Ideas For Saving Money On Feed?

[ky-chicken-farmer]

im on the internet all the time looking for coupons. Different companies have different ones... Purina has the , rule the roost, contest and also the 6O day challenge. Have all your friends sign up for the contest

 

[Arielle]

Can you buy from a local mill and cut out the middle man?

Can you buy bulk from that mill and save even more? Bagging is very expensive because it is labor intensive at the mill.

Can you find a restaurant that will save you scraps--this needs to be picked up often to keep from spoiling.

Can you have old produced saved at a grocery store?

Would any of your neighbors save scraps?

When I have feed my family chicken, there is always tiny peices of meat still on the bones, mostly ribs and neck areas. My chickens pick it clean.

In the desert, the grasses are sparse, and there for the animal density is sparse. Perhaps with a little inginutity you can grow red worms which are garbage composters. Despite the chickens, dogs and cats eating all my scraps, there's still some so spoiled it heads to the compost. This is suitable for the red worms aka red wrigglers. TO get a few pounds you can order online but they don't ship in the winter as the worms can't handle the cold.

Can you grow grasses that are desert tolerant?

My girls head to the horse manure compost piles and when the used shavings warm up the fly larvae are very popular. THe girls remember where to go look too!

I often cover areas to hold the moisture to promote earthworms and such. Perhaps covering a compost pile to hold the moisture might promote larvae, etc.


GL

 

[ca]

In the desert you could grow grass, pretty much anything. I am just hesitant to use that MUCH water. My chickens love the fly larvae from the llama pile. But whatever I do it's never enough because I have too many chickens. Anybody know how to find a feed mill??? I have searched the internet on numerous occasions and come up empty.

 

[nuttyredhead]

Quote:
I did this. But It said i would get a coupon for the rule the roost coupon but I didnt....

 

[allpeepedout]

To the OP with only 9 to feed, I have put out swiss chard and kale in my garden for chicken greens into the fall. You can harvest the huge outer leaves and the plant keeps producing, given a bit of sun. I have been impressed by how much grazing the chickens do if available and how it reduces feed use, yet they seem to be laying fine. Perhaps soaked alfalfa pellets would do same, give you lots of bang for the buck in terms of filling fiber plus protein? I also feed whole oats for scratch, as it is high in protein.

I also read here or somewhere that some microbreweries give away grain waste from the brewing process, which is apparently good for chicken feed. I also used to volunteer at a food bank and it was incredible the wasted food from many sources, and how much even the food bank threw away. Maybe you could tap into some such sources with a little legwork. Good luck.

 

[extraordinaryfowl]

Quote:
If you can't find feed mills around on the internet, word of mouth would be the next best thing. That is how I found my first feed supplier. Then I switched to another I heard of of higher quality which someone also told me about.

If you can buy your chicken food in bulk, then do so, it definitely saves. But you need a place to store it and it would also cost to have it trucked. I for one can only handle 300-500 lbs at once, so I have it bagged (50 lbs a bag) it costs a little over a dollar to have it bagged per bag.

If there is anyway you can establish pasture (grasses, legumes, clover) that saves a lot if there is enough that they can't scratch it up all at once. And with a little research, a lot of common "weeds" can be fed too.

 

[Illia]

Okay in a desert situation, one word - Aquaponics. Grow things with Aquaponics. Very little use of water, in fact you use the same water that goes through a closed cycle over and over, plus, there's fish involved too.

Australia is known for having a growing Aquaponics business, especially for the fact that they're a very dry country.

 

[KDK1]

Do you have a feed mill close by? If so, you could visit them, late at night, crawl under the fence and... well, no, don't do that...

 

[ca]

Quote:
Wow! never heard of thet. Sounds intriguing (ca heads off to google...)

 

[darkmatter]

Grow things for them, both annuals and perennials like fruit trees.