Cheapest & Nutritious Feeding Options For Our Flock

[Michael Chute]

How I found out about this website/thread...
Hello everyone my name is Michael and this is my first official post on this website. As a matter of a fact I have been following much of the advice on these forums unintentionally for quiet some time in-between reads because there is so much useful information to be had here.

Quick introduction about our situation...
I want to start off by stating I have been only doing this for about a year now after I inherited the chickens from my father that he no longer wanted. We are situated on a 5 acre lot in the middle of a rural/country setting in NH's woodlands and farm area. I started off with 7 chickens and now we currently have 4 newborn babies hatched from eggs ourselves, 2 roosters, and 7 hens. The small chicken coop now sits inside our larger chicken coop [our storage shed] for two zones because the weather here is quiet harsh and I didn't want to scrap a perfectly good coop. We have a caged area for young ones that are allowed to free-roam after they get their feathers which also negates the bigger ones from coming in and out of the area if locked. The newborn babies are currently in the house in a Critter Nation double decker until they outgrow it to keep a close eye on them and introduce them to our family; they are brought out to their mother every couple of days or so because of the weather being harsh and the mother abandoning one of the babies which nearly died; I had to force feed and water as it was limp and had shallow breaths. We currently only have two nesting boxes however there is a plan to build a whole wall of nesting boxes quiet soon. The chickens love to roost on the cross members in the coop where there is tons of space for expansion. We have a chicken swing [they don't use it =[], treats hanging from the rafters, a water bucket [5 gallon], 4 chicken feeds with different food in it [grit, corn, oats, egg layer crumble]; the baby chicks are fed the growth feed but have free range to everything as well. I have two timers for two lights, one is a daylight spectrum light to give them light in the coop as there are no windows at the moment, and the other is a heat lamp for the baby chicks which are currently on a 24-hour cycle during the winter months - a 12-hour cycle for the summer nights. They all seem very happy and healthy as we have had no deaths from neglect or miss-care only through predators as they are free range and come and go as they like. We often feed them table scraps such as rice, vegetables, fruit and anything else non-meaty or oily; they LOVE watermelon and will fight over it. Overall they seem very happy and excited with us around and vice versa.

Cheapest & Nutritious Feeding Options For Our Flock? - Desperately need recommendations...
To the situation I would like to address. We would like to feed them on a cheaper but more nutritious diet if at all possible. Right now our four feed are separating the different foods so they can take what they like; which is in an DIY auto feeder built using a Y 4" pipe so refilling and spillage is easy and minimal. I would like to premix a bunch of different sourced options lets say oats, corn, brown/white rice, layer feed, seeds, and other stuff together and I am coming here for a recommendation as to what I should combine for nutrition on the cheapest and what to combine for snacks on the cheapest. They eat very little compared to when they were locked up at my fathers because of the free range on our 5 acre lot. I am not quiet sure if allowing them free range to most foods is a bad idea or not but like I said they seem healthy and happy and I want to keep affording them that for all the delicious eggs we have been getting.
Quick recap for the ADHD...
1. Cheap, affordable, nutritious options for making our own feed combinations.
2. Where to get food the cheapest; we currently get it from Tractor Supply and Market Basket
3. Comments and concerns for our setup would be extremely helpful

Thank you ALL!!!
Eventually I would like to upload pictures of our setup to get some opinions for better watering methods using PVC pipe and other setup options using some DYI ingenuity.

 

[lazy gardener]

IMO, the best nutrition you can provide would be layer or starter/multi-flock. The other grains are diluting down your protein and other essential nutrients which are provided in the correct amounts in the blended feeds. For your flock needs, I suggest that you keep your hatchlings on chick starter for at least a month. (follow the recommendations on the bag of feed) They need 18 - 22% protein during those early weeks. Many folks run into feather picking and other behavioral problems when they get too far away from the blended feeds. If chicks are lacking essential nutrients while they are growing, it could prevent them from ever reaching their potential as productive flock members.

I know that I don't have the expertise needed to be able to blend my own feeds, and I know that even if I did blend my own feeds, it would cost me much more than it does to buy a bag of layer, starter or multi flock. I keep my entire flock on unmedicated starter when I have youngsters. When the youngsters go through chick puberty, I put the entire flock back on layer.

If you want to maximize the nutrients in your feed, you might consider fermenting it. Fermentation actually increases the B vitamins, as well as Lysine and Methionine, 2 of the essential proteins. It also improves the health of the bird's gut, maximizing their intake of the nutrients in the feed. There is also no waste when feed is fermented. The feed does not get spilled out of the feeder, and rodents and wild birds are not as likely to pilfer feed.

 

[Smuvers Farm]

Glad you're here Michael!


If you haven't yet, make sure your coop(s) have a proper amount of VENTILATION. Your chickens will absolutely thank you for it!

 

[Arya28]

Hi and !

Personally, we use both Dumor organic and Nature’s Best organic. We generally use the Dumor for our laying hens (the pellets are cheaper) and the Nature’s Best for our chicks and roosters. These can both be gotten at Tractor Supply.

You will get people who say this doesn’t matter. However, personally, we only feed ours organic food. And in the immediate, it isn’t cheaper. But I’ll tell you why we do.

Even if it says “all-natural”, if it doesn’t say organic, you can be 100% guaranteed the ingredients are genetically modified and filled with pesticides and herbicides. The pesticides are toxic, and over time make your chickens more prone to cancers and various other immune issues. The genetically modified ingredients can also reduce lifespan and make them sick. This is just a basic explanation, but if you’d like more info on this (links and resources) feel free to let me know.

So while it is more expensive in the store, in the long run it’s a lot cheaper. It saves money on vet bills (and doctor bills if you consume the meat or eggs).

Again, people have their own opinions about this (and you will have “old-timers” who say their chickens have always been fine on standard feed). And I’m not insulting anyone, they are all entitled to their own opinions. This is just information from what we’ve experienced. Hope this helps you!

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! There's no way that you can build a truly balanced feed at home that costs less than that bag of all-flock feed at the store! Organic feeds will cost significantly more, because they cost more to grow and process, and if it's worth it to you, go for it.
An all-flock feed, like the Purina Flock Raiser that I've been using, works for birds of all ages and sexes, with oyster shell on the side. Free ranging in good weather in a richly diverse environment will cut feed costs (then), and adding some other stuff is fine too, but not huge amounts.
If you farm and raise your own grains, or use a local feed mill that can provide a balanced ration, that may work very well for you.
I had poultry and livestock nutrition classes in college, and it's convinced me that balancing a ration at home in small quantities is too difficult and way too expensive!
Mary

 

[Michael Chute]

I appreciate all the tips on this post. Not it's time to figure out how to use PVC pipe as a way to provide fresh water all year around even in the winter seasons so that the water never needs to be changed by hand.

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[Michael Chute]

Thank you rjohns3

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

Thank you!