[madcat]

humph - have you costed chocolate for the ducks into that? 

 

[Caralou]

  They aint getting me choccie again!!! Cheeky little men 

[joyfull]

Joy, that's still a bit pricey on allen and page organic - you should come up here for a visit and bulk stock up from my feed place   - £11.80 for the pellets 20k and £10.60 on the corn for organics. I tried feeding mine on it - they refuse to eat it   They wont even eat the smallholder freerange range which I have just tried them on as well (they pick around it when I try to mix them together and then complain loudly at me!).

no aunties chickens won't either  . Me and Jim are up in Halifax in a couple of weeks so may have to do a detour on the way back and call and see you and your feed place  
Just had a look on the tinternet and A&P themselves charge £12.35 for layers and £11.69 for the mixed corn plus the dreaded delivery (did once use them direct for my sack of rearers and the delivery doubled the cost  ). I have to order it specially for me from my place as no where round here seems to stock it as a standard item (probably owing to the cost).

[scrappydoo]

Hi Folks
so can I ask a rather nuts and bolts question.

What does it actually cost do you think to keep a chicken per year?

Obviously there are lots of variables like them giving eggs, but I would like to have an idea of costs before I definately decide on how many to have.

I am on a tight budget so would like to keep costs as low as poss but I do not want to in any way reduce the chickens health or wellbeing.

Thanks Andrea x

  Hi Andrea, once you've got the initial coop & run which is as cheap/expensive as you can make/or buy it, including the ancilliaries like feeders, anti-bactarial (jeyes fluid) spray every 2/3 months @ around £3.50 & wood chippings/shavings I source locally for a couple of quid for a large sack. Since the end of June when I first got six chooks and then added three more around the end of August I initially bought 2 x 20kg sacks of Layers pellets & then two more 25kg sacks of which I still have 1 x full one left plus a few days worth of the third one.
  Once a week I boil up and make approx two cake tins worth of mash consisting of old salad/veg & peelings, cake, bread etc. (friends and neighbours help me with this) to supplement their daily feed.
 I am getting around 8 eggs per day and selling the majority of those to friends & family so the girls are already well into paying there own way.

Best Regards

Steve

[hillfooter]

Re Allen & Page's speciality feeds.  I'm pretty jaundiced about A&P's marketing tactics they are a very small player in the feeds industry and seem to exist by creating microsegments in the marketplace with speciality feeds at relatively expensive prices.  That's ok if the speciality feeds they sell are really serving the market need and have been shown to be beneficial through proper testing programmes not just narative testamonials.

If you use A&P feeds be aware that you are paying a gross premium for them, so satisfy yourselves that you really are receiving the unique benefits they claim and aren't just paying for the feel good factor which their marketing blurb is designed to generate.

[Alby]

just paid £14.40 for 25k layers and 25k mixed corn. Its the only ones they sell and the girls love them. 

[hillfooter]

just paid £14.40 for 25k layers and 25k mixed corn. Its the only ones they sell and the girls love them. 

Is that for A&P and £14.40 for both products or each?
 
Provided the feed isn't grossly unpalitable chx, like other animals, have a strong preference for feeds they are familiar with.

[joyfull]

Hi hillfooter, I know that I pay a lot for my A&P but I like the taste of my eggs compared to other feeds that I have fed my chickens and ducks on in the past. I don't sell my eggs to anybody (just give them to friends and family) and therefor know that my girls will never pay their way so with that in mind I will quite happily continue to pay out for them, no feelgood factor I just enjoy the taste  , and also to wind you up a bit more I still bake and crush my egg shells and feed them back to the hens (another of your pet hates   ). Mind you I do use my oven most days so the cost of doing so is nil  
Joyxx

[hillfooter]

Thanks for creating a balance Joy and certainly if you are happy that's all that matters.  However the post thread was about the economies of keeping chx so it's fair comment to point out that you don't need to feed the most expensive feed, but if you do make sure you are doing so for valid reasons and don't be misled by marketing messages.

Anyway best wishes Joy and keep crushing them shells and reading my posts.

[joyfull]

will do hillfooter (and strangly enough we do agree on most things  )
joyxx

[Caralou]

I also have to order in at the feed store for the a&p range so if you do decide to come past give me two days notice and I'll let her know - I'll also check if they are still that price as I last tried the organics 5 months ago, but cant imagine they can have hiked the price too much  It's also good to know that mine aren't the only chooks who refuse to eat a&p pellets. They are still complaining as I have another 20k to get through mixed with their normal pellets until its all gone, only good thing is it means they get through less feed for another week or so 

[Alby]

just paid £14.40 for 25k layers and 25k mixed corn. Its the only ones they sell and the girls love them.  

Is that for A&P and £14.40 for both products or each?
 
Provided the feed isn't grossly unpalitable chx, like other animals, have a strong preference for feeds they are familiar with.

The cost was for both, and no not A,& P it was Farmways own , the corn was a few pence dearer than the pellets.
Corn actually advertised as " A complete feeding stuff for laying hens, for feeding to extensively managed growing and laying poultry "

Always used iot as a scatter to keep them busy, a complete food ??  What do you think

[hillfooter]

Corn on it's own is not a balanced feed for layers if that's what a "complete" feed means.  It may of course also be laced with a few minerals which without seeing the package and the list of nutritional ingredients I wouldn't know.  Assuming it's straight poultry corn I wouldn't use it at more than 1 bag per between 10 or 20 bags of a balanced feed, preferably pellets.  Shattering in the evening as a treat is a good way to use it.

Fattening up a table bird with corn is not an uncommon practise but not for layers.

Normally corn is significantly cheaper than compound feed though £14.40 isn't a bad price for both.  Farmways sell a compound feed called the Golden Yolk range produced by FeedCo.

[Alby]

Had a look at it today HF and the corn has been partly ground , makes the maize more palletable for some of my fussy birds. 2.2% oil
                                                            11% protein
                                                             2.2% fibre
                                                             1.5% ash
                                                            13.9% moisture

[hillfooter]

That's just a mixed corn profile.  Ash is the mineral content not the remains of the bonfire and would seem not to have any added calcium so I guess it's just corn and wheat, barley,  maize flakes etc and not a balanced feed for layers.  Hand feed in the evening as you are doing.