We've been keeping track of our poultry grain costs for a couple of years now. It's just getting ridiculous how much feed has gone up. For example; in this last month we've purchased feed three times. The first being 2-4-11 and the cost of the grains and wild bird feed was $43.96. Then on 2-18-11 the cost for the same grain and wild bird feed was $45.96 and finally today(2-24-11) the cost was $ 46.36. That is an increase of $2.40 in 20 days time or 5.5% Now this has been happening for a couple of months and all total it comes to a 10.6% increase since Jan. 2, 2011 Now if we were to keep pace by passing on this increase to our egg customers the price of our eggs would raise from $2.50 a dozen to $3.16 . The last time we raised the cost of our eggs, we lost half of our customers and that was over a $.25 increase per dozen.So......... we're now trying to calculate how many hens we'll actually need to support us and our loyal egg customers and make an adjustment to our flock, meaning downsizing and putting meat in our freezer. By downsizing and growing more alternative crops for our poultry we hope to cut down on our grain costs. The increased grain cost are certainly going to continue, thus the reasoning behind not raising feeder pigs this winter. With the change in Mike's jobs and the unstable economy, we felt it best to hold back some. Besides our pork supply in the freezer is still good, although the bacon is running low.
In gathering our tax info. together, it really was an eye opener, as to just how much we do spend on grain, for our poultry. This is something we are focusing on changing, planning our other options and will be implementing our ideas this summer to pull away from that ever increasing expense. We will also allowing our birds to have access to more hours on pasture or free ranging.
Planning, planning, planning; with hopes that Spring is just around the corner, so we can begin implementing all of our plans. :o)
Farming is an "ever learning experience" definitely NOT boring. :o)
25 comments:
I read in a "homesteading" book from the '70's (and dang it I wish it hadn't gotten ruined last summer or I'd give you the title and ISBN#), that the farmer in question made all his own weed. He went out and bought a shredder that he used to make animal feed (btw he used this feed on all his animals in winter)whole corn stalks(yep whole), sunflowers stalks and all, any extra wheat, dry squashes and pumpkins too. He'd run them right through the shredder and bag it all and feed it to everyone.
I don't know how good of a feed that is but it's worth a try.
It is for sure an always learning experience. We've always just raised enough for ourselves, with whatever excess selling to get rid of it. It's expensive for sure, and when I get my chickens again in May, we'll only be keeping 10 pullets for us. That will keep us and my folks in eggs without breaking the bank feeding them.
It's good that you've still got pork in the freezer!
Yes, planning is so important for all of us whether running a home, a farm, or any other kind of business.
We're fixing to get 50 hens and are dreading the feed bill...
I have decided that as much as I love the wild birds, when the sack of feed I have is gone, I'm not going to buy any more. They like to hang out in the chicken pen and livestock pen and snack on the grain anyway, so I'll save a little. I also go to a couple local restaurants (the Dairy Queen, etc) and pick up the scraps they save me (lettuce, tomatoes, etc) and that stretches my feed costs.
i'm switching to wholes grains for my clucks and not layer mash or even as much corn. have you had success? any tips? do you have a post about this?
low on bacon!?!? oh golly... we couldnt make it
;-)
I have this problem too. I purchased chicks last fall to be able to sell eggs and now the feed has gone up $2.00 a hundred in the last month and I buy it in bulk. So, I don't think I could get enough customers to pay to keep the chickens, so I'm going back to keeping just enough for me and my daughters.
We have seen the costs rise a lot here too. I have a very small flock - just 20 hens and a roo, but it's still noticeable. I usually buy feed more locally, but I made the 20 mile drive to the big co-op a while back and came home with (hopefully) enough feed to get us to some early spring pasture. And yes, I had to raise to 2.50 a dozen.
We supplement a few ways that might or might not interest you. Pumpkins and winter squashes grow well here and they keep well, so I grow as many as I can, and toss the girls something every few days through the cold months. They get all our kitchen scraps too, which helps a little bit. Any time we're outdoors, we let them out so they can forage. (Dogs and coyotes prevent us from just leaving them to roam.)
I give theme extra zucchini, bolted lettuce, and anything else past prime from the garden, and the year we grew quinoa and amaranth, they raided the patches repeatedly, so I'm planning to grow some just for them this year.
We have a really short season here, so growing field corn or soybeans for them is out. It's too dry anyway - they irrigate here just to grow poor quality hay. I'm looking into growing some of the hull-less oats that I can use for them as both forage and straw.
I think this is my first time here - your blog is lovely!
-Laura at TenThingsFarm
Do you mind if I ask how many chickens do you have?
We are also very concerned with the price of feed and one of our goals for this next winter is to be able to supplement our birds diet even more than we have been...a lot more. Right now we feed them cooked and raw carrots, beets/mangles, squash, potatoes, turnips, parsnips, sunroots, apples, greens and other veggies twice daily and have cut our food bill quite a bit.
This next year though I hope to do even better and will be growing few hundred extra pounds of potatoes just for the chickens as I did not grow nearly enough of these to share as many as I would have liked with the birds. The question is whether or not it will be worth the effort to continue growing and storing so very many extra veggies just for our birds...it's amazing how much of this food they can go through in the winter.
With the price of grains going up we have to do something, so we shall soon see just how independent of the feed stores our little flock can become.
WE have been through this so many times.the ongoing debate is it worth it or not.YES and NO.)We love having fresh eggs and hatching eggs but that price needs to stop at where it is.
We are going to let them out more or even just add onto their pen.We rake the grass clippings and throw them in the pen with them,they love that.
Kepp those ideas coming on saving costs.
Same here... We just started with Chickens last year for the first time. by the end of the season they were free ranging because I couldn't afford to feed them anymore.
I have to say that I wonder if it has as much to do with farming/planting cost as it does with the fact that so many people are doing their urban chicken set ups.
I think because more and more people are doing it at home some of the feed companies are taking advantage of that.
Just a theory though... I have nothing to back that up.
Rivenfae,
If you remember the nameof the book please share it, we are always looking for ideas.
We cook( until tender) pumpkins, potatoes, carrots, turnips, beets, parsnips, etc.... We have been shredding them first, it makes it easier for the birds to consume before it can freze. Like today's high is -6F, so the quicker they can eat a war meal the better, we also give them warm water with honey and apple cider vinegar in it in the cold months. Thanks for stopping in to chat :o)
Good wife,
We're cutting down to 15-18 hens and one rooster, we figure that will keep us and our few loyal egg customers happy. In the winter months we let the girls have their natural down time and our customers understand this. This is why we have an 8 yr old hen who still lays twice a week*wink* She'll get to stay until she dies, she's a pet, LOL!!!
Yes, the pork is in good supply other than bacon and sausage, so we may end up purchasing a pig ready to be butchered and butcher it ourselves in early Spring to resupply us with sausage, bacon and ham *wink* We can purchase one ready to go( raised on mixed grains, not commercial feed) for less than we could raise one for ourselves, with grain costs.
Lois,
We've always done a budget and held to it but with these ever increasing cost it's getting harder and harder. Praise God we're debt free! Thank you for stopping in to chat :o)
Tractor Mom,
If you can market your eggs for enough to cover the majority of your feed costs that is a plus. For some reason in MT( our area anyway) people seem content to shop at Wally World, rather than support local businesses and farmer/ ranchers. Those very people are going to pay th price, someday very soon. Good luck with your birds, maybe look into growing multi purpose crops thatyou can suppliment your flock with and pasturing( in chicken tractors) or free ranging will also help alot!
Ruth,
We add the wild bird feed to our grain mix, because the birds love the different grains and sunflower seeds( we ran out of our own, somethig we are planting far maore of this year!) when we first started buying the 35# bags it was $6.99( back in Dec. 2010) and yesterday it was $8.99. I understand you thinking and what we do for the wild birds is plant sunflowers, and grain crops( in small plots) for them to harvest themselves. The really nice thing is that they also reseed for you*wink* Besides wheat, oats, millet and amaranth(sp?) looks nice in the winter months, when left dry in the garden and flower beds.
Ohio farmgirl,
I do have a post on chick feed that we grind ourselves, check under homestead animals. We've been grinding and mixing our own feed for several years now.Our grinder is one that is blet operated by our tractor. We use 100# wheat, 100# oats, 50# corn, 50# barley if we can find it. We more or less crush the wheat, oats and barley( larger grind) and the corn we grind last and make it finer. Then I add Icelandic kelp( approx. 1/2 of a large coffee can) 1c. loose sea salt( medium grind) 1/2 c. garlic powder or granuals. When it is cold, 10F or below we make a hot mash by adding hot water enough to steam the grains but not be soupy and 1c. black strap molasses. We also suppliment with alfalfa hay, and cooked( until tender) shredded produce such as;squash, beets, carrots, parsnips, turnips, fennel root, potatoes, etc.... Chicken and turkeys will eat most everything. BTW we've found that our turkeys are particularly fond of onions, garlic and chives. We allow our hens to have the winter off, not running a light to keep them productive, it's more natural and they'll lay longer for you than 2 yrs. Good luck and I'm betting your birds will love it!
Alla,
We went to grains because there is no organic feed avaliable without ordering it from Azure Standard and then half the time it would be out of stock.*sigh* To buy direct from the farmers had proven to be a challenge, they want to much for it and 98% of the corn grown in our area is GMO, YUCK! We could buy in bulk from the feed dealers but they only give a 5-10% discount and with the costs ever rising that isn't much of a saving, especially if we have to drive our truck to the city, not saving much, if you calculate in our fuel.*sigh* So cutting back and supplimenting more is the only viable option. We're following your lead!*wink* just for us an a couple of loyal customers.:o)
Ten Things farm,
Welcome, glad you found us and thanks for commenting.
We do as you and suppliment with pumpkins, squash( summer and winter), carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, garlic, sunflower heads( until we ran out*sigh*) loose corn( from our Indian corn, cooked until softened) plus kitchen scraps and when we have fresh milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, whey, etc....
We're just going to get a whole lot more serious about this and work at cutting out the purchased grains, rather growing our own.
Hope you come back and thanks for your compliments :o)
Mrs. Bee,
OH MY! $8 a dozen and $6.50 lb, even the organic coop is only $4 for free range organic eggs and not sure of meat costs as we raise our own, so I don't look at the coop. Sure hope this isn't a sign of what is coming with feed costs*sigh*
Unfortunately Montanans( natives) are all caught up in cheap food, and support big box stores such as Wally World, all the while cutting the throats of the local growers. Someday when Wally world can't get all of it's cheap China imports and they then start shopping local, they're going to hear, "Sorry To Late!, we had to downsize to just enough for our needs"I've been trying to re-educate people into supporting local and to tell you the truth I'm tired and worn down.*sigh* It's all about their convience and getting it cheap, well my time, years of experience and energy are worth something. Sad indeed!
Mr.H.,
Right now we have 36 hens and 6 roosters. This is after selling 10 hens last weekend. We plan to butcher 5 roosters( last years hatch) this weekend, if our weather will cooperate*sigh* and probably butcher down to about 15 hens. This should afford us the breathing room to save on grain costs.
We too have been supplimenting our birds( for better health and immune function) but this Spring have actively planned on growing several of our own grain crops( in large patches) including Millet, wheat, hulless oats, Amaranth, corn and sunflowers. Added to this will be squash( summer and winter, turnips, carrots, mangle beets, red beets, parsnips, potatoes, sunchokes,garlic,onions, kale,fresh( as well as dehydrated for winter feeding) lettuce, mustard and spinach, cabbage, herbs. We also feed alfalfa hay in winter to our poulty and you can steam it as well, they seem to enjoy the warm food when it's sub zero, I don't blame them! In the cold month we make a hot mash by adding boiling water( enough to steam the grains) and molasses.
It is now our goal to pull away from purchasing grains entirely
Our small acreage has always been a source of concern when it comes to self reliant feed and hay for our animals. Then again more acres of land, well.... those costs are rising too, especially anything related to oil or it's byproducts. Thankfully we can( hopefully will still be able to afford fuel) to irrigate our pastures, and harvest our usual 2+ ton of hay. This helps offset the ever rising cost of hay as well.
Good luck everyone and thank you all for sharing your ideas, "many heads makes lighter thinking"*wink*
Blessings,
Kelle
Boy, do I know what you mean. The Mister went and picked up feed yesterday and when he got back, he asked how much I had been paying for it. The scratch went up almost $2 per bag. I don't charge but $1.50 for a dozen eggs and since my customers are mostly the elderly who live on fixed incomes, there is no way I will raise my prices. It is crazy.
Grace & Peace
It's typical: Everyone else is allowed to crank up prices, but not us. Everyone else is allowed to make money, except for us. It's the American way.
Kelle, I woke up this am at 4:00 all worked up because I dreamt that I was trying to get the chickens feed and didn't have much food, then I opened a door and there were hundreds of baby chicks with their mouthes opened waiting for food......yikes I have to quit reading this blog about chickens. I asked Leroy if he wanted some chickens when I woke up and he thinks maybe it is time for the home....ya think? Made for some good giggles at that time of the morning.
well, at least you're trying to plan ahead. it's getting bad. i can hardly stand to listen to he news any more. all we can do is pray and do our best in our own little lives. sounds like you have some good ideas.
Kelle, I'm right there with you on feed prices. They are going through the roof! This year I'm going to try growing some of my own chicken and goat feed. I've never done it before so we will see how it goes. Hey, I can't set around and do nothing right?
We're raising less chickens this year just for this very reason, the price of conventional feed is now what organic was last year.
Chicken used to be a luxury on a farm and it's headed back that way again, we've been victimized by the cheap food policy that so we now expect it. I can go into Fred Meyer's and buy a "natural" chicken already cooked for $5! I can't buy a chick and get it to two pounds for that, let alone raise it to 4.5#, butcher it and cook it for $13.00.
Your prices must be much lower in your area - when we quit selling eggs 4 years ago, we sold them for $4.85 delivered, 15 dozen minimum. Organic custom feed was $450 per ton or $11.25 per bag. And we thought that was high. It's now close to $25.00 per bag.
As long as ethanol is "eating" up a good portion of the grain supply, livestock feed will continue to be priced out of this world!
What a great post. We stopped raising chickens years ago it was not paying off. I think it is going to be harder to farm very soon. Our fuel prices and hydro have skyrocketed here in Canada especially Ontario. I am not sure how people will be able to hold on. Farming is a learning experience and it is definitely never boring. People have no idea how much it cost to get things to market in Canada we have the lowest food prices of any other country.Sad to say for the consumer this will be changing very soon.Great post. B
Corn prices are about to t an all time high over $7 a bushel. That's insane. But what happens when we want to put it in our cars. We have managed to keep away from high prices by growing almost all of it ourselves and butchering regularly. I really don't want to charge more than $2 a dozen, but people are paying $4 at the grocery for it, so I might have some wiggle room.
I have not ever bought feed, well i guess just the chick starter. we now have about 60ish chickens, most are laying. we feed them scraps from our butcher shop deer, elk, pig and everything in between.
we also hit the jackpot on a derailed train we got 6 truckloads of corn. they free range our property and we get free bread from the bread store. I am a free junkee if its free ill get as much as i can. last year i found a brewery and got about a ton of barley that had been brewed thrown away. hope you can utelize the free meathod more also, it does not hurt to ask.
Everyone that follows my blog knows how much I desired to have some chickens, I was thinking at least a dozen! Reading the woes of the prices of feed going up and the other problems concerning feeding them and other animals gave me the willies..I wish I could suggest something that would help :o( Now I understand why the egg prices at the farmers market went up..Only thing I can do is pay the price and push it somewhere else in the budget...
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