How to Save Money on Chicken Feed
When you love raising chickens, you might not even notice that you’re spending more money on feed than you’re saving on eggs. Feed is expensive, and you may be asking yourself how you can feed chickens for cheap. Using money-savvy methods, you can stretch your feed and give your chickens a nutritional boost at the same time. Try the steps below the next time you want to save on chicken feed.
1. Have a Free Range Area
In the wild, chickens can fulfill all their dietary needs by grazing. When it comes to chicken coops, letting them frequently roam in a free-range area can provide them with enough nutrients to meet about 15 to 20% of their dietary needs. Grazing will make your chickens’ diets more well-rounded and can save you 10 to 20% on feed if you’re lucky, but your flock still needs a well-balanced daily feed, too.
2. Experiment With Fermented Feed
If you have enough room to set up a small station, creating fermented food will give your hens more probiotics, vitamins and enzymes than feed alone can provide. To ferment your feed, place it in a container with an airtight lid. Cover the feed with water until it is fully submerged with one inch of water on top.
Check your fermenting feed every day and ensure that the one inch of water continues to sit on top. Keeping the feed submerged and not letting it touch the air will prevent the feed from becoming moldy. After five days, you’ll have an easily digestible, nutrient-rich treat to feed your flock. Check our blog for more tips on how to ferment chicken feed.
3. Supplement Feed With Kitchen Scraps and Compost
If you compost your leftover fruits and vegetables, throwing them to your hens is a perfect way to get the compost turned and give your flock extra nutrition at the same time. Chickens can eat most foods, and they are generally smart enough not to eat what’s dangerous to them. However, you should always research whether a food is safe for chickens before giving it to them. To see the whole list of food chickens shouldn’t eat, check our guide on what fruits and vegetables chickens can have.
4. Sprout Seeds Into Fodder
Grain and seeds are expensive — but by sprouting them, you can turn them into two to four times the amount of feed they would have provided if left unsprouted. To sprout your seeds and grains, place them in a shallow container and spread them in a thin, even layer. After your seeds have started sprouting and are about an inch tall, you can give them to your chickens as a treat. Sprouting seeds into fodder is a great way to save money to feed chickens.
Start With Nature’s Best Organic Feeds
Before you start enriching your flock’s diet with grazing, fermented food and sprouted seeds, give them a well-balanced feed designed by nutritionists. With almost 75 years of experience to back us up, our selection of chicken feeds will keep your flock happy and healthy. Save money on chicken feed by switching to the top organic feed in the country and feeding your flock the quality it deserves.