Why is chicken scratch more expensive than chicken feed?

[U_Stormcrow]

I was watching some Famer/Agriculture news program at 5 am this weekend (I forget the name, its pre-coffee, though a show I've woken up to many times) and they were talking about the impact of oil prices on the cost of nitrogen fertilizers, and that said fertilizers affect the cost to raise some crops more than others, adding between $30 and over $100 per acre to the annual costs for fertilizer right now. Then you have transportation surcharges for the extra fuel costs, and a shortage of truckers to make deliveries. Finally, while corn is not at the highs of last spring, it is trading well above the five year average.

Scratch, of course, is mostly corn.

Now, since it looks like China plans to buy less going forward, corn in hand is actually trading above corn in the future, for at least the next few months...

THIS IS NOT INVESTING ADVICE.

but I'm expecting at least a temporary jump in feed costs (again) after they softened somewhat in the fall. I too buy from a farm store that bulks from a local mill, so my prices change weekly.

 

[WIchickMama]

Yep prices in feed have gone up here too. Scratch is still less, but I also buy the mix the feed store makes in house not a commercial brand

 

[gtaus]

Even if the cost is a wash, this is probably a good plan. Whole grains hold their nutrition longer than cracked, and you can pick and choose what you want to give your flock.

Plus, whole seed, especially if soaked overnight, is likely to sprout in a chicken run compost system.

Good points. Maybe try soaking the stuff overnight this spring/summer/fall. Right now, we were -22F last night. Nothing sprouting in the chicken run until spring time.

 

[gtaus]

Our feeds have all jumped 3-4 dollars, including cracked corn.

Same here.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Good points. Maybe try soaking the stuff overnight this spring/summer/fall. Right now, we were -22F last night. Nothing sprouting in the chicken run until spring time.

A soaked seed today may still sprout come spring, when things warm up a bit.

 

[gtaus]

A soaked seed today may still sprout come spring, when things warm up a bit.

My chickens don't go outside the chicken coop until the snow melts in the spring. That is not too unusual for chickens in my area. That is why we make our coops much larger than the 4 square feet per bird recommendation. I think my coop as designed is almost 8 square feet per bird for my initial flock of 10 hens. Anyway, this is my third winter with these girls and the first 2 winters they refused to go outside on the snowy chicken run. This winter is no different.

 

[raingarden]

The feed store just marks up the price they have to pay Their next order of chicken feed will cost them more so your price for feed will catch up with the scratch.

The farmer's price for seed, chemicals, fertilizer and fuel have all gone up since last year, but farmers don't get to set the sales price based on what it cost them to produce.

 

[jwsmith1959]

I have a dove lease near me that covers a number of areas and a little over 11,000 acres. Most of it is farmland of dent corn, cotton, Milo, Millet, soybean and rice. The rest is open pastures. The Milo and Millet matured in our area right at a really wet time and much of it the farmers were unable to harvest before it mildewed. It made for a ton of forage for the doves, but not good for the farmers and the pittance I pay for hunting (along with the other 100 or so people) cannot nearly make up for any losses they sustained. I know our area is a drop in the bucket as far as production though. My Scratch is cracked corn, Milo, Millet, and lentils. I only feed a couple of medium handfuls per day as treats, so a 25 lb. bag lasts me a very long time.

 

[Happy hen lover]

If it was just inflation, then the commercial feed would have also gone up in price and still be higher than scratch. This is the first time I can think of ever seeing chicken scratch costing more than chicken feed.

I might just make up my own chicken scratch as the individual grain prices are much lower than the combined chicken scratch mix. I am lucky in that we have a local grain mill that will sell me the grain and I can mix it myself. In the past, there was really no money to be saved by mixing my own scratch, but there sure is now.

Yep I'd make my own too. My corn has stayed down in prices here but our scratch us only higher if I buy the premium stuff. lol scratch is basically just grains tailings sometimes grain dust! How can that be cheaper than producing pellets? Hmmm. My local TSC has a generic bird feed that costs 10.00 per 50# has some good grains and boss in it.

 

[gtaus]

My local TSC has a generic bird feed that costs 10.00 per 50# has some good grains and boss in it.

That's a good idea. I'll check into alternatives. The chicken scratch I have been buying does not even have BOSS in it. Might get a better mix with bird feed and mix in some cheap cracked corn. It's just a treat, anyway. They might enjoy having a different mix.