Feed Pricing - looking ahead

[U_Stormcrow]

An analogy of what I meant would be filling the car's fuel tank when it is half full rather when the low fuel light comes on.

There are too many variables to answer about how much to stock up. Not how much need there will be or how much difference in freshness there might be for anyone else. I buy from a mill that stores local crops and grinds as needed so freshness is not the limiting factor.

If I have a cool, dry place to store it then it will stay fresh longer. If I lived in Iowa, I would be willing to let the amount get lower before getting more than if I Iived in Southern California. If I had several stores close enough to shop at, I would carry less than if I had only one store within a very long drive. If I had three hens, I might have space to store more weeks worth of feed than if I had fifty hens and would risk less if it molded or something. I'm sure there are more variables.

^^^

Life: Its Complicated.

 

[NatJ]

Do you think that chicken feed might not be available at some point? I've been wondering if I should be stocking up on alternatives if the feed becomes unavailable. Any ideas on what has a long shelf life that could be used as replacement feed?

If you want to stock up, I would just buy normal chicken feed, rather than any kind of alternatives.

If you want it to last a long time, you could get a chest freezer and store the feed in there. Freezing is usually a good way to extend the storage life of almost any kind of food.

If you are able to store it somewhere dry and free of bugs, whole grain would have a longer storage life than the usual chicken feed. But whole grains can NOT make a complete diet for chickens, and some of the other ingredients would not store so well.

And of course, many things will damage whole grains just as much as they damage any other kind of chicken feed: water, humidity, mold, insects, rodents, etc.

 

[Ebony Rose]

I only have three hens and I just bought two 40# bags of feed. Storing it in my basement where it's cool. Should help it to last longer

Don't put the feed on the floor, even if it's concrete. A plastic tote or metal garbage pail (like you'd take to the curb on trash day) with a well fitting lid to store it in will make the feed last that much longer. If you have space in a deep freezer, that' much better.

 

[tripletfeb]

Don't put the feed on the floor, even if it's concrete. A plastic tote or metal garbage pail (like you'd take to the curb on trash day) with a well fitting lid to store it in will make the feed last that much longer. If you have space in a deep freezer, that' much better.

It's not on the floor. It's in animal proof trash cans. And no room in the deep freezer, that has too much human food in it. Question for anyone though, can you freeze dry dog food?

 

[Liveove]

It's not on the floor. It's in animal proof trash cans. And no room in the deep freezer, that has too much human food in it. Question for anyone though, can you freeze dry dog food?

 

[Liveove]

It's not on the floor. It's in animal proof trash cans. And no room in the deep freezer, that has too much human food in it. Question for anyone though, can you freeze dry dog food?

Meats, organs included, can be freeze-dried, so raw diets can too. Kibble can also be freeze-dried, but since it already has a low water content, won't benefit from it as much. So the shelf life of the kibble wouldn't change drastically. And of course, freeze-dried dog food can be bought in stores as well, if you don't want to do it yourself.

 

[tripletfeb]

Meats, organs included, can be freeze-dried, so raw diets can too. Kibble can also be freeze-dried, but since it already has a low water content, won't benefit from it as much. So the shelf life of the kibble wouldn't change drastically. And of course, freeze-dried dog food can be bought in stores as well, if you don't want to do it yourself.

Thanks but I meant regular dry dog food. After a quick google search, seems like it can be frozen

 

[NatJ]

Question for anyone though, can you freeze dry dog food?

I assume you mean, can dry dog food be stored in a freezer?

Yes, I'm sure it can be.

It's typically fine to store any kind of dry thing in the freezer-- including flour (no bugs!) and garden seeds (they supposedly stay good a lot longer that way.)

 

[SpicyDisaster]

Just got told by the local store to buy now as they have the next round of price increases in-hand waiting on the manager to go reprice everything. $3-5/bag increase on every feed: chicken, horse, goat, dog, etc. Ugh. Bad enough I can't get an All Flock/Flock Raiser at the local feed stores (and closest TSC is an hour away) right now. I've got the chicks separated but we will be keeping roosters this year. The lady at the store says it's totally fine to feed them the layer, I know better though so I'm giving the meat bird feed a side-eye. It's the cheapest variety here for some reason. I wonder if I can feed it to the laying flock and the chicks/cockerels once they are all integrated.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Just got told by the local store to buy now as they have the next round of price increases in-hand waiting on the manager to go reprice everything. $3-5/bag increase on every feed: chicken, horse, goat, dog, etc. Ugh. Bad enough I can't get an All Flock/Flock Raiser at the local feed stores (and closest TSC is an hour away) right now. I've got the chicks separated but we will be keeping roosters this year. The lady at the store says it's totally fine to feed them the layer, I know better though so I'm giving the meat bird feed a side-eye. It's the cheapest variety here for some reason. I wonder if I can feed it to the laying flock and the chicks/cockerels once they are all integrated.

I've been assured that meat bird/game starter is fine for males. I'd imaginebit would be fine for females too so long as you add oyster shell