I do all the heavy lifting so my family can enjoy food how god intended it to be.
No industrial feed, no industrial inputs in the soil.
I mix all the supplemental feed myself with the highest quality ingredients.
I make all my own compost which feeds the soil and the animals.
This is just the beginning of this journey & is a team effort.
My girl always makes sure we're eating & sleeping good.
Everyone has a role to play in supporting farmers, especially their families. #permies
Tell me about what you feed your chickens. What’s your mix and how much does it cost? How much time and energy are you putting into mixing your own feed?
I buy a 5 way scratch and non-gmo/soy free pellets. I mix those two feeds together and pour in a little sourdough starter and let it sit overnight to get a good ferment going. I also supplement with a seed tray of sprouted sunflower seeds daily.
Additionally, the chickens have access to the compost pile, which I usually throw a couple small fish in each week. The fish attract flies, and the chickens eat the maggots.
Finally, I free range the birds, and they have access to all kinds of greens and insects.
During the warmer months of the year, like right now, I’m feeding approximately 1.4 ounces per bird per day. I am raising large body dual purpose birds, which would normally eat 6 ounces of feed per day in a typical coop and run set up. I feed up to 4 ounces a day during the coldest months of winter averaging 2.5oz of feed per bird per day on an annual basis.
My average cost for feed is $.15 a pound. Total cost per bird is $8.56 per year.
My breed of chickens lay 200 to 230 eggs a year and excess roosters are harvested at 12 weeks. There’s no need to feed chick starter.
With 20 laying hens average 358 dozen eggs per year. That puts me at about $.49 per dozen eggs. A 12 week old rooster that weighs about 3 pounds dressed out cost me about $3.15.
If you factor in all of the work that goes into keeping chickens: building tractors, mixing feed, running to the feed store, repairs, processing, cleaning, etc., etc. I probably spend an hour a day averaged over the course of the year.
We give away a lot of eggs, we also feed eggs to the dogs and pigs. So we save a little money there and build social capital with our friends and neighbors.
I’m sure if I had a office job in a Fiat mine the accounting would show a net positive buying free range chickens for $20 and spending two or three dollars a dozen for eggs. But it’s not worth the cost of a tortured soul.
That being said, I’m always looking for ways to save money on feed and raise healthier birds. Any input you have is greatly appreciateed.
I don't have any of this math done, and I won't do an analysis like this until I've finalized my feeding regimen.
Just started breeding maggots, need to figure out how to breed more.
Saving my red worms for the winter feed to replace their forage in the most natural way possible.
Appreciate the insight, but does the feed you buy contain seed oils? Is it organic?
