The Old Folks Home

[vehve]

I try not to think about how much we've spent on the chickens... Although if I were to venture a guess, I think we're at about 3-4 euros per egg at the moment.

 

[hennible]

I try not to think about how much we've spent on the chickens... Although if I were to venture a guess, I think we're at about 3-4 euros per egg at the moment.

Wow.
I get almost everything except feed for free and if a chicken eats what, a quarter pound of feed a day I think it's seven cents an egg...
Did just buy them a bunch of sand yesterday though.... And seven cents a day doesn't account for me lighting my coop. All of my chickens were given to me for free also... Think I'm still using the original bag of oyster shell.... Oh and seven cents a day doesn't account for food additives or medical treatments.... Maybe will just bump that number up to $.20... Until I'm up to doing better math any way.

 

[JW12]

I'm stuck on 100lbs for $30... Think I buy 50lbs for $20....

I'm stuck on that too! I pay 17 a 50# bag and was happy to find that.

 

[ozexpat]

Hey Oz did you ever get your feed mixer built?

deb

Not yet.

With all the dramas of the last trip I had other priorities.

I have a 1/2 HP motor with a gear box to reduce the speed to 45RPM. I will use v-belt pulleys to drop it to around 8RPM.

My next trip is just for 2 weeks and I have to weld 4 gates for the piggery. If I can do Christmas and finish the gates, I will start on the mixer.

Store bought feed is $25-30 for 110lbs. My home brew $15 / 110lb for flock feed and $19 / 110lb chick feed. The mixing of 220lb batches takes 30 minutes so Bernie spends around half a day per week with a shove mixing feed. Normally a few hours every Monday and Thursday as our deliveries are either Tuesday or Friday and I want all the blue 55 gallon drums full before delivery.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The diagnosis was differential, based on circumstantial evidence.

I routinely vaccinate for both types of Newcastle Disease and infectious bronchitis, Massachusetts Type and Connecticut Strain as well as La Sotta and N1 - rotating vaccines quarterly so they get both vaccines every six months. It comes in 1000 dose vials so I share it with my neighbors.

When we were thrown into turmoil when Bernie left and the birds missed a vaccination. The in a grow out pen were abAbout 8 weeks later we got hit.

We has 40+ birds from that pen die overnight with torticollis (twisted neck). We lost 8 more during the day and another 6 over 24 more hours. No other symptoms. 18 birds from 80 survived.

None of the vaccinated birds were effected and another grow out pen a distance away had no issues. A wild bird probably dropped in for some feed.

NCD is endemic in the Philippines but the use of vaccinations in the Philippines is pretty uncommon. Tthere is a cock fighting breeder about 1/2 a mile away. The locals will tell you that birds die after they vaccinate. I thought it was just a myth but I was proven wrong. Apparently he vaccinated 3 days before.

Location/climate IMO is one of the most important factors in management.

My feed and scratch are out in a shed..the door is always open, but, it wouldn't matter if it was closed, mice can and do get in. I also use the metal...garbage cans. The first one on the right is the one I keep the lay mash in..only 30 dollars for a 100 lbs of feed.





When those lids are on, no way mice can get in.

You're probably ok where you live but around here I quit using metal because it sweats in the hot humid summer and molds the feed.

I use these. They each hold about 90 pounds of feed are stackable and still allow access to the feed and I've never had a rodent problem. I have mine 3 high and I tape the feed label on the side so I know what's where.

I purchase between 2-2.5 tons of feed per month

The distributor that sells to all the agrivet and feed stores in the smaller towns and villages sells to me at the same rate - about 10-15% below retail in the city and about 30% cheaper than if I was to buy locally

% Prot $ / 50lb
Rice Bran 12.6 $6.57
Corn Meal 9.6 $6.57
Soy Meal 48 $20.20
Fish Meal 70 $24.75
Copra Meal 22 $5.45
Vitamin & Elec 0 $50.51
Oyster Shell 0 $0.00

The best value in dollars per kilo protein is copra meal but its only really digestable by ruminants. Pigs can handle 20% inclusion but with chickens its less than 10%. Goats can handle 50%. It comes from the copra mill on the other side of the island whereas the rest get delivered by the distributor. I feed the goats Ipil Ipil branches and a mix of copra and rice bran as a supplement in the afternoons after they graze during the day.

I get best value by blending Rice Bran with Fish Meal. The vitamin premix is 1kg per ton or 1/2 a cup per mix using 2x50kg sacks base feed.

I have 100kg of base mixed with the high protein for pigs and chickens. The chicks get 20kg batches. My feed batches are designed to last less than a week. All sacks are dated on arrival and oldest used first. I have a feed batch log and feed receipt log so I can see where the use is so I can keep accounting accurate. I have 4 pig recipes anf 5 poultry recipes. The only feed I buy are early wean immume boosting mini pellets that i introduce to piglets on day five. By day 32 they are on farm mixed feed.

We get oyster shells by the sack for free from a restaurant. Bernie grinds them into powder to add to pig feed and chunks for chickens. The final concentration of calcium in the feed is 1.1% with additional free choice

Occasionally there is no rice bran so I change recipes and use corn. I have to double the fish meal to achieve the same protein levels.

If only I had enough chickens to buy by the ton.

The following are all by the bag, not bulk.
That's a good price on fishmeal. 60% Menhaden costs me $50+ for 50#
I can get 50% pork meat and bone meal for $23
Oyster shell is $10
Bran, wheat and millet are $13
Soy meal is $17.25
Oats and barley are $20
Maple peas are $30
Flax is $33

16% layer pellets are $11, 17% breeder/layer is $11.50
16% organic grower is $23

The coop fairy is a feed wholesaler so that helps a lot.

With those prices it would cost me way more to make my own feed.

I can get vitamins and minerals but I'm not sure which to get if I were to make my own.
The minerals and some of the vitamins are straights. 50# of a single vitamin or mineral for example.
There are some mixes for swine or dairy that I suppose I could use.

I try not to think about how much we've spent on the chickens... Although if I were to venture a guess, I think we're at about 3-4 euros per egg at the moment.

One of my biggest costs this year has been electricity. The summer (when AC is the biggest user) was milder this year than last. But my electric usage was 32% higher than last year. A big incubator, hatcher and several ceramic heat emitters running 24/7 is a killer. God bless broody hens.

 

[chickadoodles]

Ikea sells smaller trash can-ish lidded cans made out of metal too. They're a nice size for us, and seem to keep the mice out, we only find droppings outside of them. In the picture they're on the left, on the second lowest shelf. I think they're about 25 liters or something, so about 6 gallons.

That is great vehve as long as you can keep the mice out.

 

[vehve]

@hennible the coop ended up swallowing a bit more money than originally intended. Also, it's super expensive to buy building materials in such small quantities that you need for a small coop. And I still had most of the lumber as leftovers, and didn't need to buy any roofing materials. But the paint was pretty expensive, I wanted to go with the same stuff that the house was painted with, that was like 70 euros. And my god screews, hinges and locks can be expensive. I think I spent a total of 200-250 just on hardware. Those are probably the two most commonly left out things when budgeting for a coop. Hardware cloth wasn't so bad, that was like 75 euros. Then it was some plywood and lumber, and we've spent a few hundred on feed so far, plus buying the incubator, a brooder cage for the chicks and with all that, it comes up to around 1200 euros by now I think. Won't cost too much more though, we've pretty much put in all that's going in except for feed, so in a few years, they will start paying for themselves.The situation has gotten a lot better though - when we got our first egg, I calculated a kilo price for it, it was 40000 €/kg.

 

[chickadoodles]

You're probably ok where you live but around here I quit using metal because it sweats in the hot humid summer and molds the feed.

I use these. They each hold about 90 pounds of feed are stackable and still allow access to the feed and I've never had a rodent problem. I have mine 3 high and I tape the feed label on the side so I know what's where.


That is nice very nice CC. Where did you get those? I have not had a problem with mold in my feed from my cans. I had been using it so fast I think that it just did not sit long enough maybe. But we also left the feed in the bags and just opened each bag as I used it. I was putting 7-8 50# bags a week in the two cans.

 

[hennible]

@hennible
 the coop ended up swallowing a bit more money than originally intended. Also, it's super expensive to buy building materials in such small quantities that you need for a small coop. And I still had most of the lumber as leftovers, and didn't need to buy any roofing materials. But the paint was pretty expensive, I wanted to go with the same stuff that the house was painted with, that was like 70 euros. And my god screews, hinges and locks can be expensive. I think I spent a total of 200-250 just on hardware. Those are probably the two most commonly left out things when budgeting for a coop.  Hardware cloth wasn't so bad, that was like 75 euros. Then it was some plywood and lumber, and we've spent a few hundred on feed so far, plus buying the incubator, a brooder cage for the chicks and with all that, it comes up to around 1200 euros by now I think. Won't cost too much more though, we've pretty much put in all that's going in except for feed, so in a few years, they will start paying for themselves.The situation has gotten a lot better though - when we got our first egg, I calculated a kilo price for it, it was 40000 €/kg.

Lol.
Next year when I get an appropriate coop built for my three flocks my eggs will cost a lot more... Plus if you add in the incubator, and the fact that I have to feed them in there no eggs.... Well there not cheap. Even when 90% of your materials are free....

 

[ronott1]

I'm stuck on 100lbs for $30... Think I buy 50lbs for $20....

neutrena has a sale on for their layer at 14 something pr 50 pounds. Layeena(new formula) is $16 something for 50 pounds so that is in the $33 range for 100 pounds.

GMO free and organic is much more expensive.

The new layeena makes very nice eggs. I have given up since and am using layeena now. I cannot spend over $30.00 for 50 pounds for organic and I cannot get GMO free here anymore.