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Barnyard Buddies:  Chicken feed & coops  |
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NatureNymph
True Blue Farmgirl
73 Posts
Tracy
Barrie
Ontario
Canada
73 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 04 2008 : 08:58:59 AM
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How much feed will 30 chickens go through in a week or month?
I plan to have free range chickens. I am trying to figure out approximate costs for operating my farm.
Anyone have a straw bale chicken coop? How much did it cost to build etc?
"Everybody likes to go their own way--to choose their own time and manner of devotion." Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
http://simplicitysampler.blogspot.com/
http://blessewefarm.blogspot.com/ |
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shepherdgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1008 Posts
Tracy
California
USA
1008 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2008 : 11:24:22 AM
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Hmm... I've never really sat down and crunched the numbers, but my Chickens (about as many as you have) tend to go through about two 40lb bags of feed a week. (Though I do find that it lasts a little longer if I mix layer crumbles with scratch grains) Over half my flock tend to "Free Range" (although "FREELOAD" is more like it!) Funny, but come feeding time, there seems to be MANY more birds than usual in the chicken house... I'm not sure they are all even MINE either! (LOL!!)
As for a "Straw Bale" chicken coop-- sounds like an interesting concept, but I'm having a hard time picturing it. Chickens are ravenous pigs with feathers and will eat ANY KIND of straw or grass-like material. I am forever refilling the nests and adding more hay to the floor becuase they are always EATING the bedding! (Guess I'm using the Good stuff) If you find any info on Straw bale chicken coops I would certainly like to know how they work. Good luck! Hugs from another TRACY!
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. ~~ George Carlin |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2008 : 03:26:32 AM
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I have 45 chickens that free range. They go through 4 bags of feed a month so I guess that would be a bag a week but I usually buy 2 bags at the beginning of the month and 2 bags on the 3rd week.
Kind of depends on how much kitchen scrap we produce on any given day too |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2008 : 03:27:50 AM
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| Forgot to add, I feed layer pellets even to the bantys. Less waste, in fact they eat everything! |
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QueenofQuiteAlot
True Blue Farmgirl
865 Posts
Dalyn
Milk 'n Honey Ranch
Central, WA
USA
865 Posts |
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Sheep Mom 2
True Blue Farmgirl
1534 Posts
Sheri
Elk
WA
USA
1534 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2008 : 4:02:41 PM
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| I have about that many chickens and half are free range. I buy two bags of pellets and two bags of scratch - a bit more in winter. As to straw or hay - they would probably eat their house! I put down straw and or hay or sometimes wood shavings off my shaper from my shop and they eat all three. Chickens aren't that picky. I feed them truck from the garden in the summer and fall and vegie scraps from the kitchen. I don't ever feed potato peels as I had problems with chickens dieing after eating them. |
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milkmaid
True Blue Farmgirl
187 Posts
Heather
Higginsville
Missouri
USA
187 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2008 : 5:30:01 PM
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We have about 45 chickens that free range on 12 acres, we go through about 40 pounds a week. They also get kitchen scraps and clabbered milk.
http://goodfarm.blogspot.com/
Mother to five awesome kids, wife of 17 years and milk maid to two beautiful cows. Living the good life!!! |
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peachy
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Melissa
Fennville
MI
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2008 : 10:50:05 PM
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I have 21 right now...did have more but something got the ones that were "free"...I hate that...I just bought 100 pounds of feed and that will last me hopefully through the near end of this month. I also feed alot of kitchen scrap along with their feed. Straw or hay? Mine have a ton of hay for shelter in their "haven" right now and they haven't touched it...can't say for sure what would be the best???!!!
Melissa
Farmgirl Sister #360
Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning to dance in the rain! |
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NatureNymph
True Blue Farmgirl
73 Posts
Tracy
Barrie
Ontario
Canada
73 Posts |
Posted - Dec 07 2008 : 10:30:31 AM
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I have to laugh at your responses...I imagine they would eat their house given the chance.
Straw Bale coops (and homes) are an increasingly popular building style here in the north. From an environmental stand point hale bales are inexpensive to both pocket book and the earth since no chemicals are used in processing. They are also a locally found material so carbon emmissions are at a minimum.
The hay bales are more of an insulation, placed between walls of wood so the chickens would not have access. And its completly sealed off so no rodents would take up residence either.
The R Value is at R50 which is awesome for us since we have horrible winters and would worry about my chickies. I just thought maybe some one had constructed one. Right now I am going off what I have read.
Thanks.
"Everybody likes to go their own way--to choose their own time and manner of devotion." Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
http://simplicitysampler.blogspot.com/
http://blessewefarm.blogspot.com/ |
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mothergoose
True Blue Farmgirl
56 Posts
Richere
tiverton
rhodeiland
USA
56 Posts |
Posted - Dec 09 2008 : 11:45:48 AM
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| Check out site Great chicken books and mags. for coop stuff.My husband made a modified version of a chicken tractor but they were so heavy we needed 4 strong men to move them .So they have been stationary since we moved them from their original spot 6 years ago.The first year we put them at front end of garden 15 feet from our bedroom! The next year they were at other end of garden .Live and learn.We made a flower bed over spot of first coops ,the flowers love it and so do we! |
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nampafarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
494 Posts
Kim
Nampa
ID
USA
494 Posts |
Posted - Dec 09 2008 : 12:12:54 PM
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A friend of mine feeds her chickens her kid's left over cereal, including the milk, she also feeds them cottage cheese, yougut, just about all table scraps go to them. Funny, they say goats eat everything, not mine though, they're very picky eaters.. I have heard that giving the chickens milk in their grain is very good for their eggs and helps make the best tasting eggs ever, keep that in mind when you start feeding,.It would be even better if you can have milk from your cow and soak their grain in it.....
Kim
Farmgirl Sister # 302 |
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chandasue
Farmgirl in Training
20 Posts
20 Posts |
Posted - Dec 10 2008 : 07:36:07 AM
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| I've just started with a new flock of 35 chicks. I've gone through 2 50 pound bags of chick starter, and half a bag of chick grower. They're now 5.5 weeks old and definitely eating more everyday. I haven't started giving them table scraps yet, but we will probably in the next week or so. We gave them 3 bags of crickets last week. They went CRAZY for them! In the summer they'll be allowed to free-range, sort of. Putting them in portable pastures during the day. The neighbor's dogs won't stay off our yard. Oh I'll be reducing my flock to half when they reach butchering size as well, so that'll be easier to manage and won't drive my feed costs through the roof. |
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mothergoose
True Blue Farmgirl
56 Posts
Richere
tiverton
rhodeiland
USA
56 Posts |
Posted - Dec 11 2008 : 04:17:51 AM
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| Chandasue We put up plastic chicken netting, surprisingly strong, our bernease has not got through.We used metal posts 5-6 feet apart set in cement.Have you read other chicken posts..they are interesting, |
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happydaze
True Blue Farmgirl
136 Posts
lorraine
atlanta
ni
USA
136 Posts |
Posted - Dec 12 2008 : 7:55:08 PM
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| Now you've got me curious..I'm going to sit down tomorrow and try to figger out who eats what and how much. Our animals all live in the same barnyard and house, so they all eat whatever there is available.I do know it costs more to feed them than it does us and they eat better too!! |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Dec 12 2008 : 8:01:46 PM
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I know that's true, Lorraine! I spend more money on animal feed than on our food. But we will be eating most of these critters in the long run anyway. So I guess it all evens out somehow, right?
Last month's feed store bill was $285.00. But about $60.00 was othe things. That's not counting the 2 bales of hay a day either.
Kris |
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Barnyard Buddies: Chicken feed & coops |
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Chicken feed & coops
