And So The Feed Price Increase Begins.....

[Imp]

SA= Sumi is in South Africa

Purina has been $17.99 or more for about a year here. Last bag was $17.99, the one before was $18.??

Gas has been about or more than $4 a gallon for several months , just recently dropping down to ~$3.74, going back up now. Loyalty cards help 10 to 35 cents a gallon.

Imp- I think a lot depends on your location and the local economy.

 

[DobermanGuy]

Bought another bag of the Dumore layer pellets today and noticed that the price had went up 50cents on the 50lb bags. From 14.49 to 14.99 a bag...

Fortunately I was fairly stocked up BEFORE the prices went up any and currently have 200lbs of chicken feed on hand. With only 6 birds I should be good for a while - especially if I start supplimenting their feed with table scraps and such... Since I store their feed indoors I am not so concerned about rodents, bugs or mold. Food is stored in a safe, cool and dry environment... It will last.

I plan to stock up on dog food next time I go out towards the feed store. I imagine that it will get more expensive as well. Iams has a promotion going currently where if you buy 4 bags you get one free (instant at checkout - no forms to mail in) Plan to get @ 150lbs of that next time I go there.

 

[Elektra2167]

Dumor Layer was 14.99 here today (east TN area). It has gone up since the last time we got it too. Guess we should consider stocking up. Gas is 3.46 to 3.54. We are considering thinning the flock too.

 

[devora]

How long does feed keep? Assuming I don't have a grain silo, that is. You know, in the bag stacked up in the pump house sort of thing.

 

[Habibs Hens]

How long does feed keep? Assuming I don't have a grain silo, that is. You know, in the bag stacked up in the pump house sort of thing.

3 months

 

[texaschickmom]

Dumor Layer was 14.99 here today (east TN area). It has gone up since the last time we got it too. Guess we should consider stocking up. Gas is 3.46 to 3.54. We are considering thinning the flock too.

Yes, it does make you stop and consider...how many hens am I going to feed through the winter this year? I'm thinking less and less.

 

[DobermanGuy]

How long does feed keep? Assuming I don't have a grain silo, that is. You know, in the bag stacked up in the pump house sort of thing.

Seems to me that if it only 'lasted' 3 months they would put an expiration date on the bag.

There is NO 'use by' or expiration date on the Dumore at all. It only says to store in cool dry place free of rodents and insects and to not use if moldy.

Compared to some of the other stuff that chickens eat (poop, dirt, sand, etc.), I cant see food that is a few months old harming them.

 

[poltroon]

Seems to me that if it only 'lasted' 3 months they would put an expiration date on the bag.

There is NO 'use by' or expiration date on the Dumore at all. It only says to store in cool dry place free of rodents and insects and to not use if moldy.

Compared to some of the other stuff that chickens eat (poop, dirt, sand, etc.), I cant see food that is a few months old harming them.

It probably won't harm them, but the vitamins and the fatty acids will degrade over time, especially if exposed to heat or light. For most scenarios, it probably doesn't matter, but if you're picky about your feed, it's worth considering.

At the end of the day... your savings per bag in stocking up is probably only $2-$3 on the outside worst case scenario. Everyone's setup is different, but it's worth figuring out how many bags you'll save that on and then the hassle you make for yourself storing the bags (versus the hassle of going to the feed store more often), and how cool and dry and rodent-proof your storage is.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Gee, and if they'd quit with the stupid ethanol in gasoline that gunks up the engines, maybe we could concentrate on keeping the corn for feed/food. Just bought a cadillac of chainsaws for our land clearing and we searched all over for ethanol-free gas for it. Was that ever hard to find! But, putting ethanol (high fructose gasoline, as my DH calls it) in that new chainsaw is the worst thing for it.

That stuff is not just bad for just chainsaws, but pretty much all small engines. A family friend owns a lawn care equipment store here he told us that half the weed eaters, mowers, etc brought in need rebuilt due to the gasoline. He says that boat motors are having the same issue.

We have a couple stations here that claim to sell Ethanol free gasoline: They put up big banners and are always very busy.

As to the feed prices, I've heard from friends on a couple of Facebook poultry pages that their prices jumped by about the same amounts where they are located (TN, and PA). I really wish their was a local grain mill closer: They are usually a bit more reasonable since you are cutting out the middle man.

I don't imagine their will be any source of truly affordable feed the rest of the year though. The lady that runs the feed store where I buy most of my feed is worried. She's had people tell her if prices get too high, they'll just sell or cull their animals, which would cut her business way down.

Sadly, this year I lost most of my grain sorghum, millet, and sunflower crops to the persistent rain and severe thunderstorms. Last summer we couldn't get a drop of rain to save our lives and this year I am getting 10 inches a week. So, that leaves me without enough supplements, other than winter squash, pumpkins, and meal worms to help cut the feed bill.

We are going to disc one of the pastures our waterfowl use and plant it with chufa: I hear they love the stuff. I am also going to plant winter wheat and oats this fall: Anything to help cut the feed bill. We can grow annual rye grass here all winter, so the geese will still have pasture.

I know a couple local fellas that have been growing tons of southern peas, boiling them, mashing them, drying the mash, crumbling it, and cutting his feed with that.

I have also read that duck weed is very nutritious and very easy to grow, so we are going to give that a shot too. I mean geesh, it doubles itself every 16 hours and all I need is water from the duck pond and some 55 gallon barrels, which I have. The stuff grows in roadside ditches here, but I am going to buy my seed plants from an aquatic supply store online: Duckweed absorbs pollutants from water, so I want aquarium grown stuff I know isn't toxic to start with. I read a paper in which they used it to feed livestock and it worked very well. It is high in protein, so I bet would be good for gamebirds.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Sure the drought is hurting a lot of grain farmers. Ranchers and everyone else are culling or reducing their herd and flocks but what I can't understand this big disconnect we have.

the disconnect is that grain farmers planted the most amount of land in like 80 years some 90 million acres (what I was told) and that because of breeding program, the corn and soybeans are super plant capable of withstanding most drought. So even with this severe drought and heat we are having, they are expecting to have 8th LARGEST harvest ever. Thanks to the scare media, my feed price is gonna go through the roof in few month. It's like do I cull my flock now and stock up on feed and hope it doesn't go moldy... Do I stock up on my meat into the deep freezer so that I can afford meat come next spring/summer?

This is such a crock but I can't do a darn thing about it. I think its not too late to plant buckwheat. I've been thinking about it. It's a real good feed and you can eat it too. Then plant some winter wheat.

If large farmers start culling their flocks and herds, we will see a small, but probably not proportionate decline in the price of meat (especially with gas going back up). Last fall when Texas, Western Louisiana, and some of the other surrounding states were in such horrible drought the price of beef and some other meats did drop with the increase in supply.

Sadly, we export SO much of the grains and corn that our country is left with higher prices in order to protect the trade deficit and gross domestic product. Well, that and so much of the corn is used for ethanol as has been pointed out.

Their is one other thing to consider: Even thought the harvest may be large, the size of the crops harvested may be smaller. Even drought resistant crops have a limit. With at least corn, I have seen photos of ears that should be 7-8 inches long are lucky to be 4 or 5: Varieties that sometimes produce two ears made only one this year. I imagine this would hold true for all crops. The plant has only so much moisture to use and must keep itself alive, so diverts less to the seed or crop being produced, which as a result is smaller. So, that would mean more acres, but less tons/bushels per acre harvested than they had anticipated.

Just a thought....