[Bodger]

I was talking to a friend on the phone last night and the conversation came around to the price of chick crumbs. He lives in Shropshire and he was saying that he's paying £11.00 a bag  :shock:

I have an account with the local feed merchants which I pay monthly. I leave all things financial to my OH but the chances are, that I'm paying the same. This is an horrendous price, especially so, when you realise how much waste there is in each bag due to dust. I've always looked upon chick crumbs as basically being sweepings up.

I had a day off yesterday and I had a double shock, when I did a head count and realised that I'm going to end up with over 80 chicks this year to add to the 50 adult chickens that I have. :shock:

[Porffor]

Wow-ee!! that's a big flock. Hope the prices come down. I'm in SW Wales and priced feed yesterday at £6.99 for 20kg but not sure if it's the same as yours, doubt it if yours is for chicks.
We have the same thing now and then for horse feed where it hikes up (in a drought) etc.  :roll:

[Bodger]

I'm going to check my bill today

[babe]

i paid £9.75 for 20kg of chick crumb on monday, and layers pellets £6.84 for 20kg

[fozzer]

I find the stuff a rip off, as soon as they have finsished there first bag i get them eating layers mash and then work them onto pellets. I think prices have almost doubled since i started keeping chickens in november 2006.

[babe]

it has the goodness they need in their first few weeks,

that would be like saying im not paying for baby milk anymore, youre 4 weeks old you can drink tea.

if you take on animals, you should be prepared to give them what they need, regardless of cost.

you chose them, they didnt choose you !!

just my opinion

[si-mate]

It's unlikely that feed prices will come down much if any over the next few years. Unfortunely it's likely that there will be significant rises until harvest due to many manufactures who were buying under contract now having to buy at spot prices.

The biggest factor is the increase in demand for cereals, proteins and minerals on the world market mainly due to biofuels and the change in diet in the developing world.

The majority of animal feed rations will contain wheat, maize or barley as the primary ingredients, all of which have more than doubled in price over the last 12 months.

[Bodger]

Well originally they blamed the floods last season, but I agree, that bio fuels have got a lot to answer. Driving around the country there seems to have been a big increase in the number of fields put down to oilseed rape. Those are the fields with the dazzling yellow flowers.

[snozzer]

it has the goodness they need in their first few weeks,

that would be like saying im not paying for baby milk anymore, youre 4 weeks old you can drink tea.

Chicks are not quite the same as human babies.

Crumbs are different in 2 ways namely size and protein.  Crumbs are smaller because chicks are smaller and they crumbs have a higher protein %.

As an alternative use crumbs for the first 21-28 days then swap to a ACS finisher/grower/rearer with 16-18% protein and then, wait for it, this is the winner, grind the pellets up in a food mixer until you get smaller pellets/crumbs to match your chicks size.  I have been doing this for years and at the current rates can save you about £3 a bag.  

Can I have 50% of your savings as my consultancy fee          

[si-mate]

The floods had did have an effect particularly around harvest and shortly after, but this sustained increase is a global problem which will take many years to stabilise.