How To Cut Your Feed Bill In Half
For poultry keepers the biggest expense is feed, and with feed prices on a constant rise many poultry keepers have been forced to downsize their flocks due to cost. A true kick in the guts for poultry keepers.
Over the past few years i have experimented with all different ways of feeding my birds. I have collected these into a list from least expensive and easiest to most effective ways i have reduced my feed bill.
1. Kitchen scraps,
Possibly the easiest way to reduce the feed bill, i use a 10 liter bucket from Mitre 10 which collects kitchen scraps and can be emptied everyday providing birds with a diverse array of foods. Plus the birds love it.
2. Bakery scraps,
This is another great way to feed your birds, my local bakery provides 20kg flour bags filled with all the goods that didn't sell which can be purchased for $5 a bag. The bags mainly contained bread and pastries but from memory they may have also contain some veggie waste too.
3. Bulk purchasing of feed.
This is one of the key ways that kept costs down when i had a large number of birds for egg production. I remember when i first upped my flock numbers and couldn't believe how much feed we were going through and buying at retail prices wasn't working. It was then when we called up our local grain mill and ordered a 500kg bulka bag, buying in this size meant the price per kg of feed reduced from $1.2 per kg to $0.70 per kg saving $250.
While you may not like the idea of such a large purchase you may be able to create an arrangement with your local poultry club to purchase in bulk together say for instance 2,000kg @ $0.50-$0.60/kg split among 5-10 members and then take your share of the feed. This can further reduce your costs as it allows you to purchase more feed for less and it benefits all involved.
4. Pasture raise your birds,
Many poultry experts call for greens regularly for your birds so we're killing two birds with one stone here (maybe not the best analogy for poultry keepers but you get the idea). Allowing birds to graze pastures specifically rotational grazing allows the birds to eat green stuffs and insects leaving less room for our very expensive pellets or mash.
When i say 'pasture grazing' and 'rotational' your probably thinking of moveable coops and electric nets. However, all this can be done with a stationary coop and permanent fences. This is done by building a large perimeter and then splitting the yard into at least 5 sections. one that surrounds the coop connecting all of the other sections, the birds will always have access to this section. Then the rest of the yard is split in 4 sections, one sacrifice paddock for when grass growth stops in the others, and then 3 pasture paddocks rotated on a frequency which depends on grass growth ensuring the grass has time to recover in between. more pasture sections can be added if grass growth is slow most of the year.
5. upgrade your feeders!
The amount of feed that has ended up on the floor of my coops, taken by rats, mice or otherwise is unbelievable. The cost of this feed is probably in the thousands of dollars and counting! All because i didn't upgrade my feeders.
We are now lucky enough to have access to feeders that keep out rodents, rain and spilling but very few people use them, instead opting for an old dish or simply dumping some pellets on the ground. If you'd like a quality feeder you can't look past the treadle feeder with the anti-spill grid.
Similarly, if you want to keep the rodents out but would like a more affordable feeder, a regular treadle feeder works just as well!
However, if you'd like to make your own for a fraction of the price i suggest these, all you need is a container and a power-drill.
Finally, implementing all of these methods will reduce your feed costs guaranteed. If you have any questions or suggestions please leave a comment down below.
Cheers,
Jarvis.