized garbage can and will feed 100 chickens for a decent amount of time.
I know most people recommend metal containers for rodents but if one is in a hot humid climate, like summer where I live. Metal will sweat and possibly mold the feed.
I have plastic bins that each hold about 80# and no rodent issues in the last 3 years (at least not in the bins)
You aren't doing anything wrong. I go through more than that and about half of which is fermented and that goes farther.BoltonChicken --- I have 87 chickens and have to feed 100# starter-grower a week.....What am I doing wrong? 32 free range (fed twice a day) 19 roosters ( 6 in one cage 13 another because age diff) 26 pullets in another area --rest in brooder....is it because they are spread out? how much should I be feeding them? am working to get the 26 pullets to free ranging with flock....Help...
I have no forage yet. Everything's still brown and all bugs are dormant.
I didn't realize that DE could work as a drying agent. I heard that the main benefit to adding it to feed was to kill insects. Am I wrong here?
It isn't a drying agent it is an anti-caking agent for mash and crumbles.
I know you want to save money but IMO you don't have enough usage to buy bulk. I sometimes have 100 birds and I don't have enough birds to keep the feed from getting stale and lose nutrients. I try not to feed anything more than 2 months from manufacture date.Thanks everyone for the responses. I am currently buying purina 50# bags and going through about 200 #s per month for our 33 layers. I like the idea of making my own feed, I'm going to price that and see if I can do better than the ~$15 per 50 #s I'm paying today. There is a feed company nearby that sells several feed grains at about $8 / 50 #s. So I was thinking about trying that, but I am concerned about the protein amount. Given our chickens free range all day I think they should get enough protein and I can leave oyster shell for calcium.
Thanks again,
Mark
Commercial egg and meat companies have their own mills and their birds get feed within a couple days of manufacture.
If you can get fishmeal, meat meal or a poultry concentrate based on those, you can then feed more grain.
The problem with the feed grains is their amino acid configuration is limited by some of the essential ones for optimal growth and production. You could also get a legume like winter peas and sprout or heat treat them for complementary amino acids. The legumes will be much higher in price though.
I've been through the thought processes you are in and in the end, The bagged feed works best for me.
We do the same thing. A central person gets the feed delivered and we all pick it up there. They have so many different types of feed and supplements. I'm now getting a 16% organic grower that is the base for the whole flock. For chicks and molters, I mix in 60% protein fishmeal. A 10:1 ratio gives 20% protein feed. I still have dry feed available but they're all getting the feed fermented as well which really cuts down on waste.Whole grains will store longer than milled, with the milled types you'd want to look into the old freezer storage option to get added shelf life. Or something else to store it in that will seal. Whole grains can protect themselves from going stale, once it's milled or cracked that natural protection is gone. Same with pellets and crumbles as well, no protection, but the bags are designed to keep it fresh.
X2
I'm in a feed co-op as well, we all order at the same time, I think we're up to about 60 people now. Initially they offered a milled 17% protein (non-GMO) layer feed, but now that we're over 2 tons of buying power, we get a custom whole grain mix layer with 19% protein.
It would be cheaper if it wasn't bagged, but with it getting split up the way it is across the city, we need it bagged. Someone needs to buy a silo!
I store mine in galvanized garbage cans after squirrels decided they needed to taste the new feed mix. Never an issue until we switched to the new mix, now the squirrels know about the sunflower seeds and corn kernels.
Birds are doing great on the new feed, very little waste. They only thing I add now is meal worms since we're fresh out of crickets in the yard until the weather turns. The birds aren't fans of winter... grass is short, bugs are gone, and they don't care for the damp. Spoiled they are!
We also get feed grade grains and legumes in 50# bags as well as oyster shell, 3 sizes of grit and lots of other supplements.