[muntjac]

£180 a tonne for wheat barley £160 so folks i suggest ya start getting in as much alternative feed stuff as you can find .ok so its only wheat and barley but this means that layers pellets will go up by at least 50% if predictions are right .mash has ben upped to £8 a sack already in reponse to rising prices .a loaf of bread is already pushing £1  according to news sources .so now is the time to be planting cover crops such as perperptual spinach .speak to game seed suppliers for alternative feed seed sources such as millet etc .if you see sweetcorn for sale by the sack grab it stick it in a dry airy shed to dry off  dont pile it up tho .the birds will get by on this no worries .if your out for a walk and the farmers left bits of corn wheat standing get in there n pick it into any bag you can .if you use carrier bags swap it for paper or hessian so it dries nice .also look out for cheap farm gate spuds ,if you have farmers who have grown em go and ask to pick up the littleuns .even if the birds dont eat em you can  if you have a suppply of different seed like barley wheat maize etc just mix it   chuck whole cabbages down let them forage anywhere they can until the prices come down ,you wont need to worry about meeting the bills so much if you just look out for opportunities to grab a freebie

[GrannieAnnie]

Good advice Munty.

Earlier in the year, about April time, 2 bags of layers pellets an a bag of mixed corn was £12.75  Last week, the same from the same people was £15.35

[si-mate]

Dare I say it, but prices are rising up to where they need to be for farmers, feed mills and retailers to start making a profit again.
The number of feed mills that have closed over the last 10 years is staggering not to mention the farmers going out of business.

Prices of cereals will perhaps come down a little bit next year, but certainly not to £65 - £70 p/t that we have had for the last few years. This is mainly due to the fact that land and cereals are being used for biofuels.

But I don't really see any need to panic unless you've got 50 or more birds. Even then I think the interest rate rises will have more of an effect of your bank balance.

[David.]

i suggest ya start getting in as much alternative feed stuff as you can find

What about sunflower seeds?

[Aunt Sally]

But I don't really see any need to panic unless you've got 50 or more birds. Even then I think the interest rate rises will have more of an effect of your bank balance.

I won't need a new mortgage to feed my two chooks then si  :roll:

i suggest ya start getting in as much alternative feed stuff as you can find

What about sunflower seeds?

There is too much oil in sunflower seeds David, can cause liver problems and hinder dcalcium uptake  

[David.]

What about sunflower seeds?

There is too much oil in sunflower seeds David, can cause liver problems and hinder dcalcium uptake[/quote]

I wasn't intending them to be a  replacement for layers pellets (unlike the WW2 advice that my parents followed), but just to be used as another home grown supplement, such as sweetcorn, which I have also seen criticised as it will raise the hen's body temperature and encourage broodyness.

[mercury]

My pellets have just gone up by 50p, a bag,£5.50. now

[flatcap]

our layers pellets gone up 45p this week

[muntjac]

extremly good point david . but unfortunatly the sweetcorn story is just that david mate .a story .. as anty says basing a feed on just sunflower can cause problems some birds actually react badly to it after eating just a few kernels i found its down to  the seed massing ( the oils make it gluey ) in the grinding part of the chickens gut .

[David.]

Looks like the hens get the sweetcorn for eating, and I get none for fermenting.

[muntjac]

if you look in supermarkets you can buy "corn fed " chickens so it kinda defeats the story in its self    

[Contadino]

It may be a bit late in the year for you Inglesi, but have you considered growing Quinoa and Amaranths?  They're pretty disease and drought tolerant, easy to thresh, and could form the bulk of grain feeds for a small flock with only 80 or so plants.  Add split peas, corn and the you're pretty much there.

[flatcap]

went to get layers pellets got the last 2 bags,the next lot are going

up £3 a bag now  cost £8.40 :shock:

been offered 6 ducks and quite a few hens people giving up due to price increase

[muntjac]

any ideas on where to get the seed contadino ?

[Selkie]

my husband sells amaranth seed in the health food shop where he works.

he brought some home because it wasn't selling and our hens love it.

i'm not sure what humans are meant to do with it...the seeds are pretty tiny