Feed!

[Sally PB]

Those the pretty green ones? Do you have so many? How does your garden compete with them? I know a lot of questions

The really pretty green ones are Emerald Ash Borer, and are a TERRIBLE pest that have killed a lot of ash trees. They fly away when you approach, so they aren't very catchable. Or, believe me, I would!

These are Japanese Beetles. I hate them just as much for killing my hazelnut trees. So it makes me very happy to see the chickens eat them.

I find them on grape vines, my asparagus plants, and sometimes other plants. The grape vines are where I catch most of them.

 

[Sally PB]

I just looked up Emerald Ash Borer for a picture. They aren't as pretty as I thought! There is a MUCH prettier blue-green bug called a tiger beetle, and they are beneficial!

Emerald Ash Borer

Tiger Beetle

And that is today's lesson in entomology.

 

[chickenwisper16]

The same feed I've been feeding for years. The price hasn't gone up enough for me to worry about it. Now the grocery store prices are worrying me.

How many chickens do you have and what do you keep chickens for?

15 hens 1 rooster. As pets and eggs, which I give away

 

[Kiki]

15 hens 1 rooster. As pets and eggs, which I give away

How much of a price difference is the 50 bag of feed costing you?
In my area, over the last year, a 50 lb bag has maybe gone up $2.

 

[samanthaoverton]

We have the borer Beatles here too. I'm surrounded by woods and there are quite a few standing dead ash. Hubby burns the standing dead. It really is sad. We bring insects and plants from foreign countries and it destroys the local flora and fauna. I think the colleges have some sorta testing about them they are doing here. Like kudzu! That stuff is evil. Brought over from Japan for erosion. They let people have goats in Knoxville to get rid of it..and you will see a goat on a commercial tract of land. And now they have a pesticide that kills it..what holy hell will that unleash I wonder. I've seen a whole hill that was dead because of the stuff..If it's gonna kill kudzu what will it do to us. The book silent spring opened my eyes and I'm only a hundred pages in. It's only around 300 pgs and I started it a few months ago (still haven't finished and I'm a fast reader) but talk about shocking..ok I rambled off..lol.

I just looked up Emerald Ash Borer for a picture. They aren't as pretty as I thought! There is a MUCH prettier blue-green bug called a tiger beetle, and they are beneficial!

Emerald Ash Borer
View attachment 3139861

Tiger Beetle
View attachment 3139863

And that is today's lesson in entomology.

 

[Rangergord]

15 hens 1 rooster. As pets and eggs, which I give away

Your generosity is admirable, but perhaps you can’t afford to give the eggs away. Feed has never been cheep where I live even though it is a grain producing area, and while people will give eggs away, no one expects them to be free. They don’t mind paying a reasonable price for quality eggs! One thing is for sure, given the circumstances, feed prices are unlikely to stop rising.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Paid $21.37 for 50 lbs. of Kalmbach Flock Maker crumbles last week. Much better than a few weeks before when I paid $24.19 for FR crumbles at the Purina feed store.

 

[Sally PB]

Paid $21.37 for 50 lbs. of Kalmbach Flock Maker crumbles last week

That's about what I pay. I think it was $22 and change, with the sales tax.

 

[Brooks_]

How much of a price difference is the 50 bag of feed costing you?

$8.

 

[JessicaRay]

I have a family feed store that sells to me cheaper than the local mill the feed comes from.

Prices ARE up. I paid $12.55/50# for layer, and $16.10/50# for a 24% protein game bird mix on 05/30/22. When I started keeping birds 26 months ago, the layer was around $9.70, and the game bird somewhere in the $11.85 range.

Shop around. If your flock is big enough that it won't go bad, see if theres a 500# discount or a cash discount.

Wow where do you live? That is so cheap. I pay $22. For a 50pound bag of layer pellets. About $25. For chick starter and game bird food. I’m in western Washington.