Estimating cost of feed?

[yanks26]

I am ordering day-old chicks to raise until point where someone wants to buy them. How can I estimate cost of feed?

 

[azelgin]

Cornish cross (broilers) feed conversion ratio is around 2 to 4 pounds of feed, to produce 1 pound of DRESSED MEAT on the bird, depending on who you buy your chicks from. I couldn't find anything about laying chickens, but remember reading somewhere that they require 3~4 pounds of feed to produce 1 pound of LIVE weight. If you raise your pullets to point of lay, probably around 3 pounds for most breeds, you're going to need about 12 pounds of feed for each chicken. Maybe somebody else out there has a better estimate for you.

 

[clarkestep]

I thought I read on my bag of feed or somewhere, can't remember, it is about 2LBS/week. It seems about right as I buy a 50LB bag about every 2.5-3 weeks for 8 hens.

 

[yanks26]

Thanks guys!