Does anyone actually make money breeding chickens?

[WinklerFarms]

I second that. Spent grains are 30% protien. What do you think eggs are made of? Chickens dont need a lot of starches.They need protien, calcium, fat and numerous trace minerals.

 

[DMRippy]

There are threads on here about fermenting grains and sprouting grains, both of which are done for me in the spent grains. The brew master told me the get the grains in a sort of sprouted way to get he MOST sugar out of the grains. Then he kinda dose the fermenting... and if I don't get them dry quick enough I do even more.

Here is a good link.... sorry this is kinda off topic.... sorta, but not really.

http://www.fao.org/ag/AGA/AGAP/FRG/AFRIS/Data/468.HTM

That was the best information I could find.

 

[juststruttin]

Hey Donna,

Thanks for link.

 

[DMRippy]

Hey Donna,

Thanks for link.

 

[Double Laced]

Here is a good link.... sorry this is kinda off topic.... sorta, but not really.

http://www.fao.org/ag/AGA/AGAP/FRG/AFRIS/Data/468.HTM

That was the best information I could find.

And if you read that page it says that :

"In many applications the use of brewer’s grain is going to be limited by its fiber content and the digestibility of the CP. It is a bulky feed and low in energy content."

and:

" Diets with up to 10 % brewer’s grains didn’t depress egg production" and also recommends not feeding at more than 20%

We used to own a brewery and supplied our spent grains to a smallholder who fed them to his flock of 4000 RIR kept in a barn environment. he started feeding at 18% and inside a month he went from a daily surplus of 300 eggs to having to buy in 1000 eggs a day. the eggs quality also suffered. it returned to normal within a month of stopping the spent grains. Also even though he was feeding 18% added spent grains, his feed bill was only 6.5% smaller.

Chickens need a balanced diet and need plenty of easily digestible starches especially in cold area's and more than 20/25 protein is a waste.

The truth is that people feed spent grains because the are free or very cheap not because they think it is good food. I personally would not choose to feed chickens a food that had most of its water soluble ingredients removed by hot water.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: It also says up to 30% did not decrease production too. I don't feed that HIGH of a diet barley. I include the barley to cut my feed bill and UP the protein. I think if chickens were giving a choice starches would be at the BOTTOM of what they would eat. They like bugs best and grass, not soy beans. My birds are healthy and happy and LOVE spent grains dried in their feed or wet as a treat. My birds get a HIGH quality layer feed made with PORK and don't get scratch or bread to fill them up without any nutrition.

My question to the example you gave is why did his egg quality suffer, did he not add calcium to off set the calcium that was lacking in the spent grains? I do add calcium to make up for that. No egg production loss or egg quality loss at my farm so to each his own! I save money by feeding it and I don't see a down side at my farm.

I also grow mealworms to feed, they are just protein too. There are several threads on here about spent grains and feeding them. Changing minds on spent grains is going to be an uphill battle.

 

[egg man10]

what brreds do you get 30 dollars for i am licky to get ten out of layer pullets.............

 

[cluckcluckluke]

I'm no where as close to you are in problems. I have 30 chickens including chicks and i sell my eggs $4.50 a dozen or $2.50 for a half a dozen and i am easily able to pay for food and MORE chickens and fencing, roosts etc etc and STILL have a profit of about $200 in the last 3 months, and it going up.

 

[rsohio]

Nope. but it sure is a fun way to lose money.

 

[Scifisarah]

If you are crafty you can take the plastic bags you got the feed in (pretty ones like Layena or Kent) and make them into market bags to sell for around $20. I haven't found the time to do it yet, but have mine all stored up and will be making a bunch of bags eventually that should cancel out actually buying the food.