They're big enuf - we're goin broke on feed - cheap feed 'til butcher?

[Sparklee]

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I love into like that! It's good to know. It makes me wonder if we could do that with wheat or something else with a protein make-up like corn.

I wish we could get cheap non-GMO corn, but I think that will never happen. I even grew corn last year (as in a whole bunch in an extended garden), but it was an inefficient way to feed the chickens, though I could also utilize the leaves because they would tear them off the stalks and eat them when I'd give them as a treat.

And yes, Jaku, corn is at the top of my descending list of items. I get 50# bags from the co-op for $22.70. Option #2, I could drive a little over 220 miles and pick some up for $20.50. OUCH!

 

[aggieterpkatie]

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Are you serious?! The corn around here is around $11-13 for a 50 lb bag. I remember when it was only $5.

 

[ChickBond 007]

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Are you serious?! The corn around here is around $11-13 for a 50 lb bag. I remember when it was only $5.

Corn's high because they keep making it into ethanol instead of feed. For awhile, there were a great deal of Iowa farmers getting $6/bushel when they had been getting 1.70/bushel two years before that, and it's all because ethanol plants popped up everywhere. A couple of those plants have gone bankrupt now. I'm paying $8/ 50lb bag for cracked corn right now.

 

[onthespot]

Would selling a few birds live help you buy some feed and cut down on the work of processing?

 

[Sparklee]

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non-GMO corn

so that makes it "organic corn"

GMO corn (genetically modified organisms included) is, I think, $14. Whole corn. And it's pretty dirty/beat up, but that was back in Jan or around then.

These chickens are non-GMO and no soy ... well, to be absolutely truthful, the chickens are about 99.5% non-GMO, since I can't get organic cultured yeast here locally or through the co-op.

 

[Sparklee]

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Good idea, but I couldn't buy these birds for what I could sell them for. In fact, I wouldn't be able to find any non-GMO, 99.5% soy free birds anywhere for the money I would make from selling them. But, yeah, that would be a good solution if this wasn't our year's worth of chicken.

It does look like I"ll be getting some help by Friday. 1 person. So that's bound to help things quite a bit.

 

[Bossroo]

Feeding grains such as corn, increases the amount of FAT in and under the skin and between the muscle fibers, but mostly in the body cavity of the chicken and therefore discarded.. That will give you more flavor, but less edible lean meat. One would be wiser to increase the protein content so that the chicken adds more lean meat therefore much more heart healthy.

 

[dancingbear]

I'd add distiller's grain, and forget the peas, since they don't digest them anyway. But I don't know if you could get non-GMO DG, for sure. I have no idea if what I get is GMO or not. It would be locally grown corn, most likely, I don't know what most folks grow around here.