Pre-Chicken Owning Questions... $0 Feed Bill?

[mp5girl]

Hello chicken people!

My husband and I are both unemployed and struggling. Prior to this, I had been looking into chickens to pest out our yard and provide eggs which I can easily sell at our local market. I'm on the hunt for a $0 flock. Let me explain... I'm only wanting 3-5 chickens. I feel this is manageable for us to start. Our local shelter frequently gets calls for chickens and I can likely get them on barter. I plan on making a coop out of a repurposed piece of furniture and salvaging for any other materials. The chickies will likely free range in a large fenced area during the day and be cooped up at night. My question is, is there a way to provide supplemental feeding by growing what they need? Or simply, is it possible to have chickens without a monthly feed bill?

I realize this may sound crazy but hey... I'm trying!
Thanks for your thoughts!
Melanie

 

[Percheron chick]

In my area, you can often pick up free chickens on CL. As we moved into the winter months, people start to lose the interest in their little chicken experiment and don't want to deal with them in the snow.

Chickens are also little garbage cans and you can feed them a ton of non traditional chicken feed. Mine helped me clean out a cupboard yesterday and got graham crackers, grits, oat bran, peanut butter, red bell peppers and egg shells. They cleaned it all up. They typically get about 2# of fresh produce a day, 2-3 hours of free ranging and they each eat about 3 oz of layer a day (20# a week for 16 standard chickens). At $19 for 50#, each chicken eats $.07 worth of store bought feed a day. If you want to go organic, than the treats much be organic, the feed must be organic and they need to be fed that way from day one. Organic feed is in the $35/50# range. You will feed much more because they will get a larger portion of their diet from the feed. Your cost will be closer to $0.25 per day.

It would be hard to meet their nutritional needs without having to buy something. They will be lacking in some minerals (notably Ca), vitamins and protein if they get a large portion of their diet from kitchen scraps and from free ranging.

 

[Rich386]

I seriously doubt that anyone has a 0 feed bill. You said you can sell the eggs how much can you get? How many eggs do you expect from 5 hens? Chickens from a shelter may just be old and no longer laying or?? Before getting chickens you might consider dealing with someone local to buy and resell their eggs. What you don't sell you can eat.

 

[KuroKitsune]

i agree with rich...in the summer and other growing months you might get away with feeding very little if you let them free range alot but in winter when everthing is dead you'd have to go buy feed for them...so yeah dont think there a a way to feed chickensfor free. and yes chickens from shelter could be hen that are no longer laying

 

[angel8035]

With 3-5 chickens you will likely only get about a dozen eggs a week give or take, with them taking time off on really hot days and in the winter. You can grow some supplemental feed, but of course you will have to buy the seeds and the chickens will eat a lot. You can reduce feed bill by letting them range provided there are adequate greens and bugs. But it's really not fair to the birds to keep them without feeding layer feed - they need the calcium and nutrients. I'd do some more research before you get chickens - most small flock owners keep them as pets and you will spend a lot more on them than you think. I'm not trying to be rude, just making sure you have realistic expectations for the safety of the birds as well as your own welfare. It's much cheaper to buy a dozen eggs at the store than to raise your own. Good luck...

 

[mp5girl]

No offense. This is a 'spit balling' thread. It's all PART of my research and sometimes all the book reading in the world isn't as good as life long experience in the field! Know what I mean? I had to ask! I'm in absolutely no hurry and will not get them if I can't afford them. Thus the question... if there was something they eat that I could grow, then I could very cheaply start that now and have it going good by the time the hens come a cluckin'. LOL

The shelter manager is a friend of mine. I put the word in a while ago to let me know when she gets calls and the last call she got was for 20+ hens all 3-10 months old. Owner fell gravely ill. Since they don't have lodging for such animals (only dogs and cats) when they get farm type animals in and can place them right away, there's no fee (although a donation is appreciated)! I also have friends who have chickens who owe me favors so I'm pretty confident I can obtain healthy young chicks for free or barter.

What is the average monthly expense for say 4 chickens who free range? I was chicken sitting last week and they had little Cochins, 8 all together. Those guys barely ate 3 cups of feed in the 7 days I cared for them. Of course, they are free range and clearly knew all the buggy hot spots! But is that about right?

I'm patient and I'm frugal and I'm crafty... so any corner cutting advice is much appreciated!

 

[pipemum]

What is the average monthly expense for say 4 chickens who free range? I was chicken sitting last week and they had little Cochins, 8 all together. Those guys barely ate 3 cups of feed in the 7 days I cared for them. Of course, they are free range and clearly knew all the buggy hot spots! But is that about right?

I don't think that sounds right. My 8 chickens eat at least 3 cups of food a day, even with foraging. Unless you have a really big yard (like, acreage), chickens free-ranging all day are going to wipe out everything pretty quick. I was...surprised...at how quickly they can create a moonscape. I go through a 50lb bag of organic feed ($28) every 4-6 weeks. Their feed is supplemented with greens from my garden.

Anyway, not to be too negative, I'm sure there are ways to have zero $ feed bill. I think you'd need a lot of land to grown enough forage for them. Or have farmer friends. I think there's a page on BYC that's about low budget chicken raising. Maybe that will have some tips.

ETA: here's one, but it doesn't have any cheap feed tips: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/raising-chickens-on-a-shoestring

 

[mp5girl]

Yes on the acreage. We both have 6 acres. Theirs is mostly wooded where as mine is mostly pasture. Mine is infested with crickets, ants, and spiders. And I'm sure a mess of other things I don't want to know about. LOL SO maybe that $28 can stretch to 2 months on 6 acres with some garden supplements? I'll check out that thread. Thanks for the link!

 

[pipemum]

Oh, and you can get much cheaper bags of food too. Walmart sells bags of layer feed for something like $15.00.

Also, if you get more chickens, it may be possible to sell enough eggs at a farmer's market to cover feed costs. Here, eggs sell for $3-4 a dozen in the farmer's market. I have a friend that pays $6/dozen in her area, and they sell out fast! Just depends on your area.

 

[Chickens R Us]

I get 100# bag of layer mash at a local feed mill for $22.50.