We’ve finally come into winter now, the latest round of snow layering so thickly that our big dogs push through it with their chests like furry plows. The hens will only take a few steps outside, where the coop overhang shields a small border and left the ground semi-bare; they like to peck at the snow, and indeed it helps to supplement their water rations, which freeze up quickly and need to be replenished daily.
Lately I’ve been following a discussion online about animal feed. Although my flock is very small – only 18 birds at present – like many other homesteaders and farmers, I am alarmed at the great increase in feed costs over the last few years. Organic feed has more than doubled in that time; conventional has increased by 50%. While the reasons are likely many, I would imagine that the increase in fuel costs – to power the tractors, harvesters, and other farm equipment, and the transport the product to warehouses and markets – is a major factor.
It’s made many folks rethink their farm operations. Some have had to raise their egg prices as high as the market will bear, and they are still losing money. Some have reduced their flocks; some have simply given up on that aspect of their farm operation. The average person might find it hard to figure out why local free-range eggs are $4+ per dozen, when the local drugstore chain sells eggs for .99; factory-farmed, of course, and not fresh or anywhere near as nutritious, but still. Feed for cattle, sheep, pigs, and other farm animals has become more costly as well.
Nowadays there’s a lot of talk of growing your own feed grains. It’s an intriguing thought, for sure, but to do this on a scale that will provide enough feed to last through the winter requires equipment that we don’t have here – a tractor and harvesting equipment. People who have tried doing it with less report that it’s incredibly time-consuming and laborious, and simply not worth it.
An alternative is finding local farmers who are raising feed grains and purchasing from them. As it is, we buy our feed from a Vermont company, and our hens have done very well on it; during the winter they get a cabbage and some greens weekly, and flaxseed added to their feed. Of course it’s cold and dark at this time of year, and so their egg output reflects that: about 2 eggs a day right now. They’re not even close to earning their keep! Come spring, though, we’ll have higher expectations. One winter we boosted their output with a light and timer, and ended up with some prolapses; now we prefer to give them their natural winter break. Pampered girls, they are.
