I really get the desire to provide a more natural type of food. I have wanted to as well and looked into my options many times. I've even been forced to mix a variety of locally available foods when it wasn't feasible to use pelleted feed.
Fermenting your grain/seed mix is a great idea since you aren't cooking or sprouting to suppress/eliminate the anti-digestive constituents of the seeds.
I have done the math. I buy all of my food grade seeds from a wholesaler. I can get BOSS and flax much cheaper than you are paying. All the other seeds are significantly higher here.
I would be thrilled to be able to get Barley and oats for $10-12 per #50.
Following are the prices that have just been updated by my wholesaler:
BOSS $14.66/#40
Flax $33.16/#50 = 0.66 cents/lb.
Austrian Peas $37.02/#50 = 18.51/#25
Barley $19.78/#50
Wheat $13.13/#50
Oats $20.52/#50
Alfalfa pellets $16.38/#50
Birdseed mix $13.97/#50
I can't get lentils in bulk but if I could, I assume they would be about the same price as the flax.
I don't use chia so I'll use your per pound price for comparison.
Sunflower seed is about 3 oz. per cup.
Oats and alfalfa are about 4.5 oz. per cup.
Flax, barley and birdseed is about 5.5 oz. per cup. I'm assuming chia is close to the same.
Wheat and peas are about 6.5 oz. per cup. I'm assuming lentils are close.
If you can truly get barley, wheat, oats and alfalfa pellets for $11, then it's costing you about $15 per #50 not counting the kelp, yeast and spices which is minimal.
To do the same mix at the cheapest possible I can buy the same seeds it's $20 per a 50 lb. mix for me. This would be before taxes, labor and storage.
The other consideration is that we are comparing prices for conventional seeds to a bag of feed.. Organic seeds would be significantly higher if available locally which they usually aren't. The cost of shipping 50 lb. bags of organic seeds would be astronomical. #50 bags of organic wheat are about $45, organic peas - $75, organic oats - $50, organic alfalfa pellets - $25, organic barley - $30, organic millet - $50. 1 pound of organic chia is about $16,
Organic feed will be GMO free.
I can buy 50 lbs. of coarsely ground organic from the same wholesaler for $26/starter and $21/grower. I also don't have a grinder nor do I have the means to do a nutrient analysis to determine the percentages of various amino acids, vitamins, minerals, fats and micronutrients. It may not be that vital to know those things when there is pristine pasture available but around here, there's no forage or animal protein for 5 months a year.
At the turn of the last century, people didn't buy prepared chicken feed. The chickens foraged when it was available and shared grains with other farm animals. However, the hens were much less productive and the average production from a flock was in the neighborhood of 100 eggs a year per hen. The first record of 300 eggs wasn't until 1913 and there were only 2 birds documented to lay that many in the next 4 years. So the nutrient requirements were much less for the average flock.
Fermenting your grain/seed mix is a great idea since you aren't cooking or sprouting to suppress/eliminate the anti-digestive constituents of the seeds.
I have done the math. I buy all of my food grade seeds from a wholesaler. I can get BOSS and flax much cheaper than you are paying. All the other seeds are significantly higher here.
I would be thrilled to be able to get Barley and oats for $10-12 per #50.
Following are the prices that have just been updated by my wholesaler:
BOSS $14.66/#40
Flax $33.16/#50 = 0.66 cents/lb.
Austrian Peas $37.02/#50 = 18.51/#25
Barley $19.78/#50
Wheat $13.13/#50
Oats $20.52/#50
Alfalfa pellets $16.38/#50
Birdseed mix $13.97/#50
I can't get lentils in bulk but if I could, I assume they would be about the same price as the flax.
I don't use chia so I'll use your per pound price for comparison.
Sunflower seed is about 3 oz. per cup.
Oats and alfalfa are about 4.5 oz. per cup.
Flax, barley and birdseed is about 5.5 oz. per cup. I'm assuming chia is close to the same.
Wheat and peas are about 6.5 oz. per cup. I'm assuming lentils are close.
If you can truly get barley, wheat, oats and alfalfa pellets for $11, then it's costing you about $15 per #50 not counting the kelp, yeast and spices which is minimal.
To do the same mix at the cheapest possible I can buy the same seeds it's $20 per a 50 lb. mix for me. This would be before taxes, labor and storage.
The other consideration is that we are comparing prices for conventional seeds to a bag of feed.. Organic seeds would be significantly higher if available locally which they usually aren't. The cost of shipping 50 lb. bags of organic seeds would be astronomical. #50 bags of organic wheat are about $45, organic peas - $75, organic oats - $50, organic alfalfa pellets - $25, organic barley - $30, organic millet - $50. 1 pound of organic chia is about $16,
Organic feed will be GMO free.
I can buy 50 lbs. of coarsely ground organic from the same wholesaler for $26/starter and $21/grower. I also don't have a grinder nor do I have the means to do a nutrient analysis to determine the percentages of various amino acids, vitamins, minerals, fats and micronutrients. It may not be that vital to know those things when there is pristine pasture available but around here, there's no forage or animal protein for 5 months a year.
At the turn of the last century, people didn't buy prepared chicken feed. The chickens foraged when it was available and shared grains with other farm animals. However, the hens were much less productive and the average production from a flock was in the neighborhood of 100 eggs a year per hen. The first record of 300 eggs wasn't until 1913 and there were only 2 birds documented to lay that many in the next 4 years. So the nutrient requirements were much less for the average flock.
