Invasion of my reloading shed

[KFhunter]

Look at Red Bridge in Kettle for a decent production non-GMO layer.  I bought 3 tons of his hog grower mix and 2 of the chicken and was impressed with gain/etc... but trucking to the wetside is just too much to make it sustainable.  I'd need to haul 6-8 tons at a time to make it worth the hauling.  Your mileage is much closer.


https://www.theredbridgefarm.com/

my gawd they're expensive, I've tried and tried to reach some kind of deal with the owner on bulk but they just won't come down enough.   I end up getting my feed at woods hay and grain in Sandpoint ID.    Really wanted to support local but couldn't justify the added cost.

Another thing that pissed me off is at the fair they had samples, tried to negotiate for 2 tons matching the sample I had in my hand which was the premium hog grower and got a quote that was reasonable for 2 tons, pursued the quote and they backed off the premium and tried to sell me the economy grower for my quoted price which doesn't have the canola oil so the feed is dryer and slightly less palatable and less gain,  well heck the price for the economy grower was like 30% higher than woods, so with my added time/fuel I still came out ahead with woods.   I woulda bought the premium grower for the quoted price which was something like 30% higher than woods grower but figured the added gain would help make some of that up plus time/fuel/equipment costs...



figured they tried to do a bait -n-switch with me,  irritated me.

[Whitpirate]

What was he quoting you per # on premium?

[jasnt]

I’m buying my feed few miles away at kanitsu feeds.  Yes I can get 1000lb and 2000 lb totes.  The more I buy from him the better the price is getting. 

[bigdave]

I get my pig and Broiler feed from Hal Meenachs farm south of Spokane. He will make it how you want it. the only drawback is that it is not pelleted, it is just ground. This has worked with my pigs and with broilers because I feed my broilers a rationed amount per day and my pig feeders do a good job of keeping feed off the ground. I felt the ground feed was getting wasted too much with my layers and they seemed to prefer a lightly pelleted layer feed, so that it what they get. I do Red stars for layers as all the rest seem to stop laying in the dead of winter and in the low light of winter. I don't run extra light in the coop in the winter and they still do pretty good and lay about every other day. They are starting to crank up now and we will have eggs coming out out ears in a couple of weeks. ( I actually just hard-boiled 6 dozen last weekend and made about a gallon of egg salad and some pickled eggs)

What is your plan for cleaning the eggs from so many hens?.....for me this is the worst part of egg production and the most tedious, especially this time of year. My kids are really happy to see mud season go!

[jasnt]

Cleaning sucks! I try my best to keep it clean in the coop but you’ll still have to clean. I dry clean mostly with sand paper or green Brillo but the worst ones do need wet cleaning.  I’m using pine shavings in my nest boxes and that has helped a lot and I think it’s due to the eggs getting buried in chips and not getting stepped on so much with dirty feet.
My feed is just ground. For the hogs I’m soaking my feed, much less waste!

[bigdave]

Yeah a clean house really helps. Good luck, I still think laying hens are a great for a small farming option. Keep us posted. 

[KFhunter]

I’m buying my feed few miles away at kanitsu feeds.  Yes I can get 1000lb and 2000 lb totes.  The more I buy from him the better the price is getting.

It's from woods hay and grain, re branded.  I did some price comparisons from them at Deer Park and Woods at Sandpoint, ID.   Ended up going all the way to Sandpoint, but Deer Park is a bit of a drive too.

[KFhunter]

What was he quoting you per # on premium?

I don't remember now 

[jasnt]

My animals definitely like the feed. it’s 3 miles away so that helps. I can go to reardon and get feed much cheaper but it’s not non gmo and add in the fuel and time it’s almost the same.  I’m curious what your paying for half ton totes of premium hog grower from sandpoint? Pm me if you like

[Sandberm]

Weird observation alert

 We buy our "farm fresh" eggs from some people down the road. They are good, taste just like eggs from the store, a bit more watery I would say but...They have a hint of fish smell/ flavor. Just a hint. I thought something was impregnated in the cast iron pan I use but when I cook store bought eggs I do not get this hint of fish flavor.

I did some research via Google and found this. https://articles.extension.org/pages/68432/common-feed-ingredients-in-poultry-diets Fish meal as a protein source in chicken feed.

"Fish Meal
There are two basic types of fish meal. The first type is derived from fish, such as salmon and tuna, caught specifically for human consumption. The second type is derived from fish, such as herring, menhaden, and pollack, caught specifically for the production of fish meal. In the United States the fish most often used for fish meal is menhaden."

[jasnt]

Watery egg whites are often from old hens but can be caused by storing eggs too warm.  Glad there is no fish meal in my feed. That sounds gross. 

[Sandberm]

I guess I could have done some more research on the internets as I am answering my own question. 

The fishy taste IS GOOD. That means it has lots of Omega 3 fatty stuff. Article says they sell omega 3 eggs at the market for more money.

https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/do-your-eggs-taste-fishy-its-the-curse-of-the-omegas/

"I’m sure you’ve seen them in the grocery store.  Eggs labelled as “Omega-3” eggs. They’re bursting with goodness and health and nutrition.  They’re easy to identify from the other eggs.  They’re the ones that look like Dr. Oz if you stare closely enough at them.  Plus they cost about $1 more per carton.  Plus they have “Omega-3” printed on the carton and sometimes even on the eggs.

Plus they taste like fish.  Sometimes.

Have you ever noticed that?  You eat an egg (either store bought or from your own chickens) and there’s a lingering, subtle note of trout.  This happened to me the other day.  I cracked open an egg from one of my chickens and it tasted more like I cracked it out of the spleen of a salmon than an eggshell.  It’s happened to me before so I knew it wasn’t my imagination.  I couldn’t talk myself out of the fish taste this time..."

[jasnt]

Few times I had to buy a sack from north 40 due to poor planning on my part. Went to feed and soon as the chickens tasted it they were like ...meh, I’m not that hungry yet. 

This is what I’m feeding

FEED FOR LAYING HENS WITH OMEGA 3

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:

Crude Protein (min) 17.0%
Lysine (min) 0.50%
Methionine (min) 0.25%
Crude Fat (min) 1.50%
Crude Fiber (max) 4.60%
Calcium (Ca) (min) 3.0%
Calcium (Ca) (max) 4.0%
Phosphorus (P) (min) 0.60%

INGREDIENTS:

Peas, Barley, Wheat, Camelina Meal, Sunflower Meal, Canola Meal, "Poultry Mineral Pre-Mix -less than 2.5% (Monocalcium Phosphate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Ground Limestone, Salt, Choline Chloride, dl-Methionine, Mineral Oil, Ferrous Sulfate, Manga-nese Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Niacin Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, d-Calcium Panthothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Menadione Nicotinamide Bisulfite, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite, Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Trichoderma reesei Fermentation Extract, Dried Aspergillus niger Fer-mentation Extract and Organic Canola Oil)."

[nwwanderer]

Fish meal is often used in nonGMO feed, especially starter.  Nearly impossible to get the combination of energy and protein without soy for just hatched birds.  Easy to get nonGMO soy but pricy.  Layers are easy to get nonGMO diets but remember peas and camelina can reduce intake so production goes down.  Your lysine is pretty low, should be .8 or so.  Camelina can often give some off flavors that some people notice.  Peas being your first ingredient, I would bet that your feed consumption is below optimum.  Million+ ways to feed them, just need to be close to requirements.

[jackelope]

Sounds just like feeding  rabbits. There’s a whole bunch of right ways to do it.