Restricting food

[NanaK]

I would think over 100 birds would clear 1.5-2 acres in short order.

I'd definitely offer a high protein feed at minimum morning and evening or you may see an affect on their health, laying and chick viability if you hatch.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

With all due respect, the best way to reduce feed costs is to reduce the flock size.

Well (kidding) we all understand the theory is 'no chicken, no feed' but chicken math kind of keeps the cycle going


There is also the option (if you are selling your eggs to local people) of having them "adopt" some of your hens. If they want "organic free range" hens you could build a little section and have those hens eat that food and they pay more for those hens. Just mark it up to help defray the cost of the others. Get them to fall in love with the hens they'll start bringing them food!

 

[Cindy in PA]

Hmm ok it just seems like they’ve increased but maybe because they are all laying now. I just thought maybe free ranging would cut down on feed in general

It obviously has cut down. 100 chickens alone could eat 25 lbs. of food a day. Then you have ducks & geese etc. Why do people thinks chickens don't eat feed.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Oh, and... Many people opt for *soy free* feeds, but the truth is that soya is a great protein and sometimes those feeds are less expensive because people have bought into the marketing hype and don't want it. There is no truth to the idea that there is something wrong with soya. People all over the world eat it multiple times a day with no ill effects. The issue was that it was not grown in North America and there were people who wanted to protect the market. Now we have soya grown in the US, so we know it is great quality.

It might be worth asking your feed store if there is a higher protein soy food that might save a little money

Don't see a problem with soy in feed, but most people who willingly eat soy around the world eat fermented soy. That is a big difference from the crap soy & soy oil that we pack in processed people food just to profit from it.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Why do people thinks chickens don't eat feed.

Because people on social media who know nothing are repeating things that reinforce their worldview, at best attributed to someone listening to their grandparents (with no smalll amount of nostalgia) talking about things they remember when they were growing up?

Just a guess.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Don't see a problem with soy in feed, but most people who willingly eat soy around the world eat fermented soy. That is a big difference from the crap soy & soy oil that we pack in processed people food just to profit from it.

and I'm a big proponent of soy in chicken feed for nutritional reasons (and yes, cost considerations - but mostly nutrition, due to the limited number of high density sources of methionine in the plant world). I also think the alleged negative heath effects of soy are grossly overblown by people of clearly no education (nor even deep reading) in the nutritional sciences, for a host of motives. But i won't claim that, for some, avoiding soy is an abolute necessity for their health - most of whom should actually be avoiding a host of foods, not just soy.

"its complicated".

 

[Phillyndilly]

Well, I've always fed higher protein feed so I can't compare it to anything.
However, considering how many things a chicken needs protein for, skin, feathers, hormone regulation that controls laying, tissue, not to mention eggs, which are about 6 grams of protein, I think it's better for them.
They seem to be doing great, shiny, bright and a bushy tailed. View attachment 3459493

Wow beautiful lately we’ve had a lot of losses and I feel like maybe consistently upping the protein might solve some health issues as well. So you feed a 21% layer usually?

 

[Phillyndilly]

You don't have enough room for forage to make that bigger impact on your feed bill. To survive on mainly forage with say commercial feed given in the evening only you're looking at half an acre per breeding pair at a minimum and that's assuming varied good quality forage.

Wow really that much to make a difference that’s interesting what do you base that off of? We do have much more property than an acre but only have about 1 fenced and we have a lot of predators so if I let them out I’d def reduce the feed bill!

 

[Phillyndilly]

and I'm a big proponent of soy in chicken feed for nutritional reasons (and yes, cost considerations - but mostly nutrition, due to the limited number of high density sources of methionine in the plant world). I also think the alleged negative heath effects of soy are grossly overblown by people of clearly no education (nor even deep reading) in the nutritional sciences, for a host of motives. But i won't claim that, for some, avoiding soy is an abolute necessity for their health - most of whom should actually be avoiding a host of foods, not just soy.

"its complicated".

I mean I for one do have a strong reaction to soy but I don’t necessarily mind it for the chickens as long as it keeps them healthy. My husband knows more about nutrition science and he told me soy has a lot of ( forgot the name) and that mimics estrogen so apparently it affects your hormones in some type of way which would make sense in my case because I get painful cystic welts if I have anything soy.

 

[Phillyndilly]

For what is worth, my flock is a bit more than half yours (see signature, below) with no geese or turkeys. I've been working on my free range pasture, and have a lot of work left to go. I'm also in a more forgiving climate, though my soils may be much worse (that is, there is TREMENDOUS) variation in range quality from person to person.

I'm currently feeding a bit over 200# a month - but was feeding 50-60# more than that in February. When things peak, I might get down to just 185# a month or so - we'll see if any of the sorghum and buckwheet survived into this year. My prarie grassses (scribner's panicgrass, mostly) is already starting to seed, and I've seen three of my four clovers already this year, for reference. Plus both flax (blue, toad).

As to the pasture, I'm spending what it seems to save me in feed costs each year back into new seed - so technically, I'm not "saving" anything, I'm investing for the future. But I do throw about $150-$200 worth of seed at it each year to see what will establish and persist.

If I were to pretend my Pekins were chickens (and they aren't, they eat a good bit more), and we estimated the current flock size as 50, at 7.5#/bird month (1/4# per day x 30 days) I should be going through about 375# of feed each month - so I'm already in my best year ever. My first year, savings were between 10% and 25% across the seasons, never got below 300# of feed a month.

We’re working on the pasture as well seeding a lot and we’ve spent a ton of money on seed this year so as you said that’s just investing in the future!
Our focus is really on fencing as well so we have start a rotational method that will really let the pasture thrive.
I guess my answer is just to buy bulk feed lol.