A little help for the most indecisive person in the world...

[Clay Valley Farmer]

A few thoughts for what they are worth.

#1 get all your feed at once, buying a single 50lb bag of feed for a flock of meat birds is like paying the minimum on a credit card bill. One big purchase will save gas money and you may be able to negotiate a bit better deal. It is pretty easy to figure the feed you will need. Say you want 25 birds raised to 8lb average live weight 25 x 8lb x (2lb feed/lb meet) = 400lb of feed. Losses will typically give you a bit of a buffer on that rough calculation.

#2 mill feed can be a crap shoot, The batch I have on the go I feed medicated starter for 1 week and then switched to mill feed broiler ration that was 40-50% cheaper than name brand 50lb bags. Long and short is the chickens waste more feed, grow slower and in my experience had higher losses. In the end the mill feed has resulted in a higher cost per lb of chicken. Granted you might find some realy good mill feed and it'l work great... mine did not.

#3 you might get away with non-medicated feed, but when the chickens transition to a tractor on the soil an outbreak of cocci can be devistating and if you can't get meds in fast you can lose many birds in a blink. After having this happen I have some resevations about the idea of trying to raise them med free. Feeding medicated starter containing low levels of amprolium until they are set up on the soil may be better than feeding non medicated and then having higher losses and sick birds that require much higher doses of stronger meds. The need for medicated starter is likely differnt one area to the next, warm and damp places seam to get it much worse than colder and drier climates.

 

[Jschaaff]

Quote:
Awesome points and info. Thank you!
Jessa

 

[EggsForIHOP]

Thank you Clay Valley Farmer - those are all very valid points!

#2 is a VERY good point - so I'm gonna stick with the feed store as it is a known and better go the known than unknown on this after I really think it through.

#3...I have every OTC med under the sun I think - between the move and my lack of organization brought on by said move, I placed a HUGE Jeffers order like the first day here...JUST IN CASE because I couldn't find my boxes from the old place with the animal stuff and I was convinced they had been left behind and something was gonna get sick and I wouldn't be able to treat them...so I can always treat in their water preventative style for cocci when they first move out of doors officially (really - I have enough variety in meds now to last a decade I think and cover everything from chickens to Dorothy and all the munchkins in oz too!)) - the medicated feed first week is mostly for the higher protein I was thinking - correct me if I am wrong though - but I was going on the thought that their little bodies would appreciate the boost protein-wise and then drop it down to the 18% to discourage wompy leg issues.

and as for #1...which is a VERY good idea...but...my back vetoed it when I counted out loud how many bags of feed that would be - easily it's about 16 (for everything not just broilers) and that is if I'm not forgetting to feed something mentally PLUS 20 bales of hay - my back said it was walking out on me if I tried that stunt with DH outta town and not helping... I told my back I agreed...

but we'll see how froggy I am feeling Friday

Now the only last thing I am stressing is the sudden random fowl pox we have - called the ag extension people today and talked to a VERY nice man, who said it's apparently pretty common where I am and never to fear but for sure to vaccinate. If sticking a baby chicken is like sticking a baby goat...that outta be QUITE the poultry rodeo for me. I hope they fuss less than goats, or the dog is gonna hold it against me for hurting the babies!