What's the cheapest way to feed free range chickens / ducks

[Kaybug137]

I have 15 chickens and 2 ducks. and not making any mmoney on the egg's, can't seem to find people who'd want to buy them how do y'all sell the eggs? And what is the cheapest way to feed the flock? I don't want to get rid of them I also want to add more to my flock.. I have about 2 acre's for them to roam on. is there anything else to feed them? Not doing well with money at all at the moment. and I give the boys and girls about 2 plates full of their feed, using a coffee can to fill them. Any Ideas?

 

[fried green eggs]

I don't have the answers. We sell our eggs to friends, co-workers and have extended family that help by taking our eggs to their co-workers. I will be selling at Farmer Market this Spring till Fall. Unfortunately the price you can charge depends on location and what people are willing to pay for eggs in your area - not what they really should pay for high quality fresh eggs.
Free Ranging helps and I feed some cracked corn which is cheaper than layer feed but, this winter 500 pounds of layer feed didn't last me a month. Normally in the winter I give them some really nice alfalfa hay each day but, our hay price was too high for that and it didn't help to cut our feed cost.

Hope things get better for you!

 

[centrarchid]

To control feed cost on 2 acres, reduce flock size and keep number of roosters to a minimum but more than zero. Cull hens that do not produce eggs. Feed largely with intact grains that are soaked in water for a couple of days. The soaking will start germination process making grain more digestible and activate some of the vitamins as well. Cracked / milled grains like with your scratch grain mixes and cracked corn have degraded vitamins and fatty acids the birds need if forage quality is low. Consider oats first if readily available in your area. Look into using a grower finisher diet that is made into a paste immediately prior to feeding out to flock. As a paste they will loose less through scratching. Apply once daily so no feed left after about 15 minutes of feeding activity but so crops are clearly distended. That consitutes a limited ration and they will have to make up difference by foraging. Based on bird weight and egg production you will have to determine whether birds are getting enough to eat.

Adding more birds will likely increase maintenance cost possibly at same time causing an actual reduction in egg production.