How to save money on chicken feed! Stop waste of your chicken feed so your hens produce lots of eggs
Like 3 Dislike 0 Published on 2 Aug 2012
How to save money on chicken feed! Stop waste of your chicken feed so your hens produce lots of eggs. Do what we did and get an automatic chicken feeder from these guys http://www.grandpasfeeders.com
You too will quickly save a lot of chicken feed and cut down on your costs.
We started out with a few chickens which we raised from day old chicks. It was fun and the kids really enjoyed it. Our equipment was pretty crude to start with as we just used a cardboard box with some shredded newspaper on the bottom to absorb their wastes. A good layer of newspaper under that also helped to absorb the spilt water and made it easy to clean.
We kept the young chicks warm by placing a small 40 watt light bulb in the box with them. We were careful that it did not overheat and actually refined it by enclosing it in a tin. It put out heat okay but it would have been a bit bright for the chicks. They survived okay and they grew quickly so they were not in there very long.
This gave us time to build a small chicken coop. we chose to make a mobile chicken tractor which we moved around often giving the chicks fresh grass. We built our own using some plans that turned out to be a good investment as we used a different, bigger design later on. Try these guys http://chickencoopsonline.com/chicken-coop-building-plans
There was a lot of excitement when we got our first eggs. It all happened fairly fast and they started laying together. We had been buying chicken food and then switched to layers pellets. The cost was small and all we did was throw it onto the ground for them to pick up as they wanted. As we got busier we put in a wooden trough for them so we did not have to feed them regularly. They still scattered it!
This went on for quite a while and we were giving away our surplus of eggs. They were rich and tasty and they quickly became popular. So much so that we looked at setting ourselves up to produce eggs for sale! Next thing we had bought in 100 organic hens from a farm that was closing down. We had to get certified organic chicken feed and it is expensive! It also had to be freighted a long way and the costs were higher than we had anticipated.
We had no trouble moving the eggs at a premium but the margins were tight and the commitment to free range chickens was quite a tie. We knew we had to feed the chickens the layer pellets to get the eggs. There was a lot of grass and variety for the hens but the layer pellets were still essential. We could see a lot of the food being wasted by the hens as they scratched it into the soil, but all of our attempts to stop the waste were just not good enough.
Then we were told about the Grandpas feeders and we grabbed one from the family that makes them. Well, the change was quickly noticeable. The chickens quickly learned how to use it and they did not waste anywhere near as much. There were no other birds stealing the food and we did not have to feed them every day. Well we did need to keep topping it up regularly so we ended up getting another three later on when we could afford it.
Regrettably we do not have records of how much chicken feed we were using but we estimate we saved somewhere between a quarter to a third of the chicken feed we were using. All I know is that it made economic sense to buy them and we did! Later on when the hens were getting older and we sold up, we ended up selling the Grandpa's feeders for a good price as they were still in good condition. Being galvanized they lasted really well.
They get thumbs up from us and we can really recommend them. They will save you a lot of waste on the amount of chicken feed you need and save you a lot of money, so it is worth investing in them. You can also get a life as they allow you to get away for a few days knowing that your chickens are well fed and not stop laying. It made our lives easier and allowed more time for fun! Check them out http://www.grandpasfeeders.com
Videos: http://youtu.be/trpNLIGfRmA,
http://youtu.be/Fe_HtA5zw9U, http://youtu.be/uosdjxC-CWs, http://youtu.be/tof5b1Qs_OE, http://youtu.be/97FXE3RvHSo, http://youtu.be/TbqyAemRlno, http://youtu.be/gvGnieeLk2k, http://youtu.be/DGzekleDOJg, http://youtu.be/uI7ni7zL8qU, http://youtu.be/AWfXiK-CVSI, http://youtu.be/B5VAYqtQRro, http://youtu.be/wizLbm4eqXM, http://youtu.be/JvKmLgTrYwM, http://youtu.be/trpNLIGfRmA, http://youtu.be/Fe_HtA5zw9U, http://youtu.be/uosdjxC-CWs, http://youtu.be/tof5b1Qs_OE, http://youtu.be/97FXE3RvHSo, http://youtu.be/TbqyAemRlno, http://youtu.be/gvGnieeLk2k, http://youtu.be/DGzekleDOJg, http://youtu.be/uI7ni7zL8qU, http://youtu.be/AWfXiK-CVSI, http://youtu.be/B5VAYqtQRro, http://youtu.be/wizLbm4eqXM, http://youtu.be/JvKmLgTrYwM,