Chicken Feed

Sometimes I’ll read or watch something and it strikes me. We are so removed from normalcy and common sense that it’s scary.

Today I saw something on social media that just made me pause.
There was a guy that got a bag of chicken feed, he was complaining that it was 90 bucks and it was just 60 bucks a few weeks ago. That wasn’t the issue, the issue was that the supplier said they weren’t sure when they were going to get more in. He was freaked out. We are so removed from our food. All these cute people thinking they know how to grow/raise food.

That’s when my eyes opened real wide. I guess we have a generation now that doesn’t realize the older folks didn’t feed their chickens “feed”. That’s right, they got table scraps, they got home grown grains. People didn’t buy feed, they made it. It also got me thinking, buying chicken feed at $90 would pretty much wipe out any economic savings from eggs, or chicken meat so what is the point. Some might say it’s so you know what is going into your chickens, not really if you are giving them purchased feed. I looked at chicken feed, HOLY MOLEY, what a bunch of crap in there, soy, feathers! Yeah, NO!

The problem with the younger generation is two fold. They have not been taught a lot of these home economic skills. The other part is they are very hesitant to learn it the “old” way now.

I’ve been a long, looooong time gardener. I’ve tried to teach some of these new people the old ways, and man are they stubborn. They don’t realize that people used to grow, harvest and raise food not for fun, but for actual survival. I’ve had people actually argue with me on things that I know are 100% false. I just let them, if you don’t want to take my solid advice, then don’t. When your crops are diseased, eaten by pests and you wonder what happened don’t look at me!

Back to that chicken feed. If things ever get to that point where we truly need to survive on our own there is going to be a lot of baptism by fire going on!

Here’s a fun story that I’ll leave you with. I raised chickens at a child. My dad was grilling steaks. My pet rooster flew up and stole one steak from the grill and gobbled it down. Boy was my dad angry.

Hi, Jagstorm,

Funny story about the steak! I have only ever had seagulls steal a hot dog, so that sounds like quite a feat!

So what was your chicken feed recipe?

a reply to: JAGStorm

These days so much of our food is processed or packaged that there isn't waste to feed chickens with (Chickens can't really be fed on cooked food scraps from the table, only the vegetable matter that doesn't go into the pot).

People also had larger families (More scraps), and fewer chickens.

In my grandparent's day unless you were running a chicken farm you might have 5-6 family members so there was more unused vegetable bits such as potatoes peelings corn cobs, and a handful of chickens. Not 2 family members and 20 chickens.

originally posted by: KMeRMoRe
Hi, Jagstorm,

Funny story about the steak! I have only ever had seagulls steal a hot dog, so that sounds like quite a feat!

So what was your chicken feed recipe?

Millet, Amaranth, sometimes oats, we would mix it with warm water, and tons of table scraps and of course the old fashioned let the chickens roam and find their own food. They call that free range now, which basically means they are eating bugs(they love ticks), worms, grass and all kinds of other stuff.

Millet is the same stuff is fed to pet birds, it looks like little round seeds. Humans can eat it too in hard times in place of rice.

Thanks!
a reply to: JAGStorm

a reply to: JAGStorm

The problem with the younger generation is two fold. They have not been taught a lot of these home economic skills. The other part is they are very hesitant to learn it the “old” way now.

So much of the population is urban these days that it's just not relevant to them except as a "fun fact" to know

When you grow up on the 5th story of an apartment building in a bad part of NCY, there isn't much call for knowing how to raise chickens. You might not even be able to grow vegetables in a window box because apartment blocks are crammed in so tightly that there just isn't the light. Or even a window ledge in some cases.

a reply to: JAGStorm

My wife was browsing a forum on farming and some woman posted the comment (and I s**t you not):

Why do we need all these farmers when most people just go buy their food from Kroger or some other grocery store?

Yeah, we as a society are hosed. 🤷

I raised hundreds of meat chickens as a kid on my farm and the only time I gave them feed was when they were chicks. So I maybe went through 1 bag of feed per run of chickens. I can't remember the cost but it was a small town and it came from a feed mill so the cost was minimal.

After a few weeks they got cracked corn and some grit occasionally mixed in, fruit and veggie scraps, and whatever else they could scrounge for in the chicken yard. It was not uncommon for me to raise 9-9.5 lb chickens and the taste was much different than what you get in the store now. No hormones no medicine just food and free range. I can't remember them ever having these huge veins running through the breasts like you get now.

If I had the space I would like to grow more someday. I also raised ducks a the same time using the same feed minus the grit. The ducks and geese were great because they kept the weeds down

originally posted by: incoserv
a reply to: JAGStorm

My wife was browsing a forum on farming and some woman posted the comment (and I s**t you not):

Why do we need all these farmers when most people just go buy their food from Kroger or some other grocery store?

Yeah, we as a society are hosed. 🤷

My dad used to say peas don’t come from a can. There are a lot of people that really don’t know.
You would be surprised how many people really, and I mean REALLY think brown cows make chocolate milk.

Speaking of Kroger and chicken. Was there the other day. I really can’t stand their meat section. They had whole raw chicken. The bags looked like freaking balloons. People don’t realize that means the chicken has gone bad! They were still selling them. I’ve complained before about those things, they don’t care.

a reply to: Charliebrowndog

. I can't remember them ever having these huge veins running through the breasts like you get now.

These chickens have bigger breast than I do and that’s really saying something 😂
They have a special meat breed that is all breast and tiny little legs, it’s really sad.

“After a few weeks they got cracked corn”
Corn would be great if you have the room to grow and store it. Millet is easy and can also be fed to chicks!

I wonder where that guy lives where chicken feed is $90 a sack.

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I just started growing hydroponically. Very fast growth from veg to flower, small investment, astonishing results and very little time required once the system is in place.

originally posted by: olaru12
I wonder where that guy lives where chicken feed is $90 a sack.

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I just started growing hydroponically. Very fast growth from veg to flower, small investment, astonishing results and very little time required once the system is in place.

I just did a quick search and this came up

grubblyfarms.com... m_campaign=sag_organic&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_campaign=&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CjwKCAjwtIaVBhBkEiwAsr7-czEU6YYcWGJsEIwyGjz6HSCHlBE EFxwjlJOMvLmpxaPApr0H09mw9RoCPBIQAvD_BwE

60lb bag 82 bucks

Fodder is a good way to save money on feed bills.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Back to that chicken feed. If things ever get to that point where we truly need to survive on our own there is going to be a lot of baptism by fire going on!

If things get bad there'll be a new breed of hunters; chicken poachers for free-range chickens!

I have two chickens left that we got for my granddaughter when she was three. Thirteen years later, they still love to be petted, maybe because they've never given up hope of getting the diamond out of my engagement ring.

While not the brightest pet, they're still part of the family. One of the hen's tries her best to impersonate a rooster, which is cute. We're an 'inclusive' family and see nothing wrong with her gender-identity choice.

Back in the 70's I raised 100 meat chickens; to this day, I can't stand to eat store-bought chicken. Same with any meat, actually- except wild game and fowl. Once you spend a year not eating any mass-produced meat, you can taste a huge difference.

a reply to: nugget1

It’s already happening with produce poachers.
I have a neighbor that has a kinda weird lot. The side lot abuts the street and that’s where their garden is.
It has a full tall fence but someone was stealing their tomatoes! I thought maybe there was a chance it was just an animal until I heard another neighbor catch someone on their camera!

originally posted by: JAGStorm


My dad used to say peas don’t come from a can. There are a lot of people that really don’t know.
You would be surprised how many people really, and I mean REALLY think brown cows make chocolate milk.

Oh, no I wouldn't! I've witnessed first hand the rampant stupidity out there, become fairly inured to it. Stupid gonna stupid, and I've learned that generally you can't fix it

Speaking of Kroger and chicken. Was there the other day. I really can’t stand their meat section. They had whole raw chicken. The bags looked like freaking balloons. People don’t realize that means the chicken has gone bad! They were still selling them. I’ve complained before about those things, they don’t care.

Reminds me is a former boss who found a month old bag of sliced "bread" in the break room and was impressed that it was still soft and not mouldy. I tried to explain to her that even mould and bacteria wouldn't eat that crap. But then, this was the genius who came to work with a 32 ounce Dr. Pepper every morning and said she "didn't like water."

The gene pool really needs a good cleansing.

originally posted by: nugget1
a reply to: JAGStorm

Back to that chicken feed. If things ever get to that point where we truly need to survive on our own there is going to be a lot of baptism by fire going on!

... I have two chickens left that we got for my granddaughter when she was three. ... While not the brightest pet, they're still part of the family.

You know that there is a way to insure that this chickens will always be a real party of your family, don't you?

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: KMeRMoRe
Hi, Jagstorm,

Funny story about the steak! I have only ever had seagulls steal a hot dog, so that sounds like quite a feat!

So what was your chicken feed recipe?

Millet, Amaranth, sometimes oats, we would mix it with warm water, and tons of table scraps and of course the old fashioned let the chickens roam and find their own food. They call that free range now, which basically means they are eating bugs(they love ticks), worms, grass and all kinds of other stuff.

Millet is the same stuff is fed to pet birds, it looks like little round seeds. Humans can eat it too in hard times in place of rice.

My ducks roam and take out all the slugs which is a great help for growing a garden.

I raise rabbits and was amazed at the feed shortages recently. Was so mad as the feed store that has existed since I was a kid has now turned into a farm boutique and nursery. They couldn't even guarantee me they would have a certain number of bags a week. Never happened in the past. I get what you are saying about feed but winters are challenging so the feed is great but the price is going up/quality down. These feed stores around here no longer carry the grains to mix your own and what they do have is pre packaged pricy bird food.

originally posted by: incoserv
a reply to: JAGStorm

My wife was browsing a forum on farming and some woman posted the comment (and I s**t you not):

Why do we need all these farmers when most people just go buy their food from Kroger or some other grocery store?

Yeah, we as a society are hosed. 🤷

I was on twitter reading a conversation about the extreme doctor shortage in our fairly rural area and it was amazing how many city people kept on about "if you really care you'd move where there's medical care" with zero understanding that the rural areas supply all the food for their fancy restaurants and tourist industry, all the lumber to build home, all the firewood for heat, all the fish and game too. The list is pretty endless compared to what cities produce. Insane the lack of comprehension.

a reply to: JAGStorm

60lb bag 82 bucks

$82 ......that's not chicken feed!!! Sorry about the old cliché, but it seemed appropriate some how.