# how much do you pay for a bag of feed???



## mistee (Feb 21, 2011)

prices here have just gotten crazy... I dont know what I am going to do,,,lol.. I know I am downsizing my chickens to just a few... A bag of goat feed is $17,, alfalfa pellets is almost $20 bag of minerals is now $16.. When i first started i pg $5 a bag for feed


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## ksalvagno (Feb 21, 2011)

That is about what I am paying. I never saw $5 for a bag of feed.


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## KellyHM (Feb 21, 2011)

Purina Goat Chow is $15.50 here.  The feedstore has Lucas Goat for $13.50, but I'm not familiar with it and don't know how good it is.


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## mossyStone (Feb 21, 2011)

when i frist started out with chickens i wa paying 5.99 a bag, yesterday i bought chicken feed on sale for 13.99 ..... i was excited about that 

I don't buy much goat feed, i mix my own with whole graines ....
I do buy alfalfa pettets i think they are under 10 bucks a bag... i'd have to check...


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## 20kidsonhill (Feb 21, 2011)

$10.45 for a 50lb bag of 16% medicated, pelleted goat feed. 


I think the last bag of minerals(25lb) was near $15

40lb of beet pulp $10.46


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## 4hmama (Feb 21, 2011)

$67 today for 3 bags of laying mash and 2 bags of sweet goat feed.  Grrrrr!


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## mistee (Feb 21, 2011)

lol,, is it just crazy,,lol... $5 dollars a bag was about 17 years ago but just since Nov goat feed has gone up $5 and that isnt even the good,, good stuff. Guess just feeling a bit frustrated.. Went to an auction last week and there were soooo many awesome horses and other farm animals being sold for nothing because people cant afford them anymore.. There were people in tears cause they loved their animals but money is tight and prices keep going up... Hay now is sooo expensive... I got my 2 older horses that I would never sell unless I had no choice but when they pass I wont be getting anymore..


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## ThornyRidge (Feb 21, 2011)

I work apparently to only feed and care for my animals!  May need to acquire a second job soon since I have a cat that I am now treating for CRF and his treatments add up!  anyway my goat minerals are holding steady at $16/25#bag, my goat feed is around $12 per bag .. thankfully I don't grain that much.. my biggest expense is hay.. I only feed no less than 2nd cut.. usually 3rd and I shell out around $4 a bale.. I don't pasture my goats so I go through about 4-5 bales per week.. add in a bag of BOSS, animal crackers,  and around $20/month in chicken feed.. I look at a nice chunk of my paycheck!  this is not even counting my indoor critters (3 cats and a dog!)..


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## mossyStone (Feb 21, 2011)

i wish i could pay 4 bucks a bale, here i just put in 21 bales of 3rd cut alfalfa 235.00 150.00 for 15 bales of orchard blue grass mix ... 50.00 for  15 bales of oat straw for bedding

18.00/25lb  minerals

i mix my own grain now but that also adds up to about 100.00 for 3 mos of grain...( only on the milk stand) 

but our eggs, milk, butter, cream ect.. and meat make up for the price, i at least know what my animals are eating... and how they are cared for.....


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## The Old Ram-Australia (Feb 21, 2011)

Hi,just a thought on this subject ,when we had the goats I used to get a' feed mill' to run us off a ton at a time of 25% rolled barley,25% crushed oats 25%sorgham,15%lupins and 10% cracked corn..They used to bag it for us in 25 kg bags......................We were feeding 'milking 'dairy goats at the time,along with some hay,pasture and of course the mineral mix...................Maybe if you ask around 2/3 of you can get together and share,this way you cut out the feed stores margin.................T.O.R.................


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## elevan (Feb 21, 2011)

Goats $12.99 for a 50# bag
Chickens $13.99 for a 50# bag
Llama $17.99 for a 50# bag

Seriously, each one of those has gone up at least $5 in the past 6 months from what they used to be!!!


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## Greendecember (Feb 22, 2011)

rounds off amounts
Chicken $8
Commercial Goat $10
Alf pelets $7 (I think)
Corn Chopps $8
Black seeds $9

all 50lb bags


Prices close but not exact. It is 4am and my brain is not up and up LOL

Vet did say last week their feed went up .45 cents and feed store said they were going up .30 I think it was.


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## Roll farms (Feb 22, 2011)

We are seriously considering selling off most of our chickens because the price of feed.
I did ok selling chicks until TSC and Big R (local farm stores) started selling them again.  
Last year was the 1st time the birds lost money for us....if it happens again this year, we're losing the 'Poultry' part of 'Poultry and Goats'.

I'm paying 10.50 for Noble Goat, 12.00 for Goat Chow, 13.50 for BOSS...that's w/ my TSC employee discount.
I get my chicken feed at a co op and it's 12.00 for layer, 10.00 for scratch.  The goat mineral (ADM) is 25.00 for 50#.


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## helmstead (Feb 22, 2011)

Gotta love biofuel.  Tis the reason for the huge increase.

I don't rightly remember what I paid for feed before I became a dealer...but it never was cheap.  I think now, even paying wholesale and getting volume discounts, I'm still paying what I used to pay retail in GA.


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## Dreaming Of Goats (Feb 22, 2011)

I think it's 13-14 dollars for Noble Goat Feed at the Lakeside Feed Store!!!


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## sammileah (Feb 22, 2011)

i pay $12 for laying feed and $11 for noble goat.  $10 for allstock mixed grain.


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## PattySh (Feb 22, 2011)

Sweet Goat 11.99 
Layer pellets 11.99 
Rabbit Grower 10.95
Horse grain 11.99
Pig Grower 11.50

All 50# bags


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## ThornyRidge (Feb 22, 2011)

I was told recently here in my part of Ohio (NE) that corn prices went up again and that affected grain prices.. seems like it is always something.. kinda like how the crap in Libya jacked my gas prices from 3.05 at 7 am this morning to 3.29 at 11 am!  wth???


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## freemotion (Feb 22, 2011)

Whole grains here.  Much cheaper.


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## Our7Wonders (Feb 22, 2011)

freemotion said:
			
		

> Whole grains here.  Much cheaper.




And then to the whole grains I add a little BOSS, Beet Pulp, and Calf Manna.


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## elevan (Feb 22, 2011)

Our7Wonders said:
			
		

> freemotion said:
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What particular whole grains do you use?


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## mossyStone (Feb 22, 2011)

black oil sunflower are 17.00 for 40 lbs it's crazy!!!!


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## The Old Ram-Australia (Feb 23, 2011)

Hi FM, do you get your grains rolled first before feeding? Also I'm interested in what grains you are using...............T.O.R.


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## Greendecember (Feb 23, 2011)

Our7Wonders said:
			
		

> freemotion said:
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What whole grains do you feed and apa what ratios do you use?


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## freemotion (Feb 23, 2011)

The Old Ram-Australia said:
			
		

> Hi FM, do you get your grains rolled first before feeding? Also I'm interested in what grains you are using...............T.O.R.


No, I sprout them.  I use barley and oats when I can get the barley.  Right now it is just oats, can't find barley.  Slightly sprouting them increases protein and nutrient bioavailability, and neutralizes anti-nutrients that occur naturally in all seeds.  More bang for my buck.

I think I might be able to get rye locally, if so, I will experiment with adding that as well.  I like to add as much variety as possible.  I feed the sprouted grains to my goats and my poultry.

BOSS will sprout nicely as well, but it is quicker than the grains, so when using it I will add it a day or two later.  The grains take longer to sprout in fall and winter, and are quick in the spring.

I also add some soaked beet pulp to my lactating does feed to slow them down on the milking stand so I can get everything done without feeding them a lot of grain.


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## Greendecember (Feb 23, 2011)

freemotion said:
			
		

> No, I sprout them.  I use barley and oats when I can get the barley.  Right now it is just oats, can't find barley.  Slightly sprouting them increases protein and nutrient bioavailability, and neutralizes anti-nutrients that occur naturally in all seeds.  More bang for my buck.
> 
> I think I might be able to get rye locally, if so, I will experiment with adding that as well.  I like to add as much variety as possible.  I feed the sprouted grains to my goats and my poultry.
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What methods do you use to sprout your grains?

Since the grains are sprouted, therefor retaining some water Nd more fiber I presume, how do you judge how much to give?

I am very interested in this feeding method. It seems like it would be much better for them than dried up old grains.


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## Our7Wonders (Feb 23, 2011)

The whole grains I use are barley and oats - I may add wheat soon.  I do feed them whole, not rolled or cracked at all.  I don't sprout, at least not yet.  I know sprouting isn't super difficult but I have seven kids, we homeschool, run our homebased business, are planning a big garden and recently added the goats and chickens.  Sprouting is just one more step that I don't really want to take right now.  I soak overnight in buttermilk or whey the grains that we use for our own meals, I plan to do the same with the grains for the goats soon.  

Currently my oats and barley are mixed at 50/50.  The girls get a cup of grain, 1/3 cup BOSS, 1/3 cup Beet Pulp and 1/3 cup Calf Manna.  If I had more produce available I would use it instead of beet pulp.  The Calf Manna was added only because the girls were new to me and I was just a little concerned they may have been a bit on the thin side.  It was a little extra assurance through this last month of gestation.   

So, ratio is 3 parts grain, 1 part BOSS, 1 part Beet Pulp, 1 part Calf Manna.  

I'm so very new to goats so I expect this will be a work in progress for a while.


edited to add: the above is one feeding - I feed them morning and evening, so their total amounts listed are actually doubled.


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## chandasue (Feb 23, 2011)

I'm too lazy to look it up right now but don't oats or wheat have an outer casing that needs to be removed before feeding it to livestock? Otherwise it can get lodged in the wall of the rumen or intestine?

Edit: I suppose sprouting softens that outer part anyway so perhaps it doesn't matter...


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## freemotion (Feb 23, 2011)

Greendecember said:
			
		

> freemotion said:
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I use drilled buckets to rinse them, and a regular bucket to soak.  I soak 24 hours then dump into the rinsing bucket and run water through them.  I rinse once a day until they are all fed.

As to how much to give, since I feed by condition and not by a chart, I just scoop some out and see how the individual does on it.  No more than a quart per feeding for my lactating does.


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