How to feed my chickens on a budget? Issues with roosters?

[EggSighted4Life]

to make that more affordable I ferment it. It goes further per ounce or handful, however you measure, and it's more bioavailable nutrients.

I did ONLY FF for at least 2 years... I experienced ZERO savings and ZERO increase in health. I spent a LOT of time fermenting for 82 birds after reading it would save me 30% which meant in THEORY I could feed 30% more birds.

What many folks fail to realize is that when you ferment the feed you are changing the formulation and the bacteria are in fact consuming your carbs. Formulated rations are done so by experts in nutrition for the various species... and we somehow think we are gonna do better.

Yes, my birds enjoyed it AFTER they got familiar with it. Yes I had fun doing the experimenting... using giant totes and trash cans instead of jars on the counter... and seeing all the bubbles and the changes in layers and such.... Still ZERO savings. My flock does not waste crumbles or pellets. I would wet the feed with standard water to make a mash OVER fermenting after doing such and REALLY seeking to educate myself further over all the info touted by many.

I also feed them pumpkin seeds which helps them eliminate worms from their intestines.

Nice treat... unless you are using the correct species in the correct amount... don't kid yourself about it being an effective wormer.

Is this fact? If it is it's great to know, thank you!

Nope! Always, get second, third and more opinions. Make Google your friend... but weed through what's simply being repeated with no science to support it.

Look it up. I never worm mine just buy & freeze pumpkins in the fall. Dig out seeds for chickens &cook & freeze flesh for me. I love it with butter, cinnamon, Splenda.

Worming is a personal choice. Since round worms and tape worms are the only species that will ever be seen in dropping and ALL others will stay inside the intestines... unless you have had a fecal float before and after to verify your worm load... your pumpkin may be having no effect other than enjoyment and enrichment in general. Oh and maybe a false sense of parasite security.

I have not wormed in 10 years and I don't feed pumpkin seeds. I DO get fecal floats to verify if I need to treat or not. As it turns out, I don't seem to have a heavy internal parasite load at my LOCATION, with my weather pattern, wildlife load, stock density, etc.

ACV... another over rated thing.

Some things will help in times of need but have zero impact on a healthy animal. Aim for healthy animals through proper nutrition and husbandry when possible.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

OP never did post pics of their feeders that I saw. The problen might be remedied by something as simple as a treadle feeder or other no-waste feeder. I love my bucket feeder. My dog has slimmed down considerably now that she can't help herself to the chicken food, and we're saving substantially on chicken feed!

 

[Morrigan]

A recent study showed that pumpkin seeds did have some effect in reducing worm loads, particularly tapeworm loads in poultry.

From the synopsis -- "The results suggest that pumpkin seed has the potential to be used as an alternative anthelmintic for chickens."


https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/734716

 

[BigBlueHen53]

OP never did post pics of their feeders that I saw. The problen might be remedied by something as simple as a treadle feeder or other no-waste feeder. I love my bucket feeder. My dog has slimmed down considerably now that she can't help herself to the chicken food, and we're saving substantially on chicken feed!
View attachment 1898379

Er... this feeder does have a lid, obviously.

 

[Ebony Rose]

My dogs also love the chicken feed! I thought they were nuts and used to discourage it... used to. #1 ingredient in dry dog food & chicken food is grain of one form or another, usually corn and/or soy...
My dogs have a balanced dry dog food available to them 24 hours daily, and have had this feeding strategy since I adopted them. In the beginning they went a little overboard, but after the first week they realized that regardless of how much they ate, there was still food... so they quit gorging. It may be important to note that my girl dog was about 2 or 3 years old, a street dog that had been rescued and then adopted out to me. She had a front leg amputated (before she came to me) and a number of internal injuries and situational epileptic episodes which have resolved over the years. My boy dog was about 1 year old and was gifted to me from a neighbor to help me recover from the poisoning, and subsequent death of my dog, by thieves that wanted to break into my home. Although the boy dog had a home since his puppyhood, their means severely limited the food and medical attention that he needed; he came to me malnourished with a chronic reproductive tract infection that took a year of constant medical attention and medicines. At that time, I only spoke English, and the veterinarian only spoke Spanish; we ended up calling his medical condition 'weepy-pee-pee', because the name of his condition was totally lost in the translation.
Back to the dogs loving chicken feed... and having their own feed available around the clock. Dog food is $50 for a 40 pound bag. Chicken food is $22 for an 88 pound bag (40kg). Number one ingredient in both is ground corn. So I got to thinking about it and said $1.25 a pound for dog food... $0.25 a pound for chicken food. Neither is medicated. It doesn't hurt them, and I don't encourage them to eat the chicken food... I no longer care if they wish to supplement their diet with my chicken feed. Costs me less, and makes them happy. Oh and... they've been eating like this for 14 years, so I don't think it's been detrimental to their health.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@Tycine1, that's a great story on so many levels! I never did a take-off comparing the cost of the feed, but that's good to know, thanks. My Sheltie, Gracie does not do well at all on corn, I think it gave her seizures. She gets Blue Buffalo Lamb & Rice now and does well on it. When I give the chickens their scratch, I keep her fenced out until they've cleaned it up, because she really does love corn, poor thing!

 

[Ebony Rose]

@BigBlueHen53 My girl dog, has severe allergic reactions to vaccinations. To a degree severe enough that the veterinarian has marked her records indicating that she should NOT be vaccinated, which covers them (and me) from penalties should the authorities demand her vaccination records and find her 'lacking'. Didn't seem to matter which vaccine was given, she responded in kind to each variety with a seizure, we almost lost her the last time she was vaccinated for rabies. My boy dog has no such allergies, and he's had all of his vaccinations. I'm thinking that, at least in part, the difference is the internal organ damage that she suffered when she was hit by a vehicle (before she came to me). I believe that something in the vaccines is not flushing out of her system properly and is accumulating in her body, as each time she was vaccinated over the first three years she lived with me, her response was more and more severe. I feel bad that it took THREE YEARS (three vaccinations) to realize the problem! The last time she was vaccinated, she periodically had seizures for the following eight months, each less intense than the last, but the first seizure of the series was a grand mal. I really thought we were gonna lose her.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@BigBlueHen53 My girl dog, has severe allergic reactions to vaccinations. To a degree severe enough that the veterinarian has marked her records indicating that she should NOT be vaccinated, which covers them (and me) from penalties should the authorities demand her vaccination records and find her 'lacking'. Didn't seem to matter which vaccine was given, she responded in kind to each variety with a seizure, we almost lost her the last time she was vaccinated for rabies. My boy dog has no such allergies, and he's had all of his vaccinations. I'm thinking that, at least in part, the difference is the internal organ damage that she suffered when she was hit by a vehicle (before she came to me). I believe that something in the vaccines is not flushing out of her system properly and is accumulating in her body, as each time she was vaccinated over the first three years she lived with me, her response was more and more severe. I feel bad that it took THREE YEARS (three vaccinations) to realize the problem! The last time she was vaccinated, she periodically had seizures for the following eight months, each less intense than the last, but the first seizure of the series was a grand mal. I really thought we were gonna lose her.

(Shakes head) Special kids are really special, aren't they?

 

[BReeder!]

I now have 23 chickens..13 being chicks(10 weeks old)...5 being roosters...the rest are hens...Up until now I've been getting cracked corn feed/laying mash for the adult chickens..chick starter for the babies...however recently I was told that since the roosters eat with the hens(I keep their food in a no-waste feeder..even though they still scratch it out onto the ground)...that the roosters would eventually have health issues because they would be eating the laying mash as well. I tend to mix my laying mash and corn equally...So i thought about just taking layer out all together but was then told that the corn feed wasn't good for them. So I'm not sure what to do now..i started off spending 20 dollars per month on food for 3-10 chickens...now I'm going at about 60 dollars a month for the food...300 lbs of food a month...with the new food that I've been told i should buy them its going to be double the price..I just can't really afford 120 dollars per month for 300 lbs of food for the chickens...I give them things like grass..watermelon etc Any help?

I get 50lb bags of feed for $10-$12. I have a small suburban lot that's just 1/3 acre. If you have the space, free ranging significantly reduces the feed bill since the chickens can forage a large portion, if not all, of their dietary needs. Free ranging also comes with the risk of predators though. You could avoid many predators with a movable electric fence and some cover for your chickens, a movable tractor style coop perhaps.
Sorry for the tangent on free ranging... I wish I could let our flock free range.

Another options for reducing feed costs is fermenting the feed and sprouting grain. These options increase the volume of the feed and make more nutrients available in the feed for the chickens' digestive system, resulting in chickens that get fuller off less feed while still having the nutrition they need to thrive.

 

[Cryss]

I've read a lot of good things about sprouting not only for chickens but for humans, more nutritional content. I just don't do it well so I gave up.
It's worth a try.