Confused.......how can you afford to feed your chickens

[Silver Spring Waterfowl]

If you're seriously considering making and mixing your own, there are places where you can get grain mills, both electric and manual. You'd have to do some research on what was most available for base grain in your area and what your nutritional requirements are. There are probably a fair number of "recipes" out there or through this forum that will help you with the percentages and supplementary vitamins and minerals. I'm afraid the cost of feed is hitting all of hard and I sure don't expect it to get better in the near future. Good luck!

 

[elizabethbinary]

Quote:
THE BEST MONEY SAVING TIP I EVER GOT: TRY.

You called the warehouse and got free buckets because you tried. Brilliant move!

I've found if you really try you can find someone who'll do you a deal anywhere about. I've even gone into full on MALLS and gone, "You know, this pitcher is nice but it was the only one left, seems a tad expensive and it looks like it's been there awhile.. can you do me any sort of deal?" I've gotten $10, $15... even 'just take it' before!

I got the pallets to redo my flooding backyard by asking the builders down the road if they needed the ones they had. Nope, take 'em.

I get dirt by going to the tip sites and collecting the dirt there and then putting it in my compost to make beautiful. I can't believe people buy dirt.

Some people will just plain do deals. I trade eggs for greeting cards. Soap for pots.

You can even just walk up to a farm and say, "Hey if there any farm work you need done? If I milk your cows can I bring a gallon home to my family?" You'd be surprised how many will GLADLY hand you a bucket and point you over there. Free raw fresh milk!! (and the farmer is like "OH HECK YES!!")

Just... try!

elizabethbinary, you are absolutely right. Try. I think the same way as you do. I will ask, bargain, barter, etc. for anything that I need. The only thing that the business or person can tell you is, "no", but at least you "Tried".

elizabethbinary, you and I will have to keep in touch and share ideas on what we got for Free or "close to free". I like how you think.

I built a peacock aviary that cost me only $38.00 and that was for 3 yards of sand ($20.00) and 2 plants ($18.00) that I just HAD to have from Lowe's. The measurements are 28 feet long - 10 feet wide - 8 feet tall. I used recycled pallets from the local glass company, got FREE stuff from craigslist, etc. If I wouldn't have TRIED and hustled to get these items, you would not be seeing these pics below.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/6612_aviary_1.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/6612_aviary_2.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/6612_aviary_7.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/6612_aviary_5.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/6612_aviary_6.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/6612_aviary_3.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/6612_aviary_4.jpg

Free Saga Palms from Craigslist
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/6612_aviary_8.jpg

Got 2 FREE mirrors from Craigslist from a guy that was cleaning out his garage. The mirrors are 4 feet tall.https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/6612_mirror1.jpg

Whoop whoop now that's what I call saving money!!! Now I'm going to collect pallets!!

 

[NonnasBabies]

Quote:
X2 I think a #50 sack is like $4. It'll last over a year.

 

[greenshade]

The posts about the free buckets from WM and asking for deals - just great! Thank you! I saw an article in a recent farm magazine about an urban farmer who gets wood shavings from a nearby cabinet makers shop for litter for the coop. At work, we just switched from a paper shredder to Civic Recycling, but until then, I was taking home large bags of shredded paper which got added to the pine shavings I usually use for litter. I make my own bread at home, too, and the leftovers go the chickens. They love it!

At the last Earth Day, though, before I had chickens and I was talking with our local Center for Urban Agriculture who had an ark with a couple of big hens hanging out, I was shocked to see them finish their Jerk Chicken lunch and toss the remains to the hens. That was when I learned that chickens love chicken. Isn't it amazing what one year with chickens will do to cure city-girl ignorance?

 

[secuono]

crumbles 50lbs-$14
scratch 50lbs-$15
33 chickens, lasts 1 month for feed and 1mo. for scratch.
Its not a lot, maybe it's just me...

 

[RareBreedFancier]

Quote:
Can I buy feed where you do? Please? I'm paying around $25 a bag for chicken feed.

Oh, and it's going up because of the floods here.

Mind you, everything here costs double what it does over in the US. Thank goodness I can get a good price for my chicks and young stock I hope to be selling in the not to distant future.

Long term my flock will be paying for it's self. It's the only reasonable what to go if I want to keep more than just a few layers.

 

[akbufflady]

If you are only calculating your cost of feed for the amount of eggs and your time, it does not work out to be very profitable.
What you can look at is the fertilizer that will benefit you for a veggie garden, which means you won't need to buy fertilizer
because you already have the best you can get.
I feed my chickens all kitchen scraps even bones from steaks, they love to pick the bones clean, then the bones will be tilled
into the garden to break down and add more value to the soil.
I buy pellet feed not crumbles, seems the crumbles turn into dust which chickens can't eat.
I also mix scratch with the pellets 1 bag pellets - 1 bag scratch
during the summer I grow grey stripe sunflowers then in the fall when they are mature on the stalk
we cut them and hang them in the garage/barn until we feed them to the chickens in the middle of winter.
We don't have to shell them just give the entire head to them.
This is how we do it.

19 hens with 2 roos

There is always food for chickens, I have a couple hens that always fly over the fence during the day and they are out scratching and eating
what ever they find in the yard, who would have thought there would be much food during Jan/Feb, they always fly back into the chicken yard
every evening to go to the chicken house to roost.

Just check out all your local farm supply stores to find the best deals, I have also given my hens flakes of hay during the winter when it was
too snowy and they couldn't get out during the day. A bale of good hay will be welcomed by the chickens. Not too much at a time, small flake
seperated so they can work at it. I would give a small flake every day, you'll be able to tell if you need to give more or less.

 

[trunkman]

My flock gives me the best eggs during the growing season meaning spring summer and part of fall. During the summer free range chickens forage on bugs, grass, weeds and whatever they can eat so they stuff themselves with anything they can find in the yard. So I've come to the conclusion that they love greens that are abundant in the summer but are scarce in the winter so what I do is go to my local grocery store dumpster about once a week and look in their dumpster which they usually fill with greens and take what I can and bring it home to the girls, it cuts down on the feed cost and is good for the quality of the eggs and is good for my wallet.