Saving Money on Chicken Feed??

[matt44644]

Do any of you know how much turkey pellets go for and were they sell them at I live in naples.

Naples , Florida or Italy?
http://www.tractorsupply.com/StoreL...Id=-1&city=naples&state=FL&zipCode=&radius=50

 

[new at chicken]

I live in Naples Florida

 

[new at chicken]

May they have them at trackter suplies or not?

 

[new at chicken]

Oh okay thank you matt44644

 

[RichnSteph]

As others have said only feed them the amount that they will eat instead of leaving a full feeder out all the time. Fermenting your feed also makes it last longer not to mention making a better feed for the chickens. Sprout some grains for them on a 3-4 day rotation so that they have greens throughout the winter which will help. If you prefer to leave a full feeder look into the "5 gallon bucket feeder" here on BYC. It's an inexpensively built (by you) feeder that does an amazing job at keeping the chickens from wasting feed.


Luck!
RichnSteph

 

[WhitneyG]

Thank-you so much, everyone, for your help! Can anyone direct me to more info about sprouting and fermenting? (still new to this! )

 

[RichnSteph]

Fermenting feed.
https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/02/07/im-using/


Pretty much just put feed in a bucket, add water, stir a couple times a day and in 3-4 days you start feeding it to the chickens.


RichnSteph

 

[lazy gardener]

Hi - does anyone have any ideas on how to save money on chicken feed? I only have 10 chickens, but I'm starting to go through about one bag of feed a week! They are all hens and lay quite a few eggs, but still - I think it's kind of getting expensive. Any ideas appreciated!!

Whitney: Either your girls are wasting a lot of feed, or you have a serious rodent problem, possibly both. My flock of 16 goes through a bag every 3 weeks. I do ferment their feed, which makes it go further. But 50# for 10 birds? Some serious waste going on there! My recommendation is: If you have a gravity feeder, bring it in at night. Hanging it won't necessarily make it rodent proof. Try fermented feed. Super easy to do, helps the flock to digest the feed, their poop won't be as smelly, the feed will last longer, you won't have to haul as much water. The only down side is the likelihood of it freezing. So you'll have to play around with options regarding that. (feeding times, possibly putting it in a heated dog bowl)

 

[WhitneyG]

Whitney: Either your girls are wasting a lot of feed, or you have a serious rodent problem, possibly both. My flock of 16 goes through a bag every 3 weeks. I do ferment their feed, which makes it go further. But 50# for 10 birds? Some serious waste going on there! My recommendation is: If you have a gravity feeder, bring it in at night. Hanging it won't necessarily make it rodent proof. Try fermented feed. Super easy to do, helps the flock to digest the feed, their poop won't be as smelly, the feed will last longer, you won't have to haul as much water. The only down side is the likelihood of it freezing. So you'll have to play around with options regarding that. (feeding times, possibly putting it in a heated dog bowl)

Ok, so that IS an excessive amount for me to buy - I thought maybe that was normal but obviously not!! MN has super cold winters (about 7 degrees currently!), so I would have to come up with a heating contraption... thank-you!! What ratio of water/feed do you do for your feed?

 

[CrazyTalk]

Ok, so that IS an excessive amount for me to buy - I thought maybe that was normal but obviously not!! MN has super cold winters (about 7 degrees currently!), so I would have to come up with a heating contraption... thank-you!! What ratio of water/feed do you do for your feed?

4-6 oz per bird per day is normal - which works out to about 2.x lbs per week per bird. You should be going through about a bag every two weeks - longer if the birds get outside foraging time.

So a bag a week at 10 birds is about twice what you should need (if not worse)