I am making some plans for a small farm. I have two types of animals that mostly eat forage and consume either very little or only small amounts of commercial feed. I know the market prices of these animals and know that I can raise them without breaking the bank. I am less certain about chickens, but I want to raise some. The difference with chickens from the other animals is that they consume a lot more off-farm feed and corn. So, I want to know more about feed costs before I commit to raising more than a few chickens. I know the market prices also for heritage breed chickens in this area. I am in a location where there actually is demand for heritage breed meat. Basically, an adult roo whose future home is someone's stew pot is worth around $14. I am making some assumptions about costs, and I want to know from more experienced peeps whether they're correct or not. The main assumption is feed costs. I am guessing that each bird eats around 50 cents worth of feed per week, 8 weeks of age and up. Feed costs here are similar to in the US - just a tad lower. I am hoping some of you can feed for under 50 cents per week. I am going to try fermenting feed with the few birds I currently have.
I managed to get my feed costs down by feeding a mix of good scratch, high protein crumble and Alfalfa cubes fermented. One part, two parts, one part by weight. Add water, ferment (increases protein absorption by 2%-3%), it should total out around 18%+, great for a growing bird. The problem is CX's eat about 1/2lb each dry matter per day from 4-10 weeks. A little less if you free range but that's still a lot. Feed prices may vary but I think most people find it takes around 18-20lbs of feed to produce the size of bird they want with CX's in a 3-month time no matter what (8lb bird or 5lb carcass). Heritage breeds have an awful FCR and will be MUCH more pricey to raise. By like double. It might be better to try something like a red ranger and totally free-range them with a bit of scratch at night... Get all hens and let them grow as long as you need.
