Can’t afford rising feed prices

[Sally PB]

The neighbors and I will continue to gift one another "excess", and do our best to ensure the exchange seems fair. Good neighbors are much more valuable to me than 24 flats of eggs a year

Oh yeah. Good neighbors ARE worth their weight in gold. I wouldn't hesitate to pound on any of my neighbors' doors at 2 am if I needed emergency help. I've told them not to hesitate to pound on my door if they need help, either.

You can't buy that.

 

[3KillerBs]

A point to consider, that is probably not so very popular,

Charity to those in need is one thing, but if you make a general practice of deeply underselling eggs well below the costs of keeping the chickens you are undermining the ability of homesteaders and people in need of a supplemental income to make money that they may be in desperate need of.

Giving food to the needy is virtuous. Undercutting other small egg sellers as a general practice is neither kind nor charitable.

 

[WallyG74]

As SueT mentioned, there are other reasons to raise your own eggs. For me, in the situation I am in, I do it for food security and as another step to self-sufficiency. I also enjoy having chickens around. Those things make it worth it to me, but as a way to make money? Not at all. I couldn't sell enough eggs in a lifetime to pay for the cost of their coop, the price to buy the initial ones, supplies, food, etc

Amen!

 

[Ridgeback825]

$2 per dozen sounds crazy to us here. They're $4 at Walmart. I planted a dedicated bed for our small flock that includes okra, marigolds, watermelon, zenias and comphre.

 

[TJAnonymous]

A point to consider, that is probably not so very popular,

Charity to those in need is one thing, but if you make a general practice of deeply underselling eggs well below the costs of keeping the chickens you are undermining the ability of homesteaders and people in need of a supplemental income to make money that they may be in desperate need of.

Giving food to the needy is virtuous. Undercutting other small egg sellers as a general practice is neither kind nor charitable.

I don't undercut anyone. I sell less than 5 dozen eggs per month. And other than the sign on my mailbox (with no prices listed), I no longer advertise. I used to sell at the Farmers market several years ago but I quit when there ended up being 3 or 4 other sellers. My time is more valuable than that... As I already mentioned, I don't raise chickens as a business. I do it for my family and the rest is given away.

 

[Cindy in PA]

50 lbs a week seems like a lot. Is something else getting some of it? Mice, wild birds? Try putting out just enough for one day, or do you already—

Unless it is 40 lbs a week, then it's not too much. Large bag doesn't exactly tell us much.

 

[Cindy in PA]

What type of feeders do you use? An average bird eat 3-4 Oz a day, that's 5lbs a day, 50lb is about 10 days worth. How much is feed in your area and have you looked for cheaper? Mixing your own feed is a bad idea, it's very expensive.

More like 10-15%, I've never seen anyone prove the mythical 50%.

It doubles in size but your birds won't get the nutrition they need like that, it's a bad idea.

Diotomaceous earth isn't a wormer for anything, it doesn't do a thing. that's a myth and can actually cause respiratory system issues when breathed.

Unless it's a 35 or 40 lb bag

 

[Cindy in PA]

Hey poster, give them a good worming (can't hurt) and scoop out 20 tuna cans worth of feed so you can get a visual of the amount. Feed them that per day. No more eventhough they're probably gonna act like they're starving since they've been fed double. Or weigh it out. Somehow get a visual on the correct amount to feed. If it's still too much you can get rid of some till you're good. You can do a quarter of the feed by reducing your flock by half

Different feeds weigh different amounts. Tuna can weights would not be the same. Axtually weigh the darn food.

 

[MROO]

I’ve seen online that some people go feed-free with whole grain berries, bugs, and other foraging.
Has anyone here tried to cut back amounts by a good deal or even entirely omitted chicken feed?
I was planning on letting them summer over my garden bed this year instead of gardening, but husband is looking at abandoning the chickens all together. If he does that I’ll have to do a garden or lose both outdoor pleasures. (Because if I don’t labor on the weeds, and the chickens don’t than it’ll be impossible to get back.)
Hoping y’all have some better ideas than I’m coming up with.

Try these two articles from the "Fresh Eggs Daily" blog. The first deals with cost-cutting measures, the second with your garden:
https://www.fresheggsdaily.blog/2020/05/12-ways-to-save-money-on-chicken-feed.html
https://www.fresheggsdaily.blog/2018/06/my-top-twelve-plants-to-grow-for.html

 

[Judy Todd]

We do give them all the kitchen scraps, which is a pail-ful daily, and they free range half the day, but at about 20 hens they eat a large bag of feed every week. Are we overfeeding them? I wonder.

Is that a 40 lb bag. I have 15 large size hens and one Mille, so little I am sure she does not eat much. I do not go thru a bag in more then 2 plus weeks. I fill the feeder with only what they will eat in one day, no more. Ovefeeding makes them fat. Only my routine. They do get kitchen scrapes, but that does not amount to much as I live alone. They frr range only a few hours about 3 to 4 days a week, due to many varmints who love chicken dinner. Hope that helps.