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

[centrarchid]

Free-range requires a lot of space to put a dent in feed bill. Definition of free-range where birds are confined on geenery is not much better than being confined on dirt. We have problem with how various degrees of free range keeping works.

 

[slejdad]

Provided you offer oyster shell in the side constantly. Roosters and pullets won't eat the shell, hens will eat it freely.

So it IS odd that my cockerel has a taste for crushed oyster shell?!?!?

 

[Ebony Rose]

So it IS odd that my cockerel has a taste for crushed oyster shell?!?!?

He requires *some* calcium daily as well, just not as much calcium as your hens. I'd be surprised if he didn't grab a nibble now and again, nor would I be surprised to find him tidbitting it for his girls.

 

[333113]

People with horses and small acreage will often divide their pasture area into sections and only graze their animals in one at a time, allowing the other sections to recover. I have a couple of free-range areas sectioned off, and I have the garden annuals section (not my perennials like raspberries, asparagus, or rhubarb) fenced, too, so I can add chickens at the end of the season. I seed the pasture areas with barley and oats to help them get back to green. I have three acres, but less than one acre is chicken- and duck-land.

Free-range requires a lot of space to put a dent in feed bill. Definition of free-range where birds are confined on geenery is not much better than being confined on dirt. We have problem with how various degrees of free range keeping works.

 

[Naser]

I have 35 hens and 3 roosters and I spend much less on feed than you do, I feed them starter crumbs in 2 feeders and layer pellets in one feeder, I use treadle feeders.
Oyster shell available all the time

 

[HopeSprings]

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.

My Plott hound seemed to like the flock's pellets, at least until Teddy Roostervelt chased him out of the run and cornered him at the compost pile!

 

[Shezadandy]

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?

One way to save on feed other than the excellent suggestions so far: Around Father's Day and then around Christmas: Pay attention to the farm stores in your area. Around here we have 2 farm stores that offer discounted gift cards around those two holidays. They come in many denominations from $25 up to $500, so you pay $25 and your card is loaded with $30, or $500 and your card is loaded with $600. It amounts to 20% off --- any time --- on any thing in their stores, including their big sales- because gift cards are the same as cash.

SO if you wait for the all-flock and/or flock raiser to go on sale, you can save a BUNDLE by using the discounted gift cards- or have 20% off the regular price whenever you buy. It takes the sting out of the feed bill... for over 100 chickens. (I stopped counting at 100).

In addition, don't be afraid to ask your local stores if they offer any quantity breaks- as few as 10 bags might qualify for some kind of discount.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

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.

Sprouting is good, but also fairly misunderstood. Unfortunately when you got plenty of pasture you end up doing just because you want to... And though it APPEARS to be 7 times more weight than the original seed, it's just water weight and not an actual increase in calories or "dry feed"...
Fodder Nutrient values

My birds learned how to pick the seeds off and leave the green part behind.

In addition, don't be afraid to ask your local stores if they offer any quantity breaks- as few as 10 bags might qualify for some kind of discount

That's a GREAT post!

My local feed store WILL match prices if they can. The other place I go (Grange Co-op) offers 10% discount when you go over 5 bags. And TSC offers 10% for 10 bags plus. I see layer feed on sale all the time but NEVER yet have I seen FR on sale.

I knew Denny's and Subway do those extra value gift card things, but didn't realize farm stores might. I will definitely be keeping my eyes open, thanks you!

 

[Folly's place]

Just don't buy feed that will sit around and get old! It needs to be fresh, used within two months or so of the mill date, and stored safely.
Old and nasty won't save money!
Mary

 

[Shezadandy]

That's a GREAT post!

My local feed store WILL match prices if they can. The other place I go (Grange Co-op) offers 10% discount when you go over 5 bags. And TSC offers 10% for 10 bags plus. I see layer feed on sale all the time but NEVER yet have I seen FR on sale.

I knew Denny's and Subway do those extra value gift card things, but didn't realize farm stores might. I will definitely be keeping my eyes open, thanks you! [/QUOTE]


Thanks! For us it's Coastal and Wilco. The gift cards are a huge help in keeping costs down to a minimum. We don't have TSC in our vicinity though they are in Oregon. At Wilco, 5 bags gets you 3%, 20+ gets you 5%, 40 gets 10%, 80+ 12%. But, they regularly (enough) offer 10% off - they just did over Labor Day. My old truck gets unhappy if I go over 20 bags, so I'm always happy to see that 10% for 20 bags (plus the card) … $19.99 turns into $14.39 per bag. Even better is when it drops to $15/bag- then it's $12. Seems like that happens in February when they do their biggest sales.

Sometimes it's a Black Friday sale thing - and sometimes they're available all Dec up to the 24th, but every year they both do them for Father's Day.