View Full Version : A question for you chicken ranchers...
Other than the obvious issues of water and mice, can any of you think of a reason why I should not buy chicken feed in bulk?
I am going to start building a feed shack in the next few weeks so I am trying to figure out how big I should make it. The primary reason for building it is to be able to buy cattle feed in bulk. I can drop the price of raising the steer by about 20% buying feed by the ton. Plus, having a better place to store hay will save quite a bit as well. Currently, I am losing 4-5 bales per year due to water damage.
It would be pretty handy if I could buy enough feed for the meat chickens for their entire lives all at once and have nice dry place to store it rather than having to go back and forth to the feed mill once per month. And if Mrs Inor gets her turkeys next spring, they eat the same feed at the meat chickens, so I might even be able to justify buying that by the ton if it won't go bad.
1skrewsloose
11-09-2022, 11:02 PM
As far as feed goes, they're used to picking up scrap/bugs off the ground, we used to crush up egg shells to add to the feed for calcium for the eggs. I was maybe 10 then. Think maybe birds get overfed when you'll cook them up in the oven anyway. Need to figure out price for feed, vs money spent per pound of butchered bird. I dont believe all this stuff about raising cheaper than store bought. OK, eggs I can buy off on.
As far as feed goes, they're used to picking up scrap/bugs off the ground, we used to crush up egg shells to add to the feed for calcium for the eggs. I was maybe 10 then. Think maybe birds get overfed when you'll cook them up in the oven anyway. Need to figure out price for feed, vs money spent per pound of butchered bird. I dont believe all this stuff about raising cheaper than store bought. OK, eggs I can buy off on.
Chickens definitely are NOT something you raise to save money! Raising meat chickens might save a little bit, but not much. I think they do taste a little better. But is it worth raising them financially? Probably not. We raise them more as an insurance policy, especially now with shortages of everything.
Egg chickens are the most expensive eggs you will ever buy.
Raising a beef, you do save a buttload of money and they are very little work. But, there is a pretty stiff upfront expense getting set up to raise one.
I'll let you know in the next few years about pigs and turkeys... I expect turkeys will be like chickens and not save anything and pigs probably will save a little.
Mad Trapper
11-09-2022, 11:31 PM
Not a chicken farmer, Inor. Parents used to raise them when I was little.
But you might look into 55-gal metal barrels w/resealable lids for storage. I can get clean food grade ones local for ~$25.
Definitely critter proof as I use them for garbage cans too. The bears haven't figured out how to pop the lids off, yet, but they do have fun rolling them around trying to get at the garbage.
I also use them to store seed for cover crops in the barns and for basement storage for things like rice/beans/flour. Not sure how many pounds of feed they'd hold?
They are pretty airtight as when it gets cold it's a bitch getting the lids off as it makes a vacuum inside. You can get full size liner bags for the inside, I use those in the garbage cans.
20598
Not a chicken farmer, Inor. Parents used to raise them when I was little.
But you might look into 55-gal metal barrels w/resealable lids for storage. I can get clean food grade ones local for ~$25.
Definitely critter proof as I use them for garbage cans too. The bears haven't figured out how to pop the lids off, yet, but they do have fun rolling them around trying to get at the garbage.
I also use them to store seed for cover crops in the barns and for basement storage for things like rice/beans/flour. Not sure how many pounds of feed they'd hold?
They are pretty airtight as when it gets cold it's a bitch getting the lids off as it makes a vacuum inside. You can get full size liner bags for the inside, I use those in the garbage cans.
20598
We are using metal garbage cans now and they work fine. I think they are 35 gallon or something. Each one holds 150 pounds of feed. I am just trying to figure out if it is worth it to build a feed shack bigger and buy down the price of chicken feed too.
Michael_Js
11-10-2022, 12:14 AM
We are using metal garbage cans now and they work fine. I think they are 35 gallon or something. Each one holds 150 pounds of feed. I am just trying to figure out if it is worth it to build a feed shack bigger and buy down the price of chicken feed too.
Same here. We keep the feed in a storage area in the coop in a metal trash can. Works great. We have mouse & rat traps (when needed) and we don't see many of either. We buy large (40lb) bags of organic layer feed and can fit 4 bags...We also have a large scoop to get the food out - metal
BucketBack
11-10-2022, 01:25 AM
Not a chicken farmer, Inor. Parents used to raise them when I was little.
But you might look into 55-gal metal barrels w/resealable lids for storage. I can get clean food grade ones local for ~$25.
Definitely critter proof as I use them for garbage cans too. The bears haven't figured out how to pop the lids off, yet, but they do have fun rolling them around trying to get at the garbage.
I also use them to store seed for cover crops in the barns and for basement storage for things like rice/beans/flour. Not sure how many pounds of feed they'd hold?
They are pretty airtight as when it gets cold it's a bitch getting the lids off as it makes a vacuum inside. You can get full size liner bags for the inside, I use those in the garbage cans.
20598
I've been using 55 gallon glue drums from my past employer. The water soluble glue was in a plastic bag inside the drum, and are clean on the inside. Basically a generic Elmers wood glue that kids eat in school.
The non water soluble glue drums get burned off.
Slippy
11-10-2022, 06:20 AM
Inor,
Assuming your Egg Layers have a 3-4 year life span, I'd say your plan to buy chicken feed for their entire life might be a lofty goal.
1 years worth of food is do-able, but you pose a heck of a good question on multiple years worth of food. Your low humidity levels are in your favor for sure.
We buy approx 4 months supply of chicken food at a time. Some bags get stored in the barn or garage and a few bags get rotated & stored in metal garbage cans before being fed to the chickens.
Last winter we had mice get into a couple of bags stored the barn. Our new barn cats should eliminate that from happening this winter. The metal garbage can works very well and I should buy two more of those for the barn.
Good luck!
Other than the obvious issues of water and mice, can any of you think of a reason why I should not buy chicken feed in bulk?
I am going to start building a feed shack in the next few weeks so I am trying to figure out how big I should make it. The primary reason for building it is to be able to buy cattle feed in bulk. I can drop the price of raising the steer by about 20% buying feed by the ton. Plus, having a better place to store hay will save quite a bit as well. Currently, I am losing 4-5 bales per year due to water damage.
It would be pretty handy if I could buy enough feed for the meat chickens for their entire lives all at once and have nice dry place to store it rather than having to go back and forth to the feed mill once per month. And if Mrs Inor gets her turkeys next spring, they eat the same feed at the meat chickens, so I might even be able to justify buying that by the ton if it won't go bad.
T-Man 1066
11-10-2022, 08:09 AM
Not a chicken farmer, Inor. Parents used to raise them when I was little.
But you might look into 55-gal metal barrels w/resealable lids for storage. I can get clean food grade ones local for ~$25.
Definitely critter proof as I use them for garbage cans too. The bears haven't figured out how to pop the lids off, yet, but they do have fun rolling them around trying to get at the garbage.
I also use them to store seed for cover crops in the barns and for basement storage for things like rice/beans/flour. Not sure how many pounds of feed they'd hold?
They are pretty airtight as when it gets cold it's a bitch getting the lids off as it makes a vacuum inside. You can get full size liner bags for the inside, I use those in the garbage cans.
20598
I used the similar drums. Ours came from a place that made explosives. They are cleaned out meticulously, as they don't want antifa or the goat rumpers getting empty barrels so they could extract trace amounts to make their own.
Inor,
Assuming your Egg Layers have a 3-4 year life span, I'd say your plan to buy chicken feed for their entire life might be a lofty goal.
1 years worth of food is do-able, but you pose a heck of a good question on multiple years worth of food. Your low humidity levels are in your favor for sure.
We buy approx 4 months supply of chicken food at a time. Some bags get stored in the barn or garage and a few bags get rotated & stored in metal garbage cans before being fed to the chickens.
Last winter we had mice get into a couple of bags stored the barn. Our new barn cats should eliminate that from happening this winter. The metal garbage can works very well and I should buy two more of those for the barn.
Good luck!
The goal is not to buy a lifetime supply of food for the egg chickens; that would certainly go bad over 3-4 years. Rather I am thinking of buying a lifetime supply for the meat birds. We only have those for 2-3 months per batch.
Mrs Inor buys some kind of special feeds for the egg chickens. (Yes - I said "feeds" - plural. Those are "her girls", more pets than livestock really. They get several kinds of feed based on whatever Mrs Inor deems significant.) For the meat birds, we just buy commercial turkey feed from the feed mill.
Piratesailor
11-11-2022, 11:46 AM
Just adding my two cents… we use metal garbage cans for the chicken feed and the horse feed. 2 cans hold 300lbs of horse feed and that lasts us about a month ish…. Wife also stores chicken feed in a can. We haven’t had an issue with mice but then again we have some very good anti-mice devices.. cats. Anyway, the cans seal up tight and we have never seen a critter get into one yet.
Sparkyprep
11-13-2022, 07:48 PM
Just adding my two cents… we use metal garbage cans for the chicken feed and the horse feed. 2 cans hold 300lbs of horse feed and that lasts us about a month ish…. Wife also stores chicken feed in a can. We haven’t had an issue with mice but then again we have some very good anti-mice devices.. cats. Anyway, the cans seal up tight and we have never seen a critter get into one yet.
Agr5ee with EVERYTHING said. Can't add much more than that.
Like many of you, we are currently using metal garbage cans for storing the chicken feeds. They work well but the problem is to have enough metal garbage cans to be able to buy feed by the ton (and get the 30% discount), I would need about 15 metal garbage cans. That expense kind of defeats the purpose of buying the feed in bulk, not to mention, where to put them all.
After spending some time studying up on the issues, I think I have a workable solution.
According to the commercial chicken people around here, as long as I can keep it dry, the feed should not lose enough nutritional value over the course of a year to worry about. Living in the desert, humidity is not a problem and rain is not an issue since it will be inside the feed shack. (That's the whole point of building a feed shack in the first place.)
Rodents are the other concern, but I think I have a plan to minimize (if not eliminate) that as well. I think I will put up some steel mesh lath between the studs and the sheathing and under the floor. I have never heard of anybody trying it and it working. But then, I have never heard of anybody trying it and it not working either. I figure I can cover the bottom half of the walls and under the floor for about $200, so it is worth a shot. We have enough owls and hawks that I do not think I need to worry much about the top half of the walls. Like I say, I don't know if it will work or not, but...
T-Man 1066
11-14-2022, 08:18 AM
One test is worth a thousand expert opinions!
Keep us up to date on your progress!
Slippy
11-14-2022, 12:40 PM
Mini Feed Bins!
https://agpartsdirect.com/products/feed-bin-mini
Like many of you, we are currently using metal garbage cans for storing the chicken feeds. They work well but the problem is to have enough metal garbage cans to be able to buy feed by the ton (and get the 30% discount), I would need about 15 metal garbage cans. That expense kind of defeats the purpose of buying the feed in bulk, not to mention, where to put them all.
After spending some time studying up on the issues, I think I have a workable solution.
According to the commercial chicken people around here, as long as I can keep it dry, the feed should not lose enough nutritional value over the course of a year to worry about. Living in the desert, humidity is not a problem and rain is not an issue since it will be inside the feed shack. (That's the whole point of building a feed shack in the first place.)
Rodents are the other concern, but I think I have a plan to minimize (if not eliminate) that as well. I think I will put up some steel mesh lath between the studs and the sheathing and under the floor. I have never heard of anybody trying it and it working. But then, I have never heard of anybody trying it and it not working either. I figure I can cover the bottom half of the walls and under the floor for about $200, so it is worth a shot. We have enough owls and hawks that I do not think I need to worry much about the top half of the walls. Like I say, I don't know if it will work or not, but...
Mini Feed Bins!
https://agpartsdirect.com/products/feed-bin-mini
If they also sold an auger to fill them, THAT would be the solution in a heartbeat! Unfortunately they do not.
Sparkyprep
11-15-2022, 06:23 PM
Instead of metal trash cans, what about old, non-working chest freezers? Air tight seal, metal, rodent-proof. Maybe some neighbors are throwing one away?
StratBastard
11-15-2022, 08:08 PM
Instead of metal trash cans, what about old, non-working chest freezers? Air tight seal, metal, rodent-proof. Maybe some neighbors are throwing one away?
I used to pick up Coleman and other types large coolers at places like Goodwill and St. Vinnie's for just a few bucks. They are great for preps too, as they help insulate from heat/cold and rodents. Now the prices there aren't much of a bargain. But one can still scan the garage sales on Craigslist and pick them up cheap.
StratBastard
11-16-2022, 09:42 PM
20678
Mad Trapper
11-23-2022, 04:44 AM
Like many of you, we are currently using metal garbage cans for storing the chicken feeds. They work well but the problem is to have enough metal garbage cans to be able to buy feed by the ton (and get the 30% discount), I would need about 15 metal garbage cans. That expense kind of defeats the purpose of buying the feed in bulk, not to mention, where to put them all.
After spending some time studying up on the issues, I think I have a workable solution.
According to the commercial chicken people around here, as long as I can keep it dry, the feed should not lose enough nutritional value over the course of a year to worry about. Living in the desert, humidity is not a problem and rain is not an issue since it will be inside the feed shack. (That's the whole point of building a feed shack in the first place.)
Rodents are the other concern, but I think I have a plan to minimize (if not eliminate) that as well. I think I will put up some steel mesh lath between the studs and the sheathing and under the floor. I have never heard of anybody trying it and it working. But then, I have never heard of anybody trying it and it not working either. I figure I can cover the bottom half of the walls and under the floor for about $200, so it is worth a shot. We have enough owls and hawks that I do not think I need to worry much about the top half of the walls. Like I say, I don't know if it will work or not, but...
The 55-gal metal drums I mentioned cost less than metal garbage cans, hold a lot more, seal better/more secure, and are stackable.
For $200 I could get 10 of them, that would hold over a ton of feed(s)
StratBastard
12-13-2022, 03:39 AM
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StratBastard
02-16-2023, 01:40 AM
21564
StratBastard
04-02-2023, 03:54 AM
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Chiefster23
04-02-2023, 06:44 AM
22112
A perfect example of today’s liberal………. Dumber than shit!
StratBastard
05-27-2023, 11:22 PM
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StratBastard
06-03-2023, 01:48 AM
23111
KnuteFartne
06-03-2023, 03:10 AM
Chickens and goats living together. We believe in diversity at Sasquatch Farms.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230603/4c31de6ade094a95c0443cccf0a1171d.jpg
Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk
StratBastard
07-20-2023, 06:58 PM
23807
StratBastard
07-31-2023, 11:32 PM
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StratBastard
08-13-2023, 01:44 AM
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StratBastard
08-17-2023, 10:31 PM
Coop warmer
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StratBastard
10-27-2023, 05:32 AM
25637
bigwheel
10-27-2023, 10:41 PM
Chicken ranchers should try raising ducks. They are much more durable and fun to hang around with. The eggs are sorta rich but a person can always trade some to a chicken farmer for chicken eggs.
https://www.knowyourchickens.com/ducks-vs-chickens/
Slippy
10-28-2023, 07:01 AM
Chicken ranchers should try raising ducks. They are much more durable and fun to hang around with. The eggs are sorta rich but a person can always trade some to a chicken farmer for chicken eggs.
https://www.knowyourchickens.com/ducks-vs-chickens/
My man @bigwheel been promoting ducks for a long time!
Funny story, kinda...all of my grandkids, when asked what a Duck says? They all say "duck duck duck" instead of "quack quack". Kids now-a-days...:confused:
Sparkyprep
10-31-2023, 08:13 PM
Ducks are messier than chickens. Dare I say....... foul. :lame:
hawgrider
10-31-2023, 09:10 PM
Ducks are messier than chickens. Dare I say....... foul. :lame:
Ducks are obnoxious and stinky along with useless. Chickens are much easier to keep with a much better return for the efforts.
Michael_Js
11-01-2023, 12:22 AM
We're in the lull of egg laying...1 egg a day or so. Only 10 chickens left - 3 died over the last 6 months :( Oh well...
Most are just finishing molting...Not expecting much and we stopped selling them until spring or so...
StratBastard
11-20-2023, 10:52 PM
26230
StratBastard
11-20-2023, 10:52 PM
26231
bigwheel
11-21-2023, 10:21 PM
I beg to differ. The only messy ducks come from drunk people throwing them in the swimming pool enough that they learn to like it. Then it becomes paddle paddle squirt squirt. Otherwise they do fine in a dishpan full of water or a mud hole
StratBastard
01-10-2024, 03:26 AM
As fast as they can stuff it down...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b37qU7lI8Xc
Sparkyprep
01-10-2024, 07:54 AM
As fast as they can stuff it down...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b37qU7lI8Xc
Some people forget..... animals don't have "morals". That is a uniquely human trait.
StratBastard
03-31-2024, 05:20 AM
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StratBastard
05-01-2024, 11:50 PM
29656
We got our first batch of homemade chicks today! So far, there have only been 3 that hatched, but she is still sitting on about 9 more. So we might get a few more?
We also have another broody hen that has been sitting on some eggs next to her. We have not counted how many eggs are under the second hen. But it's kind of cool that we are now starting to get something from keeping those 2 damn obnoxious roosters around!
30091
30092
As an aside, I am not sure what we are going to do with all the eggs if any of these are hens and live long enough to start laying... We are already getting close to 2 dozen eggs per day right now and Mrs Inor already ordered 5 more chicks to come at the same time as the turkey poults in July. (We found it is much easier to raise turkey poults with a couple chicks so the chicks can "remind" the young turkeys how to drink water and eat...)
hawgrider
05-20-2024, 08:49 AM
We got our first batch of homemade chicks today! So far, there have only been 3 that hatched, but she is still sitting on about 9 more. So we might get a few more?
We also have another broody hen that has been sitting on some eggs next to her. We have not counted how many eggs are under the second hen. But it's kind of cool that we are now starting to get something from keeping those 2 damn obnoxious roosters around!
30091
30092
As an aside, I am not sure what we are going to do with all the eggs if any of these are hens and live long enough to start laying... We are already getting close to 2 dozen eggs per day right now and Mrs Inor already ordered 5 more chicks to come at the same time as the turkey poults in July. (We found it is much easier to raise turkey poults with a couple chicks so the chicks can "remind" the young turkeys how to drink water and eat...)
Starting bartering eggs with your good neighbors.
Starting bartering eggs with your good neighbors.
Barter?!? Hell, I cannot GIVE away all the eggs we are already getting! Every couple days, I take a hatful of eggs out and throw them at the cows wandering past!
Broncosfan
05-20-2024, 09:48 PM
Barter?!? Hell, I cannot GIVE away all the eggs we are already getting! Every couple days, I take a hatful of eggs out and throw them at the cows wandering past!
You can scramble them with crushed shells and feed them back to the chickens. Scramble eggs makes great chick feed. I was told that is what farmers done before commercial chick feed was available. Not sure if that is true. We have scrambled 2-4 dozen at a time. I gave the hens about half at a time. Never was any left.
StratBastard
05-20-2024, 09:55 PM
Barter?!? Hell, I cannot GIVE away all the eggs we are already getting! Every couple days, I take a hatful of eggs out and throw them at the cows wandering past!
LOL same thing happened at my place in town when we had chickens. Giving the neighbors on the left AND right a dozen at a time, still piling up. My buddy Vic was eating 18 eggs a day for his power-lifting diet, so that helped. Some of them would lay them where they were supposed to, but we had to walk the yard daily and find stashes in the bushes too.
Michael_Js
05-21-2024, 11:27 AM
Be sure on planning to save some as the summer winds down. Unless their new chicks, they won't be laying in late fall and throughout winter! :)
hawgrider
05-21-2024, 11:31 AM
Be sure on planning to save some as the summer winds down. Unless their new chicks, they won't be laying in late fall and throughout winter! :)
Unless you work the crap out of them by running artificial light starting early fall and throughout winter. I ran light nobody eats for free so either lay eggs or in the stew pot you go!
Michael_Js
05-21-2024, 12:25 PM
Unless you work the crap out of them by running artificial light starting early fall and throughout winter. I ran light nobody eats for free so either lay eggs or in the stew pot you go!
Oh my! :) That's one way to go...I don't do that, so I will start glassing early fall... :)
Now, I'm making spicy pickled eggs with the extras. Yum!!
Slippy
06-08-2024, 07:15 PM
30549
6 new pullets today; 4 Rhode Island Reds and 2 Barred Rocks!
Its freakin' 85 degrees and Mrs S has the heat lamp on them!:confused:
In all fairness, it only gets to about 70 degrees in the basement so...
Oh my! :) That's one way to go...I don't do that, so I will start glassing early fall... :)
Now, I'm making spicy pickled eggs with the extras. Yum!!
We don't do the stew pot for the egg chickens either. (Egg chickens are tougher than shoe leather). So in our case, when they quit laying, they get their necks slit and then over the fence for the yotes and buzzards.
Sparkyprep
06-09-2024, 09:45 AM
We don't do the stew pot for the egg chickens either. (Egg chickens are tougher than shoe leather). So in our case, when they quit laying, they get their necks slit and then over the fence for the yotes and buzzards.
Don't waste your egg chickens! Yes their meat is tough, but not if you can it. Canned chicken is a great prep for shelf-stable protein. Yes, canned chicken is not great on its own, but it works great in things like chicken pot pie, or jambalaya. or other casseroles.
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