Official BYC Poll: How Do You Keep Your Feed Costs Low?

[Aunt Angus]

Short answer: I DON'T!

I do spend a bit on high quality feed, but I also have a chicken yard with a mix of pasture grasses and other things where they forage for about half of the time. They get lots of bugs and worms and frogs that way, too. I also ferment 2-3x a week.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I made a bunch of feeders with 2" PVC elbows and I swear it cut my feed bill in 1/2. No more doves and wild bird freeloaders. I feed scraps, free range, raise mealworms, have them sift through my compost and I actively hunt for bugs for them lol. I go through about 1.5 bags of crumble a month for my 20+ birds and no one is starving- food is available to them all of the time.
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These are great!

 

[SueT]

Someone asked about wild birds stealing feed. Yes, they eat some of it, especially when there is snow. But I like the wild birds, and chicken feed is cheaper than bird seed. So they are welcome to steal some of the feed and when there is snow, I put out extra just for them.
And when I go out each afternoon with scratch feed, I enjoy seeing the wild birds excitedly waiting for me, they know me.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

My costs during the winter months are much higher than in the spring, summer and fall. I ferment during those seasons which saves a bunch on feed. Plus, my flock free ranges and enjoys the natural yum from foraging.

 

[Vickischics]

I provide purchased feed, then in the afternoon, I allow them to free range. We also keep all the good scraps from my husband's daily cooking. Plus, I give them warm oatmeal or grits on chilly days here in Florida.
I do sale eggs to my co workers for $4.00 a dozen. This keeps my costs to a minimum. I have too many customers to keep up with only having 8 girls. I need more chickens but my husband's says he's not building another coop! .
My rwo Polish girls must be kept separate from the six "Big Girls" aka the "Mean girls".

 

[3KillerBs]

I comparison shop and buy feed from the local farm store that gets it from a local mill.

I use a traditional hanging feeder and see almost no spillage. Once every 6-8 weeks I dump the fine powder from the bottom into a dish to wet it down and serve it as a "treat".

I give table scraps and, recently, Dubia roaches (I am minding my sister's colony while she is in the process of moving).

I am setting up to enable rotating pasture (no free range because we share property with my SIL who would be angry if the chickens were in her garden eating or digging up her flowers).

I don't see any wild birds attempting to eat layer pellets so that hasn't been an issue.

My feeder:

 

[chickentrains]

1. My chickens free range all day.
2. My flock is "small" at 7 chickens.
3. Spillage and waste doesn't happen here. They don't ever turn over their feed, its hanging in their run.
4. Chickens come in, wild animals stay OUT!
5. They get scraps now and then, plus solider flies, and scratch now and then.

They get unlimited food, but I only fill up their 3 gallon sized food container once a week.. For 7 chickens I don't think thats all bad.

 

[TropicalBabies]

These are great!

I borrowed this idea from a lovely flock keeper I know. The water shed and feed visual is fantastic- I would not do a 5g bucket myself. My test model was the 1gal distilled water bottles we normally recycle- still in use.
5g water bottle was purchased from Home Depot filtered water service $7. to own bottle. 2" elbows (or 45's) $2.50 and $3 for silicone. THOUGH I did have some failure around 1 (out of 6) elbow during our heavy rains a few weeks ago. But if the bottle was not clear I would not have seen it. I am going to pop the elbows, clean and then seal with a $5. tube of roofing sealer to cure that small fail and I also hung a small tarp under my shade cloth. Think that ot' to solve it.
The small clear I cut with a razor knife, the 5g I used a 2' hole saw and reamed it a bit for the fit. Whole thing is very quick, cheap and surprisingly simple.

@SueT I am a bit envious of your sweet song birds. If I had sweet song birds snacking at the bowls I'd go that rout too. Sounds lovely

 

[Aunt Angus]

I borrowed this idea from a lovely flock keeper I know. The water shed and feed visual is fantastic- I would not do a 5g bucket myself. My test model was the 1gal distilled water bottles we normally recycle- still in use.
5g water bottle was purchased from Home Depot filtered water service $7. to own bottle. 2" elbows (or 45's) $2.50 and $3 for silicone. THOUGH I did have some failure around 1 (out of 6) elbow during our heavy rains a few weeks ago. But if it was not clear I would not have seen it. I am going to pop the elbows, clean and then seal with a $5. tube of roofing sealer to cure that small fail and I also hung a small tarp under my shade cloth. Think that ot' to solve it.
The small clear I cut with a razor knife, the 5g I used a 2' hole saw and reamed it a bit for the fit. Whole thing is very quick, cheap and surprisingly simple.

@SueT I am a bit envious of your sweet song birds. If I had sweet song birds snacking at the bowls I'd got that rout too. Sounds lovely

Thanks! I may do this once I get my ducks out there. I think it will help with waste AND duckie mess!

 

[Sally PB]

Right now I'm giving them a bucket of garden weeds every day in addition to their food. They also get some scraps, and neighbors contribute some in that department too. I also found a much cheaper source of feed at a small independent farm supply store.

Having just four chickens keeps the cost down, but I'll be getting 5 chicks in June, so my costs will be going up.