Ideas For Saving Money On Feed?

[ca]

Quote:

Nice!
OK, I have to get out the shovel now and start working on my watering system...

 

[onthespot]

Some people can stretch their food with old bread from a bakery. They sell it cheap I hear. but you can throw off their nutrition by not feeding enough protein,etc like you get in regular laying feed. also, if you can fish, or get scraps from a restaruant.

 

[mstrrlm]

Speak to your local grocery store they throw away fruit, vegetables, etc... all the time see if they will donate it to you for chickens

 

[ChickenGirl165]

You could grow your own vegies. My chicken feed bag usually lasts around 4 week for 6 chickens. They eat their own grass. I have a dad that sells fruit and vegies and sometimes he gives us a huge box of unsellable lettuce. Maybe you could ask your local shops? Cuz those vegies would probably go in the bin anyway so why dont u use it for good? Just make sure they have enough chicken food and not too much vegies because the need all the protein and al the good stuff to provide you delicious eggs!

Good luck

 

[extraordinaryfowl]

Here is Harvey Ussery's website The Modern Homestead. http://www.themodernhomestead.us/ As I've said in other posts, I have met him and he is a very very cool guy. He does has many ideas, some of which I've implemented.

In addition to pasturing depending on the quality of your pasture you can also pick "weeds" like dandelion, chickweed, plantains, etc.. They love most broad-leaved weeds!

 

[feathersnuggles]

Another idea, if you want to do the leg work, is to talk to the person who runs the fish counter at your supermarket. In fact, talk to several supermarkets and fish markets, if you have them. During various fish seasons, they will fillet the big fish coming in, and sometimes throw away fish heads and fish frames, including fins and tails. I take a big bucket with my name and phone number written on it. They fill up my bucket with whatever I want that they're tossing, and give me a call when it's filled. I pick it up and walk out with lots of fresh fish for free. Occasionally some markets want .99/pound esp. at the end of a fish season. Whatever...it's still cheap/free and more often it's wild fish too. Anyway, I can make meals for my family, and great protein meals for my chickens from this. Pressure cook up ALL the fish scraps for about 35 minutes, and all the bones, fins, head cartilege, etc. become soft and mashable. When it's cooled the liquid forms a solid gel. I pack into quart containers and freeze for the chickens. It's excellent. And absolutely NOthing hits the garbage can or compost. Nothing. The chickens eat all of it. And whenever family members go fishing, I request all the fish frames, skins, and heads too. My pressure cooker gets a workout during fishing season.

 

[they'reHISchickens]

Talk to the local farmers to find the nearest feed mill.
Or call the local cooperative extension office. They should also have sources and instructions for growing supplemental food for your livestock. The info should be free

 

[JulieNKC]

Quote:
Oh, I love the cage around the plant idea. Now I can't wait for next spring.

 

[mountaintopchicken]

Brewery waste is a possible poultry feed. So if you have a small local brewery near you you might want to see what they do with the waste. I'm going to look into this soon because I'd love to make raising chickens cost effective instead of just a hobby.

http://www.mekarn.org/sarpro/kimdong.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9161464

I'd be looking at what agricultural and food products are produced locally, and thinking about whether some of those products might be had direct from the producer for less $, or whether there might be any useful waste products.

Edited to add:

I just asked about growing Dubia Roaches and someone sent in a nice long post with all kinds of information on exactly how to do it. Does it actually save $? Dunno. Think I may try it. But if you live in Texas you might not have to worry so much about heating them as I do in VT.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=566539

Oh, and also, about fish, our fish shop was willing to give us fish scraps that I cooked up for the chickens. I have stiff competition for those scraps though because there is a local farm with over 300 chickens that has first dibs. I cooked my scraps in the over, which was a pain, but the fish guy says the big farm has outdoor grills where they cook the fish. They go from the grill to the ground where the chickens eat them all up, less waste and handling that way. Sounds like a good idea.

 

[HollysFlock]

I glanced over the articles about the brewery waste but want to clarify here. If using brewery waste, does one typically provide it as a freely available supplement as you would with Oyster Shell, or is it used as their primary feed if you're able to obtain sufficient quantity?

Also, that fish shop! Great idea!