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Chicken Feed: In Search of an Alternative

12/10/2014

1 Comment

 
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The other day we had the opportunity to "glean" some ears from a neighbor's corn field. Free feed!
This summer, we raised some meat chickens. Given the costs and time involved, I wonder sometimes if it is worth it to raise your own chickens.

Cost of chicks and feed: $70
Number of chickens: 15
Cost per chicken: $4.67
Cost per grocery-store chicken: $5
Savings: $4.95

Now I realize that bargain chicken from Walmart is probably not as high quality as chickens raised on grass in your own backyard. However, I did not include any labor in my cost analysis; feeding, watering, or even butchering (which is not a small task). Including the cost of labor would completely eliminate all savings.

I don't mind the feeding, watering, or even the butchering. What disturbs me here is the cost of chicken feed- corn, soybean, and some other ingredients that are not organic or even all natural. Just run-of-the-mill farmer's elevator feed. There's got to be a better way.

This summer (after we had butchered the chickens, unfortunately) I did some research on chicken feed alternatives. I found some pretty cool ideas, including but not limited to:

DIY Composter & Automatic Chicken Feeder 

Building a Maggot Farm

Raising Meal Worms

The Chicken Scavenging System

Eliminate the Cost of Chicken Feed

Given my new knowledge, I believe next year I might do some experimenting- maybe one group raised as before (mostly on elevator feed) and another group raised with these alternatives (and less feed). The experimental group would probably go in a chicken tractor, put in the orchard or in the horse pasture where there are mulberry trees.

What do your chickens eat? Have you found any cost-effective alternatives to elevator chicken feed?
1 Comment
Jenny link
12/11/2014 01:17:52 pm

We raised our chickens in a chicken tractor for part of the time, then turned them on pasture. We had our transitional corn ground into feed for the chickens. It did save us some on feed cost using our own corn, but they still did eat a lot. I'm interested to hear your findings on alternative feed.

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