Chicken Feed

Two weeks ago I was talking to the woman where we get our eggs. She said that chicken feed had almost doubled where they get it from. Three bags...I do not know the size or kind...was a hundred twenty seven bucks. I told her I can pay more for the eggs, I tried to give her a bonus last time and she gave me two extra dozen eggs...that is not why I was giving her the extra, I actually pay child support and retirement benefits for her chickens, she actually loses money on eggs because she keeps them till they die and then has a funeral for her girls.

The eggs from her chickens are really good, she is feeding them some good stuff. They have a big garden and grow stuff for the chickens too, so the eggs have good taste to them. They even buy certain kinds of veggies for them to help stop chicken diseases...she prefers to do it naturally than give them meds. She does something with squash that helps with something and their squash does not last the whole winter. Heating the coop is getting expensive too. and some live in their polebarn which they also heat a section of to above freezing. It has a heated tool room, work room, and inside coop in part of it.

I'll have to give her husband a couple of five gallon cans of fuel oil for his tractor as a bonus, when we changed over to propane, we still had a hundred twenty five gallons or more in our oil tank.

The price of our half cow went up a quarter a pound hanging weight for this fall, I called and talked to him. He said that should cover the extra costs....grass fed organic...no grain needed, but they make a lot of hay. Filling his deisel tank on the farm this spring cost a grand, less than two years ago the same amount was about four hundred fifty bucks...thanks Biden.

Whole whitefish last fall was five bucks a pound, I called about two weeks ago and the guy said that fuel prices had made it go to five fifty, then I called a week ago and the price had jumped to six bucks a pound. Boats take a lot of fuel, and that buck a pound only accounts for the raising cost of fuel to go out. The fish house is not in the business to lose money, they have about six workers including the fishermen working pretty much full time..

a reply to: JAGStorm

That's dumb -the breast is the worst part.
They need to breed em with giant thighs legs and wings! lol
I really like gizzards too. Maybe breed a chicken with like 10 gizzards

To buttress in on this topic with an observation from last night’s storms. Heavy rains here but tornados 40-60 minutes from here. North and Northeast of the Greater Dayton area while I am far west of it.

Long term survival could had been absolute devastation from last night to their food, animal feed, animals and homes cobbled together like Lincoln Logs because that is the best people know now for building techniques.

Food prices and markets are a self made pain. Mother Nature is the all time cruelest mistress.

a reply to: JAGStorm

heard yesterday that some farmers are paying as much to fill up the storage tanks with diesel 1 time as they paid all of last growing season combinded.

Also heard a lot of non- major commercial farmers cant afford to use fertilizer because of the price increase, so they are in a worst case scenario looking at 20% lower crop yield.

Talking with some folks on base, that said UN is concerned that in about 8 weeks the wheat shortage will start to cripple many 3rd world countries with starvation.

Yea food wise things are about to get ugly to a degree we have never seen here in the states.

a reply to: Ahabstar

Long term survival could had been absolute devastation from last night to their food, animal feed, animals and homes cobbled together like Lincoln Logs because that is the best people know now for building techniques.

I've mentioned this before, even the best laid out plans fail. Imagine the people in the Ukraine that had set up reserves and prepped, how much good would it have done when they had to flee?

originally posted by: igloo

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.

I have long held that the two most important symptoms of the mental illness that is progressivism are a complete lack of the ability to process humor and a total lack of any self-awareness.

a reply to: JAGStorm

My compost piles are where my chickens feast. It attracts the delctible grubs and worms. When not there they have the rest of the property daily.

Winter is a different matter. Scratch is key but its usually cheap as its a mix of sunflower seeds and corn.

The only trouble we occasionally have is getting enough calcium (soft eggs) to the birds.

I raise chickens.

Yes, I supplement in the winter with feed from the store. I pay 12.00 for a 40 lb. bag.
In the summer, they have a huge run, with plenty of bugs and table scraps.

Not sure where the poster gets his info about them not being able to have cooked food. IN FACT, if you're going to give them potato skins, you need to cook them first. ( I nuke them, or just boil them)
But I've been giving them cooked and raw scraps for over 10 years, and they have been fine.

Have you ever watched them eat spaghetti? They will fight over it. You do want to cut it up small though, so it is easier for them to digest.
And they, and the ducks are awesome for fall garden clean up. I just open the gate and let them go at it. less work for me.

originally posted by: incoserv

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?

I do. I'll make them diapers and bring them inside to keep them safe if I have to.

a reply to: incoserv

You know that there is a way to insure that this chickens will always be a real party

You party with chickens...what's that like?

Cobblers bollocks. I’ve seen chickens fight over scraps of meat.

a reply to: AaarghZombies