Official BYC Poll: How Do You Keep Your Feed Costs Low?

[writerskramp]

Feed them fermented feed if can not free-range.. Too close to a busy road.. Why did the chicken cross the road..? We'll never know because she is flat. Fermented feed saves me 2/3rds.. and the waterer is never empty. Fat and sassy are my favorite kind of chicks.

 

[Solanacae]

From what I've heard, you have to buy (or find) the larvae. Also from what I've heard, you have to buy new ones every year. But I'm trying to think up a way to avoid that. Maybe they could overwinter in a greenhouse? I guess we'll see.
Thanks for the reminder, I need to start that box!

I’ve seen setups inside with artificial lighting and netting, but I think that’s for commercial production. Thanks for answering my question! I suppose it’s not the end of the world to have to buy them every year, because they are a beneficial insect to have around. Though it would be less cost effective than overwintering for sure.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Someone asked about wild birds stealing feed. Yes, they eat some of it, especially when there is snow. But I like the wild birds, and chicken feed is cheaper than bird seed. So they are welcome to steal some of the feed and when there is snow, I put out extra just for them.
And when I go out each afternoon with scratch feed, I enjoy seeing the wild birds excitedly waiting for me, they know me.

I agree 100%! On top of my flocks of chickens and ducks, I have a visiting flock of 20 wild Canada Geese and a wild Mallard pair that fly in together every day just after sunrise and fly out right before sunset. One pair of Canada Geese and the Mallard pair seem to be making nests. I love going out to watch them and just thinking about goslings and ducklings is enough for me to continue. One goose is handicap so of course she's really special. I admit that the Geese eat A LOT. They never seem to get enough. They will come off the pond and to my yard if I'm not outside enough. I was a little later than normal getting to the pond this morning and they all started to fly off. The flew over me on the other side of the property and I started yelling "Goosie Goosie Goosie!". They made a circle and immediately came right back. They know where the good food is
I go through so much feed. I'm going to have to implement some of these ideas to help conserve the chicken feed. The waterfowl feed cost less, thankfully

 

[Ascholten]

There is a fairly large farmers market out here. I get their bad stuff from them. By bad, meaning it got dropped, smashed, busted open etc etc. I explain that it's for my chickens and composter and they are generally more than happy to let me haul away with it. It saves them the trip to the garbage dumpster with it, and I can pick out stuff that the chickens will eat too. The rest into the compost. Typically on a good day I can get away with just a handfull of grains maybe for them .vs. an entire bowl. I'll put calcium out just to make sure they are getting enough but between this and free ranging they are eating about all they need to.
Aaron

 

[Miami Leghorn]

Have Leghorns.
PERIOD.
Compared to the others that I have in my different flocks, my Leghorns feed to egg ratio is superb.

 

[PioneerChicks]

I’ve seen setups inside with artificial lighting and netting, but I think that’s for commercial production. Thanks for answering my question! I suppose it’s not the end of the world to have to buy them every year, because they are a beneficial insect to have around. Though it would be less cost effective than overwintering for sure.

No problem!
It just doesn't make sense to me. They survive in the wild, so why shouldn't they in captivity? I wonder if they were put in the fridge (just above freezing) would they hibernate like some insects do?

 

[Kenzelton the 3rd]

Other. I give them day old bread and donuts. Seriously though I've never really thought about it. I use a hanging feeder (prevent waste) and kitchen scraps sometimes. They also get to free range for an hour or two at least five days a week. Sometimes I think they under eat, but I guess there's just no shortage of bugs around here. I'm hoping to catch some of these View attachment 2571941this year. It should be fun to watch.

I’ve perfected my grasshopper catching skills. Trick is to grab BOTH the hind legs, if you only grab one they’ll rip off that leg with the other. It’s gruesome.

 

[Ascholten]

Bigger grasshoppers can kick you too and it can kind of hurt. The ones out here get pretty big, and you can't get up to them that easy, they will take off, so what I do is, I hit them with my laser in the head / eyes, blind them, then I can walk right up and grab them and feed to the chickies. I used to have dog fennel growing in the one side of the yard until i finally got off my lazy ass and mowed it down and it was pretty good on bugs, but the bugs would not stay there and would want to come over to my real garden so that just would not work.

One problem I do have which the chickens do not help with are fire ants. I would poison the nests some of them are HUGE and it'd take a few applications, and they'd bust up in to smaller nests and migrate etc, so what I do now is I get a shovel, scoop up one nest and plop it onto another nest. They think they are invading and kill each other off then leaving a lot less ant mess for me to have to deal with.

Aaron

 

[Ascholten]

I’ve perfected my grasshopper catching skills. Trick is to grab BOTH the hind legs, if you only grab one they’ll rip off that leg with the other. It’s gruesome.

The chickens will bang them into the ground, drag them smash and bust them up and eat them... oh and lets not forget the tug o war when another chicken sees one with it too... I found a rats nest in my compost heap, pinkies, fed them to the chickens, same thing, THAT was gruesome.

 

[Sally PB]

I am trying to eradicate Japanese Beetles in my area. The chickens love them, both as beetles and as the grub. I look for the grubs whenever I turn dirt in my garden. Free protein. Turn bugs into eggs. Magic!