Animal feed is soaring in price in my area

Monek Marie

Chicken feed has gone up $1 in a week here. I went in to shock when I looked at goat feed.

I hope I can get theses guys out foraging for the better part of their food soon

I started micro greens today and they get the soil and roots when I am done. I'll plant fast growing micros and I'll start some sprouts with them in mind.

Sometimes I start them flats of grass and I will get some of those started today.

And I will use the compost pile feeding method for the chickens too. But tere are still other fedd I have to work with and figure cheaper alternatives.

Is anyone else seeing animal feed soaring in price?

vickeym

Our chicken feed has gone up to $20 a bag and some places are $22. We are also planning to find forage and other options to help feed costs.

Monek Marie

@vickeym where are you buying youe feed? I was using tractor supply but I am going to locla feedmills. They are more competitive and have deals that TS does not. Their food is probably better too

As soon as I can raise food I am doing that, grains, chicken garden and winter squash. My neighbor gives me apples. They have an old orchard and cannot use all the fruit

MaryRowe

I just got the weekly sales flyer from Orschelns. Chicks have just come in to the local store, and are "on sale" for more than double the prices they were selling for last year. Chicken feed "on sale" is also higher, anywhere from $5 to $10 more per bag than the regular prices which had been pretty stable around here for a long time before covid hit. Wonder what prices will look like after the "sale" ends....

I don't have goats, but a friend who does tells me goat feed went through the roof last spring around here and prices just keep going up, when you can find it at all. The local feed mill is a little better than the chain stores, but not by much. Looks like we'll all have to start raising more of our own feed for all our critters.

MaryRowe

Here's a guy in Vermont who turned feeding his chickens for free on compost into a compost business...

https://www.grit.com/animals/chickens/garden-compost-zm0z1604zreg?utm_source=wcemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GRT%20TG%20eNews%2003-03-21&wc_totalkey=9Asy3F3WllhLHDG0ZX9Ih5dsFr894m3xSMrUfW4b3owx6aikLJuPTyGbORUs0z_vGoJ7Zb4uzfmKo_3fewZgEw

Momma Mo

Feed is on the rise around our area, too. We just bought 3 grain scratch today, and the price has gone up 75 cents/bag since last time we bought it. Not crazy bad, but gradually getting higher and higher.

vickeym

Denise Grant We are in Alaska. Unfortunately, we do not have a tractor supply or any of the big name farm stores in our state. There is a feed mill in Anchorage which is around 2 hours from us. So at least 4 hours driving time. My husband will be going with a friend who has a large flatbed trailer and truck up to a town called Delta Junction which is something like 7 - 8 hours each way. There are farms there growing wheat, oats, barley, peas, hay and straw.

As soon as we can we will be purchasing with them by the ton and mixing our own feeds until we can clear enough property to grow our own.

The feed costs have gone up $2 - $5 a bag so far here.

Monek Marie

@vickeym I would prefer to support the local feed mills and keep money in nearby towns. We are lucky that we do not have to travel that far for feed. :)

I have had one niece and one cousin live in Alaska. I know even common supplies we take for granted can be a challenge there. We sent my niece a box of yarn one time because it was so expensive for a skein there.

The advantage of growing your own is you can mix it any way you want and know that you should not have a bag of chemicals you're feeding you animals. But, more work!~

What area of Alaska are you in?