Step 3: ???? Step 4: PROFIT!

[onfurtherreview]

I have a little flock of 26 chickens: 22 laying hens of various breeds, two Dominique roosters, and two Comet pullets who aren't laying yet. Their run is 1250 square feet, with a well-set-up coop attached that could probably stand to be a bit bigger - I plan on expanding it to 12x16 soon. I let them free-range for an hour or two each day, and they're eating around $15 in feed per week - almost 50 pounds of natural layer crumble at $13.35 at the local Co-Op, plus a few pounds of various grains. I'm averaging about 16 eggs per day right now.

I figured I didn't have enough eggs to sell, but I knew there were more than we could eat ourselves, so I've been giving away the extras to family members. Yesterday, I brought some for my sister, but she still had plenty and suggested I take them to her neighbor across the street. When I did, I got a surprise: the woman insisted on paying $5/dozen, and now wants 4-6 dozen every week. I guess this turns an expensive hobby into something a little better than cash-neutral, at least on feed.

What I plan on doing with the extra $5-15 per week is using it to justify spending more money on the chickens. I'm trying to work out ways to feed them a better diet. I can get seed wheat for just under $18/50lb. bag, and I plan on setting up a sprouting system (I can't remember which thread I saw it on here, but it looks like a great setup). I'm also thinking about raising worms. My big question is, what kinds of worms are good to supplement chickens' diet with? I don't want to do mealworms. I'm talking about nightcrawlers, or red wigglers, or something like that.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I'm not sure why you need to supplement their diet any more than you do. Layer feed is meant to be a complete feed, and when you feed other things you need to pay attention to what you're giving them because you are messing up the ratios of protein, carbs, etc. Layer hens only eat until they're full, so when you feed treats they are eaten INSTEAD of layer ration, not in addition to it. For example, we move our layers to a higher-protein layer feed in the summer because they eat so many greens it throws their protein balance out of whack.

Just take the money and use it to buy feed, or more birds.

 

[onfurtherreview]

I'm not sure why you need to supplement their diet any more than you do. Layer feed is meant to be a complete feed, and when you feed other things you need to pay attention to what you're giving them because you are messing up the ratios of protein, carbs, etc. Layer hens only eat until they're full, so when you feed treats they are eaten INSTEAD of layer ration, not in addition to it. For example, we move our layers to a higher-protein layer feed in the summer because they eat so many greens it throws their protein balance out of whack.

Just take the money and use it to buy feed, or more birds.

I'm trying to get away from bagged feeds as much as possible, for a lot of reasons I don't want to bore you with right now. I'm careful about how much of what homegrown thing I feed them, to make sure they're getting enough protein. Since the original post, I've set up worm bins with nightcrawlers and red wigglers, fenced in a plot, and seeded it with ryegrass and clover. I also bought some flats to use for sprouting, but I haven't done anything with them yet. I'm trying to give them a similar (or better) diet to what they would get running loose, without having to worry as much about the neighbor's dog.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

That's quite an undertaking, and it will be hard to get the feed balanced. I think you should try posting in the Feeding and Watering Your Flock forum, since you really are talking basic feed, not treats. I would think that someone there would have an idea; I know several folks were growing their own feed.