Well, I have my first batch of 13 Cornish X roos coming in tomorrow. I have a brooder of sorts (probably too big) set up with right under the lamp being about 95 degrees according to my reptile thermometor. Perhaps not completely accurate but close enough for horse shoes. The brooder is in my garage and hopefully we'll do alright despite the unseasonable cold. If all else fails I have a second lamp I can slap on there assuming I can find the right size bulb.
If all goes according to plan I will have a total cost of about $8 per bird and I will be selling over half of them to friends for $15 each. I'll make a tiny profit margain for my free-range well cared for chickens but not much.
My biggest problem right now is feed. I am buying Purina Flock Raiser (unmedicated) for them which is about $17/bag. It's not a terrible price or anything but in the future I'd like to raise some meat chickens in larger quantities and I'd like to lower the cost per bird. Someday I'd like to process them for sale at farmers markets which means taking them to a professional processor and that increases my costs. Raising them in larger numbers will help some, but I'd like to just get a custom mixed feed in bulk.
Does anyone have any custom meat bird feed mixes to share? And would anyone know of a place that mixes feed for chickens, especially if they have a nutrient analyzer, near Cleveland Ohio? I keep running searches and finding nothing!
If all goes according to plan I will have a total cost of about $8 per bird and I will be selling over half of them to friends for $15 each. I'll make a tiny profit margain for my free-range well cared for chickens but not much.
My biggest problem right now is feed. I am buying Purina Flock Raiser (unmedicated) for them which is about $17/bag. It's not a terrible price or anything but in the future I'd like to raise some meat chickens in larger quantities and I'd like to lower the cost per bird. Someday I'd like to process them for sale at farmers markets which means taking them to a professional processor and that increases my costs. Raising them in larger numbers will help some, but I'd like to just get a custom mixed feed in bulk.
Does anyone have any custom meat bird feed mixes to share? And would anyone know of a place that mixes feed for chickens, especially if they have a nutrient analyzer, near Cleveland Ohio? I keep running searches and finding nothing!
