Does anybody buy bulk feed?

[EddieWalker]

With the cost of everything increasing, I'm trying to figure out how to spend less on feed. We started out buying 40 pound sacks of Chicken Scratch for $6 each for the last five years. Now it's $10 each, and I believe it will continue to increase. The price has been jumping every other month for the last year!!! Same thing with the 13% that we give to our horses. It want from $6 for a 40 pound sack a year ago, to $11 today.

A friend on FB mentioned that he buys bulk feed for is cattle, but it's gotten so high that he's considering getting out of cattle. It wasn't just the feed, but fertilizer and everything else involved in raising cattle has become so bad that there isn't a way to break even anymore.

I still want to try to raise goats and chickens. I've been paying too much for feed, and the more animals that I get, the more it is costing me. From what I'm seeing online, the savings is there if I buy in bulk. I've never done this. I've never even been to a place that sells in bulk. My only experience is 40 pound sacks.

First, I have no idea what to buy. I'll probably rely on what they recommend to start, and work from there.

Second, I have no idea what the best way is to get it. I've read that they fill barrels, totes and trailers.

How do you get it from what it's loaded in, to the animals? A full barrel will need the tractor to get it off of the trailer or back of my truck. I have pallets, so that's doable. But then what? Same thing with a tote. I'd probably put it on a pallet when getting it filled, but then what?

I've seen some pictures of trailers that have augers, but I never seen one in person. I'm assuming that I would need a grain bin type of thing if I did the trailer method. And that I would need a bin for each type of food. More money.

Has anybody done this? Is it really cheaper to buy in bulk?

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

whether you are a backyard farmer with 1 chicken or a full barn of chickens there of course are places to buy feed for all sizes of operations in all types of amounts. The more you buy the cheaper it is.

I have been in the pig business all my life. If you have 1 sow in back of your house and buy bag at a time or where we are 3,600 sows under one roof across lots of locations with semi feed truck showing up 2X per week at each building there is a solution for you.

Same goes with your chickens and goats. Starter feed for the very young, grower for adolescent animals, finisher to bring them up to final weight quick and many many variations in between.

Do you want layers? the different recipe than broilers . etc...etc...etc....

For the pigs after weaning 7 different "stages" or recipes during their growing cycle alone. Some medicated if needed some not. Sow gets 3 different rations.

the people behind the counter of the feed store can tell you what and when for various species at various sizes and stages. The larger you get the more stages "recipes" we tend to use as we optimize growth and costs. Most good feed mills offer "expert advice". The smaller you are and the lower volumes you buy though the more you will pay.

Is it cheaper? 50 cents per pound bag if bagged from local feed store for the little guy, versus 12 1/2 cents per when buying bulk but remember chicken feed doesn't generally keep well so cann't buy too much in advance.

So pull up in a pickup and have them bulk dump in the back, buy a tote and haul on flat deck trailer, get a 40 tonne semi delivered etc... and the more you buy the cheaper it gets down to a point where large commercial probably will pay only 20% of what the back yard hobby guy will pay.

For you will need to first determine how much you need at any one time, how much storage you have, how long you can store before going bad, what equipment you have to transport, and relative prices and the math should help you figure what is best!!!

Hobbyist pay more.... large commercial pay maybe only 20% depending on lots of factors.

If a hobbyist make friends with the large commercial guy down the road. Maybe trade some labour or whatever and maybe they can sell you some appropriate feed at a lower price than bags from say your local Tractor Supply depot that only deals in bags.


goverments often have local Ag. Reps that can help answer all your questions specific to your location and circumstances.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

your local Ag. REp / Ag. Extension office should have tonnes of literature on backyard animal husbandry ranging from feed, rations, care, laws, etc.... I would start there. Its a big part of what they do.

 

[sea2summit]

I get mine in barrels, when my tractor went down hard I was able to roll them off the back of the truck with some only mildly dangerous cobbled together ramps. I typically get a truck load at a time, if I had more income I'd probably get a trailer load of barrels so I didn't have to spend as much on gas as it's about 50 miles each way.

For me I break even on gas money in less than a barrel. Depending on the feed it's as much as 50% savings for me. Another thing I recently found is a source for expired bread which really only costs about $0.01 a pound for me because the charge is by the truck load, so basically free. I've supplemented the pigs a lot with that and give the chickens, cows and goats some along with throwing to the fish in the pond (normally they fend for themselves I just enjoy seeing them come feed). Probably reduced my feed bill about 20-25% doing that.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

I have been buying from Azure Standard.

They deliver to all 50 states on a once a month schedule.

https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/category/outdoor-garden/animal-feed/chicken/19186

During the winter the chickens can go through 400 to 800 lbs of feed (100 chickens) depending on the winter conditions.

If you have a local flour mill they may have cracked grains for sale periodically. For example, Bluebird Grains Farms (located in Wintrop Washington) sold cracked mixed grains this year for .25 cents a pound in 1200 lb tote bags.

 

[5030]

How bulk young man??? I used to buy my cattle feed from the local elevator and had them deliver it and auger it into one of my GSI bulk tanks, 1000 bushel at a time. Sold the herd last spring, still have the bulk tanks.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

I get mine in barrels, when my tractor went down hard I was able to roll them off the back of the truck with some only mildly dangerous cobbled together ramps. I typically get a truck load at a time, if I had more income I'd probably get a trailer load of barrels so I didn't have to spend as much on gas as it's about 50 miles each way.

For me I break even on gas money in less than a barrel. Depending on the feed it's as much as 50% savings for me. Another thing I recently found is a source for expired bread which really only costs about $0.01 a pound for me because the charge is by the truck load, so basically free. I've supplemented the pigs a lot with that and give the chickens, cows and goats some along with throwing to the fish in the pond (normally they fend for themselves I just enjoy seeing them come feed). Probably reduced my feed bill about 20-25% doing that.

also look for small regional micro brewers who make beer or small cheese/yogourt guys as they also often have bi-product they love to give away versus paying to have it hauled away!!

your bread is a great idea for the as secondary source.

 

[EddieWalker]

I get mine in barrels, when my tractor went down hard I was able to roll them off the back of the truck with some only mildly dangerous cobbled together ramps. I typically get a truck load at a time, if I had more income I'd probably get a trailer load of barrels so I didn't have to spend as much on gas as it's about 50 miles each way.

For me I break even on gas money in less than a barrel. Depending on the feed it's as much as 50% savings for me. Another thing I recently found is a source for expired bread which really only costs about $0.01 a pound for me because the charge is by the truck load, so basically free. I've supplemented the pigs a lot with that and give the chickens, cows and goats some along with throwing to the fish in the pond (normally they fend for themselves I just enjoy seeing them come feed). Probably reduced my feed bill about 20-25% doing that.

Do you put the barrels in your barn and scoop the feed out of the barrel?

 

[sea2summit]

Do you put the barrels in your barn and scoop the feed out of the barrel?

Yep, just like the feed bags. I have a SxS with three 5-gallon buckets in it and pull up it to the pole barn, fill buckets with appropriate type/amount of food for the critters, toss in about 20 loaves, grab a square bale or two for the goats and head off for evening feeding time.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I should look into that for bird seed. I spend about $150/month to feed "wild" birds. I buy the mixed seed, which costs me around 50 cents/lb. I would have to set up a mixing station, but have a nice concrete mixer that would easily do 40 lbs. at a whack.

Have I mentioned that I'm kind of an eccentric old dude? "It used to be that a man and his madness were as sacred as the coming of day."

Anybody wanna go dove hunting?

 

[sea2summit]

I should look into that for bird seed. I spend about $150/month to feed "wild" birds. I buy the mixed seed, which costs me around 50 cents/lb. I would have to set up a mixing station, but have a nice concrete mixer that would easily do 40 lbs. at a whack.

Have I mentioned that I'm kind of an eccentric old dude? "It used to be that a man and his madness were as sacred as the coming of day."

Anybody wanna go dove hunting?

I do plan on planting about a quarter an acre of sunflowers this year and give that a try for feed supplementing.

 

[ponytug]

Buying bulk feed only works if you get through it while it is still fresh. @EddieWalker, if you are scaling up, have a chat with the extension office, who may be able to either give you feed nutrition advice, or point you to a nutritionist. When I worked with feed mills, they were constantly changing the ingredients to meet the specification on the bag. What ran at 8:00am, wasn't necessarily close to what was running at 11:00 as market prices on the ingredients had shifted.
With multiple species, it can get complicated, especially with differing age ranges. We used to buy a few bulk ingredients, and then blend in the specials and micronutrients for each group, or individual. It does take time. We have scaled back and now only buy a few ingredients in bulk that keep.
I would love to be able to get day old bread or distillers grains locally, or even old greens from the supermarkets; around here, they were already spoken for, even the day a new supermarket opened. Win some, lose some.

All the best,

Peter

 

[bunyip]

We buy horse feed in 1000kg bulker bags, they fork it onto a pallet in our horse float and I take it off with the hay spikes, a bulker costs us $500 vs $1500 in 20kg bags, we use two a year as supplementary feed, well worth the 150km round trip to pick it up.
The bags also have a zipper across the top which keeps birds out, the cats keep the rodents out and when finished the cub scouts get the empty bag which they use for different activities.

 

[EddieWalker]

How do you get the feed from the bag to the horses? Do you just scoop it out and feed from the scooper?

 

[bunyip]

20 litre buckets, we can put 8 on the quad then just head out to their paddocks and tip it in their feeders, not all get fed and we get chased by those hoping for a free feed, generally 6 are in paddocks and the others just roam the open area.
Daughter measures out the feed with a scoop, they don't get a bucketful each, the quad speeds things up and saves multiple trips.

 

[kenmac]

I use 55 gallon drums with the locking tops. Scoop it out of drums into5 gallon buckets.
If it's grain corn etc, you'll have to use it or it will ferment on you.
cows walk around drunk ! LOL

 

[bunyip]

I remember cows getting into rolled oats and bloating, had to lance them to get the gas out, I was only about 12 at the time and the old man was not happy.

 

[kenmac]

I use this to move my 55 gallon drums off the truck, and place them where I want them

Amazon.com: BISupply Vertical Drum Clamp Barrel Lift Drum Lifter, Drum Lift for 1,000 lb 30-55 Gallon Barrel with 3/16in Chime : Industrial & Scientific

Buy BISupply Vertical Drum Clamp Barrel Lift Drum Lifter, Drum Lift for 1,000 lb 30-55 Gallon Barrel with 3/16in Chime: Drum & Pail Handling Equipment - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

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[BeezFun]

We live near a company that makes animal feed, we go there and pick up bags because it's about $7 a bag cheaper than in the retail stores. It's not as cheap as buying bulk, but it's easy to handle and store 50# bags and saves enough money to help. They load a pallet of bags on our trailer.

 

[ponytug]

I get mine by the pallet as well. Pallet(s) on the truck or delivered, then tractor with forks to the feed room, and then me stacking the feed in the feed room. I don't mind the hand stacking. It isn't far, and with the forks on the tractor, I am not bending over to pick up bags. We save 5-10%. It isn't bulk rate, but it is cheaper.

All the best,

Peter