Shocker Price for Feed

[Miss Lydia]

Last bag of BOSS we bought was around $40 for 50lb will get a new bag this week so will post what it runs then. Feeding more right now while the Sebbies are feathering back in.

Last year it was around 38.00 for a 50lb bag, I'll have to check next time I buy feed what it is. TSC had it for 40lbs for 24.95

 

[Cheapchicksfarm]

Wow read this whole thread things are really bad everywhere

The rule here is that I have to cover my animals feed cost I am a stay at home mom so make feed money by selling eggs,hatching eggs, my birds and animals offspring and started birds etc basically I sell everything at any stage the problem is in my area everyone is really really cheap they want to buy a bird for $5 and then will pay out the wazoo to feed it they don't want to help us breeders out with our feed bills I hope that will change soon. I have no earthly idea how many birds I have right now I don't count heads in the summer since numbers go up and down so much with sales and grow out pens changing all the time my fall goals are
54 standard chickens, 23 bantams, 2-3 geese, 7 turkeys, 31 ducks, 12 guineas, 8-9 dairy goats, and 4 meat rabbits We also have 3 dogs 4 cats 1 loinhead rabbit and a Hog but they don't count since hubby pays for them he covers pets and the yearly hog for the freezer But I am worried I will have to cut down on my birds so I can still cover my feed I have not bought feed in awhile we buy in bulk from a local farmer I buy about 3000lbs twice a year of ground grain which is fed to the birds it is a mix of Oats/Wheat/Barley Corn and Soy I add Flax meal or sunflower in the breeding season I also buy Whole Soy, Barley and Corn from him so I can mix up my own goat feeds which also contain Molasses, BOSS, Flax meal and Wheat Bran the other is all purchased in bulk from feed stores and mills It has been awhile since I bought BOSS it was $29 for 50lbs in the spring I about had a stroke since it was $19 the spring before
I try and keep cost down by feeding any other edible stuff I can get we feed the birds veggies, fresh fish and venison and kitchen scraps as well as goat milk and garden weeds and daily free range. I do feed some blue seal feeds but and working on finding ways to cut back or 100%off so that will save even more

I am planning to stock up as much as I can to try and avoid having to buy any feed over the winter when my farm is not making any money and am working on convincing hubby we need to get a steer to grow out for the freezer we are planning to put up more fence so the goats can be moved out of the front pasture

 

[Muse7]

I have a question about home mix feed. I have 5 ducks and 3 drakes, and I am currently purchasing organic mash that is a grower feed. I had gotten the layer's mash, but found way... to much waste. To much of the mix was powdered in form and so ended up on the bottom of the water containers. I want to stay organic, so I started offering free choice Oyster shell and we are getting ready to add egg shells to that and they are back on the grower's mash.

Here's the question. I know the girls need more protein in their diet and they do get meal worms everyday and they do a lot of foraging, but I can't really control the amount of protein that way. Has anyone made their own
layer's mash and if so, is Soy the best protein supplement for it?

The base grower feed is good and I know the Drakes would be fine on that. So the other question is, will extra protein be detrimental to the Drakes? I can't seem to find anything about this in Storer's or any of the other
papers I have read from Holderread.

Any thoughts?

Liz

 

[jackolantern]

I have a friend that only feeds wheat grains.. check your craigslist for farmers selling whole grains or cracked grains for sale you will find it much cheaper.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

only if you live where such things are grown. Blanket statements like that just dont apply to all. Not everyone lives in the grain belt, heck we dont live in the hay belt either. Its all trucked in. However we have amazing green pastures year round, no snow, lots of sunshine, so I will pay higher hay prices for my goats, to keep all the other perks.

 

[Muse7]

Grain is not an issue where I am. I'm pretty close to the Pennsylvania Farm belt.
However, I am not sure if whole grain is really high enough in protein. Would
you agree that it is, or is a bean addition like Soy better?

Thanks,

Liz

 

[jdywntr]

I purchased some chick starter here today. 50 lb for $12. It is medicated but it is being fed to chicks not ducklings. I had bought a bag about 1.5 months ago and I think it was about $10. This is from the local, family owned feed store. So the very elderly owner had a yellow legal pad that had handwritten prices on it. The starter had 2 columns of crossed out prices next to the $12.

I am planting some extra veg, though it is a little late for some. I have some squash and bean seeds that sprouted after 3 days. I am looking into a winter pasture oveseed that I can just toss out into the pasture without too much work on my part.

My biggest problem, our landlords have 2 horses, 2 donkeys, 1 ram and now 2 cows in the pasture here. Only about 2.5 acres are actually included in the area that we rent but the last tenants tore down all of the field fencing

and the animals have access to about 10 additional acres. I really like our landlords, they lowered our rent so that we could include water for the animals as there is not another water source here. But I don't want to spend money to feed something that isn't mine and they don't seem too concerned about the animals here. My husband is concenred about the landlord's animals and has suggested that we buy feed but, while I don't want to see an animal go hungry, I don't want to spend the extra money.

I fenced off about 3/4-1 acre of the pasture for my birds. I am really considering fencing (in a cheap way as we only have poultry/waterfowl and I just want to keep the hoofed animals out) the actual property that we are renting for my animals.

Okay, thanks for letting me rant a bit.

Suggestions for easy to overseed winter forage would be great.

 

[tiki]

Ours is about $12. I guess we are lucky.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ours is about $12. I guess we are lucky.

Yes you are.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Ok, feed delivery came today. All will be 50/lb bags unless i note otherwise

Ivermectin injectable at $37 a bottle

Layena pellet - 17.95
Mazuri 36.95
BOSS 39.95
Millet 26.95 (this doubled in price!)
Wheat 14.95
goat (noble) 16.95
rabbit 20.95
Alfalfa pellet 15.95
Oats 15.95

our total bill was just over 500$ this delivery which included the dewormer, and dog food, we get free delivery too I wont order Millet, Wheat or BOSS again until Oct/Nov. I was shocked the millet jumped so much. Luckily we planted millet this year too and its going to seed now so everyone will be enjoying it right into fall. Going to do oats and wheat in the pasture for winter.