How to save money on chicken feed?

[Scooter&Suzie]

After finding out that I was paying $4.29 just from feed per dozen eggs I decided that I need to find as many ways as possible to save on chicken feed. The person I bought my chicken coop from used shredded newspaper and scrap paper for bedding. I am going to try to switch to that, and see how that goes. I'll keep bedding on hand just in case I run out, or it isn't working. But as for feed... I need ideas how to save on that. Bedding can be stretched - not filling it quite as high and such. Don't worry, they will have a clean coop with enough bedding, I just won't be wasting it by adding more than they need.

Ideas on how to save on feed are very welcome!

 

[n8mont4]

Try growing some duckweed. Put some in a tub of water and scoop out half every day or so (it reproduces very fast) Dry it for a day and feed it to your chickens. It is very high in protein

 

[Fred's Hens]

Our cost per dozen is around 90 cents, or less.

To be economical, the flock must be top notch pullet year layers. Commercial hens preferred, but top laying, first year pullets of production strains of Barred Rock, 'Lorps, RIR, etc, also compete well enough. That said........

Feed cost is where the difference is critical. We have a local Hubbard Feed mill that grinds their own layer. Nice, 17% protein, complete and pretty good quality. Current price, this week was $17.75 per HUNDRED pounds. (50 cents credit for returning the bag). If you are paying more than $20 per hundred for feed, your costs quickly cut into your profit margin. Forget $18 a 50# bag at chain stores. That's my tip, for what it is worth.

 

[duckinnut]

Why is it costing you so much? How much are you buying at a time? How many and how old are your chickens?

I just checked my math as I went from buying 50ld bags of Purina layer to local grain company's layer in 100lb bags. The cost of producing an egg for me went from .15 cents to just under .10 cents per egg. I was paying $15.50 for a 50 lb bag of Purina and now buy 100lb bags of Ventura layer for $22.32.

So for a dozen eggs is $1.20 plus the box @.22 is $1.44 cost total.

 

[Davaroo]

Im a little bummed. I thought by buying chickens, building my coop and so forth, down the line we would save on it, or at least be even. I have 3 hens, and 1 rooster. should I be in the hole by owning chickens? I keep getting told, its a hobby, not a money saving, or money earning thing. That we will always be in the hole regarding money, because feed costs more than the eggs we will ever get, and so on.
I got a buzz kill. Is this true?
How can I save on having them. We are already a low income family, Im a mom with 3 sons....not married, and cant afford a hobby really. I thought this would work out.

The thing is, most people treat their chickens like pets.
They build over elaborate structures for them, never really understand the feed requirements and get caught up in all sorts of fads and new fangled notions... all of which adds to the cost.
Think recycled, reused and repurposed. Obtain basic feeds and supplement wisely.
Feed green feeds from gardens and tables.
Avoid anything your great granddad didn't use.
Go here and read this free e-book:

http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/ppp/pppToC.html

It is one hundred years old, so must be viewed as such. But it offers lots of good advice for little cost.

Also check this out:
http://journeytoforever.org/farm_poultry.html

The bottom line is there is a lot of hype around "keeping chickens" ... Much of it designed to make someone money. Consumerism has crept in and spoiled a basic, traditional activity that is essentially a break even job when practiced on a small scale.

It takes research and determination to wade through that and get to the core. The biggest mistake made is thinking chickens are just and end product, part of some mundane profit and loss equation. Free meat and eggs, etc., etc.

However, they are best as part of a whole scheme of gardening, land use and improvement. Once you grasp this subtle but crucial difference, you will find an enjoyable occupation, that doesn't HAVE TO BE costly...
It also rewards you with fun, protein food and a touch back to a simpler time.

 

[Davaroo]

$60 coop??
The Scrounging Force is strong in you!

Most agricultural activities, when practiced on a small scale, are usually break even propositions at best.
This is why farmers are traditionally portrayed as noble, humble... And broke. They are well fed and rich in spirit, but money is in short supply. It's only when you employ the economy of scale that a margin profit emerges.

 

[JekkaLynn]

It will only hold six chickens or so but it will be perfect for when I needs to separate certain birds for breeding. We have to buy the wire yet but even after we buy the wire it will only have cost us about 20 dollars because we scrounged the rest.

 

[Chemguy]

MsDrake: We have a small flock of 10 layers, and manage to get about 6-8 eggs per day in peak laying season. That is more than we can eat (40-50 eggs per week), so we have given away many eggs. Now, that would at first seem to make the cost per egg too high for us, but instead of payment for the eggs we accept table scraps and gardening waste. This has worked out very, very well. We go through one 50-lb. bag of feed per month, so by my calculations that means that a single egg costs us about 7 to 9 cents during prime laying season. The cost goes up when factoring in times when laying is down.

That might be harder to pull off with three layers, but I think that it could be done. An additional thing that you could do, and which might seem a bit dramatic depending on your point of view, is to get rid of the rooster. If you're not counting on having chicks come from your flock, then the rooster is simply consuming feed and not providing you with eggs.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Wow, was wondering about some of the price points in this thread...then realized it was almost a decade old!

 

[LindaB220]

My girls loves Whole Wheat bread the local Bakery sells it for $2.00 a rack(8 loaves)the local Produce stand throws (free) away tons on Saturday

Shoot I'd be supplementing my own diet. Great deals.

BLT's, french toast, sandwiches, bread pudding. On and on.