Feed prices went up

[SatinsRule]

And if I'm doing my math right, it amounts to about a 15% increase. $13 to $15.25 per 50 lb bag.

I'm guessing that by about February, it will amount to much more than that.

 

[owlsfriend]

I'm starting an experiment with sprouted fodder. You can google it.They're feeding fresh green barley grasses that are sprouted in trays within 7 days for pennies. I got hulled barley from my local food co-op, but if it works, I'll get animal feed quality and quantity. At 7 to 8 days it has the highest concentration of protien, which the cattle producers like as it bulks up the beef calves.http://www.h2ofarm.co.uk/

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I'm starting an experiment with sprouted fodder.

Let us know how that works out. I have seen some systems advertised on CL, but I bet a DIY system would be far less expensive.

 

[ReiLossefalme]

From what I understood when researching sprouted grains is that when grains sprout, they increase bio-availability of a number of vitamins and minerals, but since it requires energy to sprout, the protein content actually decreases, unless you add special Nutrient mixes for them to absorb. Does anyone know any more about this?

 

[dragonladyleanne]

Maybe it's region dependent, but as I am suburban, there's no "feed stores" close to my home, only Walmarts and one Pet Supermarket type place on the other side of town. I got an invitation to go to a chicken swap that was raising money for easement of city codes to allow (revert to, really) raising backyard chickens within the city limits, and it was in a rural area 40 miles away, in the parking lot of the local feed store. So I went (I had friends looking for chickens, plus I had heard there were rabbit farmers there), figuring I could get rabbit chow cheaper. I WAS WRONG!! The cheapest pellets they had were $13 for a 50 lb bag, which my husband was loathe to carry, store, etc. I could not recall wha we paid for the Walmart brand, but since returning home, find it is $7.33 for a 25 lb bag. Timothy hay was similarly cheaper at the local (1/2 mile) Wallyworld - not even the superstore size, btw! I have seen bales of hay cheaper, but not only are they a similar drive, they offer local Bahia hay, which I am not sure offers the same nutrients, plus I have no room to store it where it won't go bad before my rabbits eat it all. I guess my point is, just because prices go up one place, don't assume that is everywhere. Also, grow your own where you can! I recently laid in some Bahia in the rabbit run, have been feeding them onion greens (the Argents love them!), and am growing carrot and rutabaga for their green tops (for the buns) as well as their roots (for me)! Really proud of those rutabagas, as they were in the grocery for humans, but reduced, as they had all sprouted. Got 3 small, but nicely greened "plants" for a grand total of 56 cents!

 

[SatinsRule]

Leanne, what part of FL do you live in? Are there not any stores like Tractor Supply near the area which you live in?

 

[dragonladyleanne]

Never heard of Tractor Supply. I live in Pensacola.<br /><br />__________ Mon Aug 06, 2012 11:35 pm __________<br /><br />Home of the Blue Angels!!! But not many bunny folks. And what is this bunny wearing on its head? ancake:

 

[3mina]

Never heard of Tractor Supply. I live in Pensacola.

__________ Mon Aug 06, 2012 11:35 pm __________

Home of the Blue Angels!!! But not many bunny folks. And what is this bunny wearing on its head? ancake:

That would be a pancake, I'm not sure why but there it is :lol:

ancake: ancake: ancake:

 

[SatinsRule]

Never heard of Tractor Supply. I live in Pensacola.

Tractor Supply Co. Store #1456
3 W NINE MILE RD STE 16
PENSACOLA FL 32534
(850) 484-0805

I used to live about 60 miles east of you in a town along I-10 known as Crestview. Nice to hear that you're enjoying the Redneck Riviera!!

 

[dragonladyleanne]

Heh, Satins, P'cola is not the Redneck Riviera - my brother lives in Holt, and works in Crestview, so yeah. I was born in North AL, but we moved here when I was 4. At age 14, we moved hmmm, 10 miles east? to Pace, where I was asked, "where are y'all from, yew talk funny, are yew a Yankee? 'scuse me, I gotta go change the Oh Well in mah cahrrrrrr". 325THREE4? Have a feeling that's west of me, and in the grand scheme of things, wasn't considered Pensacola until recently. Just as a perspective, when we moved down, where I now live wasn't considered Pensacola either, and 9th avenue was red clay. YEAH, I am ollllldddddd, LOL<br /><br />__________ Tue Aug 07, 2012 12:47 am __________<br /><br />ok, looked up on google maps, near the place I bought my first bow. Not as far west as I thought from the zip, but I grew up in 32504 - before they had UWF, my mom went "back to school" and was one of their first grads, LOL. I still think of that as "the new zip code"! I do have friends raising goats who live near there, so I will ask them to look for rabbit feed next time they are out. Until then, 9 mile is a 20 minute drive, Walmart is 5 minutes. Gas costs money too, so unless they have more than a 50 cent difference, not worth it.

 

[SatinsRule]

Yeah, you're right. Pensacola is in LA (Lower Alabama).

 

[skysthelimit]

My Walmart no longer carries rabbit food. When it did $7.25 x2 (need 50lb) still equals the price of a bag of MannaPro.

Tractor Supply is a 25 mile drive, adding $8-10 to the price of the food, which is essentually, another bag of feed. I have too many rabbits now to mess around, going through 100lb of food every 10-14 days. My local "feed" store carries Kalabach ($14.99) and Buckeye ($14.99). Both are 16% and I'm thinking I need something higher. The next nearest one 7 miles away, has Buckeye and Purina. Still the same price for Buckeye. I do not want to use Purina, but it's 18%. Both the Buckeye and Purina contain some corn.

 

[SatinsRule]

Man, I read what all you people are saying about having to drive distances of 25 miles or less and complaining about it like it's some half-day trip. I wish that all I had to drive was 25 miles. Yesterday, I drove 60 miles one way to pick up feed, and that is a normal trip around here. I pick it up 200-250 lbs at a time, so it lightens the blow of travel expenses considerably.

 

[skysthelimit]

Man, I read what all you people are saying about having to drive distances of 25 miles or less and complaining about it like it's some half-day trip. I wish that all I had to drive was 25 miles. Yesterday, I drove 60 miles one way to pick up feed, and that is a normal trip around here. I pick it up 200-250 lbs at a time, so it lightens the blow of travel expenses considerably.

25 miles is an hour or more of time I could have been here with the dogs or rabbits, especially if I wind up going weekdays after work. There is no other way to get there besides driving through city streets. I try to plan trips on Saturdays if possible. I don't have a way to store more than 100lbs of food at a time either. The real factor is saving that extra $$, if there is no difference in the quality of feed. Why drive to get MannaPro when I can get the other stuff from locals, if I'm not seeing any difference in a little corn vs no corn, or just because MannaPro is a name brand.

If I had to drive 60 miles one way to get rabbit food, I would get out of rabbits or have a whole lot less. They lose their cost effectiveness as food animals and I don't need another hobby to drain what little income I have. Reason number three why I got rid of the chickens.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Man, I read what all you people are saying about having to drive distances of 25 miles or less and complaining about it like it's some half-day trip.

Me too! But city driving does take longer than highway, and is more frustrating if there is a lot of traffic.

We live 50 miles outside of Bakersfield, so a "trip to town" is an all day adventure, and we buy a LOT of food at one time. More than once I have been asked if we own a store, and once Colliepup overheard a little boy ask his mom "Why don't we buy as much food as they do?" as he looked at our overflowing cart. She answered "We aren't rich like them." People don't understand that we are buying 3 weeks to a month worth of groceries at once... I can only imagine what they'd think if they saw that the car was already packed with food/supplies form two or more other stores!

 

[AnnClaire]

Oh, yeah, I would much rather the 60 mile round trip out here in rural Oklahoma than having to go across OKC ... and OKC is one of the better planned metros!

We also purchase all our groceries for the month at the beginning of the month ... and last month, the same budget from the month before was $32.00 short on buying power. I don't know what it will be this month as we are shopping this next weekend.

 

[skysthelimit]

That is one of the things that keeps me in the city, besides the fact I don;t have enough income to buy any real land. When it snows in Cleveland, driving in and out of the valleys to get to the store, on a one land road is nerve racking. This summer it's been torture with no AC

Going to the store now.

 

[AnnClaire]

Sky, I hear you loud and clear!!! We spent 10 years in Cinti ... uggg!

However, out here in rural Oklahoma, the roads are rarely closed because of all the 18-wheeler traffic ... there are so many going through this area that they basically keep the roads open except through the worst of the storms ... then everything shuts down for maybe 24 hours.

One year, Jan 2001, I was delivering the paper that came out of OKC up here and we had a major blizzard ... 2" of sleet/freezing rain then 8" of snow on top of that, then another 2" of sleet on top of that in about 6 hours. It was hilarious how many old men were out on their driveways with flash lights looking for their paper at 4:30 am (usually done delivering at 3:30 am, so was late) in their PJs and robes in the snow/sleet Of course, the power had gone out by midnight, so there were no street lights for me to see by and it was really eerie to drive the dark town. But, the roads were open by mid-afternoon thanks to the road crews plowing and the 18-wheelers keeping the roads open.

 

[skysthelimit]

And now I am back, and minus 6 minutes at the gas station and the 10-15 minutes it took me to set up, I left the house at 4:30pm, and now it's 6:24 EST.

__________ Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:26 pm __________

I didn't go to TSC, but to the local feed store, about 10 miles away. I broke down and bought the Purina Show. It was all they had in 18%.

 

[Dreamerz]

I guess I'm lucky so far feed prices in my area have not gone up as of yet, I'm in upstate NY near Albany.

Actually I have been getting a lil bit of a deal. I feed my rabbits Manna Pro Select Series Pro & Gro formulas, that I purchase from TSC (about 7 miles away from my home). The regular price for the Pro is $ 14.99 for the 50# bag, TSC has it on sale for $ 13.99 till Oct. (can't remember that day). Then Manna Pro has a dollar off coupon for the bag (I printed & used several) on their web site http://info.mannapro.com/save-1-on-sele ... bbit-feed/ . So I have been saving $ 2 per bag lately. Also Manna Pro is good with mailling coupons if you call them & request them.

WalMart's rabbit food (the green bag, think it's called Small World) is made by Manna Pro it is their base line rabbit feed.

I also get coupons (free bag & discount) from Purina as I belong to two of their feeding clubs. I use these usually when i'm in a pinch & can't get the usual feed. I don't think my rabbits look as good when I feed them this as they do with their reg. feed.

The way I look at it is if I use coupons for my children's food why not use it for the critters food. Heck i'm a single parent living off a disability check every dollar saved helps.

* reminder: Remember to hold a bag of your regular feed back to use to mix with any new feed you may be switching them to, even if it is a temporary switch. As their poor lil stomaches are sensative to change.