feed price's

[Fred's Hens]

Quote:
+1. When I used to buy a certain national brand, I started wondering how much of the purchase price was going toward ads telling me how wonderful their feed was.

But those bags shore was purty!

Exactly. I grow organic vegetables, for example. At my driveway stand, in the summer, I sell products for 30 cents on a dollar for what I would pay for those same products, in the winter time, at a local grocery store. Huge difference!!! This is basic economics 101. My problem is I just cannot seem to grow tomatoes in January in northern Michigan. Our ground is a little "stiff" to quote Thumper in the original Bambi.

 

[southerndesert]

Fred's Hens :

Quote:
+1. When I used to buy a certain national brand, I started wondering how much of the purchase price was going toward ads telling me how wonderful their feed was.

But those bags shore was purty!

Exactly. I grow organic vegetables, for example. At my driveway stand, in the summer, I sell products for 30 cents on a dollar for what I would pay for those same products, in the winter time, at a local grocery store. Huge difference!!! This is basic economics 101. My problem is I just cannot seem to grow tomatoes in January in northern Michigan. Our ground is a little "stiff" to quote Thumper in the original Bambi.

Bummer.... Our winter tomatoes are just starting to flower

 

[NYREDS]

Quote:
What Blueseal feed will you be switching to & what's the price? Here, even though Pennfield has gone up it is still cheaper than Blueseal.

 

[Chickenaddict]

Everything is going up here too.... I used to buy purina but I'll be darn if I pay $15 for a bag of flock raiser! I now buy the mills blend which is only a few $$ cheaper. The scratch is as much as the layer feed I buy now. My little hobby has turned into a huge expense. I don't know how people who have 100 birds or more afford the feed either. I am struggling just supporting 40 banties.

ETA Mills fleet farm prices have gone up considerably as well.
A 50 lb bag of layer crumble is about $13
Sprout brand scratch grains (which my birds don't care for) is about $12 a 50 lb bag
A 50 lb bag of gamebird feed is around $16

We usually go thru 100 lbs of feed in 2-3 weeks. 1 gamebird and 1 layer mixed with 1 bag of scratch is what I feed them over winter. I think the birds will be getting alot more kitchen scraps from now on.

 

[chikincrazee]

All livestock feeds have gone up...first diesel which the equipment runs on and the trucks use to deliver it has gone thru the roof.....then all the horrible spring weather..in Texas and parts of OK the crops were wiped out from drought....it just goes on...i use to get this horse feed for 7.50 a 50 lbs and its now 10.99 thats in 2 years....the chicken feed is about 14.50 for 18 % layer and it went down in price a bit as the corn was better than expected around here in the midwest...its a Purina no name actually Land o Lakes own brand who owns the Purina label..Home Fresh.

 

[angelbabyamy]

Quote:
my feed is 14 a bag. where do u buy your feed @?

I bought my feed at Coastal Farm Supply. The only other choice is the Farmer's Co-Op and it is a little more expensive. There aren't many choices here, unfortunately. They have Purina and Nutrena brands.
I have around 50 chickens and am thinking of getting rid of the 2 1/2 year old SLW. They are my oldest birds. Everyone seems to be moulting or hiding eggs. I am only getting about 4 a day! I should put a light in their coop to see if it helps. It is getting expensive!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Same in my area.

 

[Jake Levi]

I am battling this too, I recently moved to NE Wa from Northern Michigan, and prices here are 25% higher at a minimum, a third more on some, right now I am looking for a mill to mix my own, if, I cant find one in reasonable driving distance then I will get a grinder to do my own. Oats are avalable locally for .08/lb, corn is higher but far less then the 14.99/50lb the fancy feed stores want- TSC and Big R and others.

There are lots of reasons why our prices have shot up, one is because they can, another is that many folks just dont know when they are getting gouged, and some grains such as corn have a high demand, much going for ethanol etc plus feeds and cereals, others like wheat have had a steady rise the past four years for demand. To me the bottom line is coming up with my own ration, and go back to earlier days, Corn/Oats/Barley with some other grains added, BOSS and ground sunflower seeds and whatever meat meal or fish meal that I can find and some molasses to bind it a bit.

Its that or neck back to a small household flock. I'd rather make my own, I will know it is fresher and hasnt been setting in a warehouse for months and months, and I will know what is in it unlike what comes from Big R or TSC. Then seasonally add in my own garden produce. I am also going to look into buying trimmings and outdated produce from some of the stores in the area.

I'd like to hear what others are doing in this line. The big fancy stores like TSC etc are nicde to browse through, but although they carry a lot more inventory then the 'local feed mills' they have a lot higher cost of business then the local feed mill and it gets passed on to us. No thanks, I prefer to buy local, and if I have to mix my own then thats what was done for millenia.

 

[nuttyredhead]

Me too. Im going back to blue seal, i ran out of 3$ off coupons. And the 3$ off 2 just isnt a good enough deal for me.

 

[galanie]

Fred's Hens :

Let's use the price of corn as an index. $8 a bushel or 56 lbs. Soybeans $13 a bushel or 60 lbs. Add a mineral and vitamin pak and you have a good idea what the raw materials are for a hundred pounds of non-organic feed. If you are close to the source or local corn/soybeans, your price per 50 lbs of feed should be $10.

Paying $17-$20 for a 50 lb bag means you are paying a huge premium for the trucking, diesel fuel, handling, processing, bagging, marketing, multi-levels of profit, etc. That's the price you pay for being too far from the source of the basic ingredients.

I can well understand all the advertising and trucking adding to the cost. But it always has, this isn't a recent development. These price hikes are crazy. I still think that, at least where I am, there is some gouging going on.​