cheaper feed?

[Sarah g 12]

My feed cost 15 dollars so I don't really earn any money selling the chicken's eggs. Does anyone know where I can get cheaper feed that's still healthy?

 

[Chris09]

My feed cost 15 dollars so I don't really earn any money selling the chicken's eggs. Does anyone know where I can get cheaper feed that's still healthy?

I'm assuming your paying 15.00 a 50 lb bag?
If so you could find a good feed mill that mixes there own feed you'll save a bundle.

Chris

 

[Sylvestor12]

You can grow your own stuff. It ups costs for 1 year because you have to buy the seeds but then you can harvest the seeds until you have as much as you want, then you can plant for feeding/saving purposes. I reccomend for Winter, kale. In Summer, I reccomend alfalfa, melons, squash, peas, green beans, acorns (if you have oak trees), sunflower seeds, corn, and oats. But, I'd save most of your grains for Winter.

 

[1muttsfan]

It is nearly impossible to feed mixed grains and other stuff and achieve a balanced diet that leads to good laying rate. And feeds made at elevators usually need to be bought in bulk, and have a much shorter storage life than packaged feeds, so are not cost effective if you have a small number of birds.

Charge more for your eggs.

 

[Sylvestor12]

Oh, and if you want to, make a cricket farm. Get a big plastic box put 3 inches of dirt in the bottom exept where you want water to be, get some ceran wrap to hold the water, feed them with cornmeal, and grow a little grass in the dirt where you want them to be able to hide and breed. You can put in fake plants that can hide them too if you can't keep them outside all year where the grass can get to sun. Make sure that the lid has small holes for air but not big enough to squeeze out. You can buy crickets at Pet Supplies Plus but I don't know others so you'd have to look those up.

 

[Sylvestor12]

And as muttsfan said it's hard to get everything so you'd still have to buy feed but growing more would save you money.

 

[Chris09]

It is nearly impossible to feed mixed grains and other stuff and achieve a balanced diet that leads to good laying rate. And feeds made at elevators usually need to be bought in bulk, and have a much shorter storage life than packaged feeds, so are not cost effective if you have a small number of birds.
Charge more for your eggs.

The bold is incorrect, You can go to ANY good mill /elevator and buy what ever amount you want. [From 1 pound on up] As for it having a shorter storage life that is incorrect also.

Chris

 

[A.T. Hagan]

This is a problem that only folks with a good knowledge of your local area are going to be able to help you with. Whether you have any GOOD feed mills (or bad or indifferent) in your area is going to take some personal investigation. I would never have found the mill I used for many years through an Internet search as they had no net presence at all. I did some old fashioned Yellow Pages (the printed kind) searches then started asking around the local area.

Feed prices can vary A LOT in any given area depending on both brand and type. Around here you pay a substantial premium for brands such as Purina and Nutrena. Local or regional mills are often cheaper. If you can go to where the feed is actually milled (as in mixed) you may get it cheaper than a reseller elsewhere. Especially if you can by it by the drum full (you supply the drum). No way to know any of these things but to check out your local area.

As for how well any of it keeps whether name brand or no-name that depends on what's in the feed and the time of the year. Here in Florida at the height of summer I try not to keep milled feed more than a month if I can help it. Once the weather breaks in the fall I might buy enough to last all winter if I have to storage space.