The organic feed that we feed to our chickens is a significant part of our costs, so we have been searching for a way to control it. The price of commercial feed (mostly composed of corn and soy) has been on the rise for the past three years.
It sure would be great if we could grow our own feed grains. But the equipment required to do that is not available for hire in our area. Although chicken farms were once plentiful in New England, now they are mostly gone and so is the infrastructure for supporting them.
In fact, our kind of small-scale agriculture is so unusual in the United States that nobody here makes a combine harvester small enough to load on a trailer and drive from field to field (the way you have to in New England, where farm plots are relatively small and scattered). If we want to buy a small combine, our options are antiques or expensive imports.
Nobody knows whether grain prices will continue to rise. Many are predicting lower prices ahead. For now, we will keep buying from the feed store–at the mercy of the markets.
Now soy and corn are ground into every imaginable “food” for humans, it’s driven prices up and it really sucks for folks who are small farmers or support small farmers.
It’s true. But also the weather (and climate change) play a big role in prices.
Instead of trying to grow your own grains to feed the chickens, what about trying to grow your own insects to feed them? This is the majority of what they eat when they are ranging for themselves..
Great idea! We have been experimenting with this. We bought a system for growing black soldier fly larvae, but so far we haven’t had much success. We’ll keep trying! Chickens are naturally meat eaters, and in conventional farming it has been standard practice for ages to use pig’s liver and other meat scraps instead of soy for protein. However, the organic standard does not allow feeding mammalian meat or by-products to chickens. It is too bad, because we have tons of organ meat and other scraps that are taken away by a rendering company for a fee!
What feed store do you patronize? Have you been to Farmer’s Xchange in Nashua, The Harrington’s place?
We buy in bulk from Green Mountain or Morrison’s, both in Vermont. It is less expensive to buy in bulk, even though they are a long distance away from us. As far as we know, The Farmer’s Xchange only sells by the bag.
Is there a space here to fill with some type of New England co op to purchase non GMO chicken feed in bulk ? I don’t know, I found a certified non GMO in the US but the shipping is almost higher than the cost of grain. I am very new at this and my chicks are still quite young. It is a new adventure. I just want to raise chickens on as little chemical foods and as humanely treated as possible. I really did not know just how hard it is to do this now.
We like the idea of a co-op, though we have no experience with how co-ops are organized or financed. There is a lot of capital equipment that would be needed: grain storage bins and grinding equipment, etc. Worth exploring!
A lot of good leads here thank you ! I have and am raising meal worms in bran. I have used them to feed a small parrot in the past, and have started farming them again for the chickens. So now of course, Is the bran non GMO *headdesk* I don’t know. Just doing the best I can.
In terms of grain co-ops, another option is to go in with farmers near you to purchase bulk feed (in pallets or by the tote) and split the shipping costs. That’s worked for me 🙂
Yes, for bulk purchasing from a feed mill there is no real need for a formal co-op. But if we were to grow our own grains, we would need expensive equipment to mix and grind the grains into edible chicken feed. This is where I think a co-op would be useful. The equipment could be shared by many farmers. You could also use such equipment to custom-make feeds that are difficult to find (such as non-GMO chicken feed).
I have been wanting to try a cocofeed chicken, since I try to avoid gmos and soy – hard now a days.
I have no idea if this would be feasable here in nh but the concept is intriguing http://www.cocofeed.com/cocofeed.htm
Costs would likely be prohibiting for coconut feed in nh though 😦