Useless Feed Store - Suggestions?

[Cspr]

My local feed store only sells BOSS. The lady didn't even know what flax seeds were. :|

I looked on Amazon and read reviews and all that. Apparently I can get BOSS from super center stores for cheaper with better product (thoughts?). Nobody sells Coastal Bermuda hay except an hour down the interstate. Could do that, but ugh. Might just buy alfalfa hay once my prairie grass hay runs out.

Now for pricing on flax seed and grain seed for fodder. Does this all seem reasonable?

$24 for 25# of barley seeds. (Brand: Handy Pantry.)
$23 for 10# hard red winter wheat. (Brand: Handy Pantry.)
25# of "forage oats" (deer feed) for $17. (Brand: PlotSpike.)
6.5# of flax seeds for $16. (Brand: Premium Gold.)

Anybody know about these brands?

 

[Prisma]

You might try looking for a Southern States or Fosters Feed store...they've got some things

I've only heard of PlotSpike before, from deer feeding. The stuff here by that name has other things in it besides "oats" so I'm not how rabbit friendly it would actually be if it is the same thing :/

 

[Miss M]

Yikes... $$$$

Okay, in all fairness, I feed pellets. I can't easily get hold of anything but oats and wheat, and the wheat is very expensive! I really can't spend more than I spend on pellets, so it all has to be compared to the price of pellets.

As for whether those are reasonable prices for natural feeding, someone else will need to answer that.

How much is alfalfa for you? Maybe you can just do that and mineral block chunks.

 

[Cspr]

@RRR:

Sadly, I have neither of those within at least an hour of me. One of them not even in state.

Yeah. I was worried 'cause it's deer feed. What on Earth even are "forage oats"? I figure I'll nab some barley and flax and get some BOSS from a local super center and hope that it all evens out when I add in kudzu/willow branches, prairie grass hay, and other greenery.

@Miss M:

It's actually not a lot for everything but the wheat as far as I can tell. About $3 of grain turned to fodder is enough to feed one rabbit for a month. I mean, it depends on weight, but for those I raise, that's what it came out to. One-third of what I was spending in pellets. If this all goes well, I could be breaking even a lot sooner than I'd hoped!

Alfalfa is about $40 for 25#. :/ I can get Coastal Bermuda for loads cheaper, but, again, it's an hour's drive away and I just don't have the space to store in bulk.

 

[MaggieJ]

Those prices seem very high to me, but I realize that I am very fortunately placed when it comes to availability of feed and reasonable prices.

Whole wheat is about $10-12 for 50 pounds here and other grains a bit more or a bit less. Good alfalfa hay is only about $3.50 a square bale (about 40 pounds). I had no idea until recently that so many of our members are faced with such high prices.

 

[Cspr]

You are definitely very lucky. @.@ But, yeah. It's an unfortunate thing, which is why I have to be quite savvy when it comes to finances. -shrugs- But, as I said, it'll still cut my costs by quite a lot using fodder rather than pellets, so there's something.

Mind you, once I'm done with college, I intend to buy a few acres. Where there is acreage, there tends to be feed stores. Hopefully I can find a nice place for my future rabbits, chickens, and goats to live and be fed rather cheaply but well.

I guess if no one knows much, I'll try out the brands myself and tell you all how it goes. I do have a question about fodder: If it's 90 or so degrees outside, if planted in dirt, will they sprout well enough? Or would you suggest keeping them indoors--at 75 degrees--until it cools down in fall?

 

[Miss M]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaah, you're turning it into fodder! That makes all the difference in the world! I see you did say "for fodder" in your OP... I just missed it.

That would make possibly even the wheat a bargain. :thinking: Maybe not really a bargain on the wheat... but maybe about the same price as pellets.

 

[Cspr]

Yep. It does, doesn't it?

Maybe. I learned that apparently Amazon doesn't include free shipping on any of it when I tried to buy it tonight, however. :evil: :? :|

Back to square one. Shipping would cost more than the food. -headdesks-

I realized I could potentially buy deer food, as there's a hunting shop down the road. Seems like this one type of food might work, but I'm not quite sure.

Contains: Triticale, oats, winter peas, clover, chickory, turnip, and radish.

Thoughts, anyone? With luck, they'll supply it. If not...well, free shipping. -forever an optimist-

 

[trinityoaks]

Wow, that's high for here. Are you planning to plant the deer oats for fodder? If so, you might want to check first to make sure the oats aren't rolled or crimped. Is that alfalfa price for seed or hay? That price seems awfully high for hay, but probably about right for seed.

 

[Cspr]

It's all for deer fodder, so it should be fine. And, yes, it's seed, not hay.

Would that all be acceptable feed for rabbits, you think?

 

[3mina]

That should be fine for them, triticale is a wheat/rye hybrid and the rest are fine as far as I'm aware

 

[Cspr]

Awesome. Thanks. Sounds like I may be set.

 

[Jack]

see if you local walmart has a feed section

 

[Miss M]

If you want wheat, this might be workable price-wise (it would work out to be less than the $23/10#, for sure): http://beprepared.com/provident-pantry- ... 5-lbs.html

45# for $51, including shipping (shipping is $6... and no matter how much you order, you don't pay more than $12 for shipping. I have ordered from them, and it's for real.)

$23/10# = $2.30/lb.
$51/45# = $1.13/lb., or less than half the price.

 

[Frecs]

My local feed store only sells BOSS. The lady didn't even know what flax seeds were. :|

I looked on Amazon and read reviews and all that. Apparently I can get BOSS from super center stores for cheaper with better product (thoughts?). Nobody sells Coastal Bermuda hay except an hour down the interstate. Could do that, but ugh. Might just buy alfalfa hay once my prairie grass hay runs out.

Now for pricing on flax seed and grain seed for fodder. Does this all seem reasonable?

$24 for 25# of barley seeds. (Brand: Handy Pantry.)
$23 for 10# hard red winter wheat. (Brand: Handy Pantry.)
25# of "forage oats" (deer feed) for $17. (Brand: PlotSpike.)
6.5# of flax seeds for $16. (Brand: Premium Gold.)

Anybody know about these brands?

I gave up on finding barley in my area. The feed mill in Goldsboro has it for making feeds and they told me they can't sell it to me by the bag (guess they use it all themselves). I do get "feed grade" wheat from them and oats although their oats are a bit expensive ($18 for 50lbs...I saw someone localish selling 80lb bags of oats for $12...I wasn't able to get to them to get it). There is a local distributor who orders my stuff along with theirs which saves me the long drive to Goldsboro. I say this to say this: call the feed mills (the REAL feed mills) in your state and see what they might be able to sell you "feed grade" grains. I would not buy 50lbs of flax seed (which is what this feed mill sells). You would never use it all before it went rancid. 6.5lb bag...maybe...and that is probably a decent price for flaxseed. I get my flax seed from the health food store a 1/2 pound at a time...which is a PITA but my only current option. Anyway...my point is that you might want to explore your state feed mills and see what you can come up with.

For the hay -- find out where your local horse folk get their hay. "Horse quality" is what I was told to ask for because horses can't deal with moldy hay any more than rabbits can. If coastal Bermuda is not what is grown local, the horse folk can tell you what is. I'm on a FB page for the two counties within my "circle" and the one with all the horse folk (Conway, SC) has had a lot of chatter about the lack of hay at the moment. Fortunately, I don't need any right now...

__________ Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:05 am __________

when I add in kudzu/willow branches, prairie grass hay, and other greenery.

Just a note of caution: I've been told -- but have not verified -- that feeding kudzu to rabbits is a very good way to bring kudzu to your property! Now, as long as you can keep ahead of kudzu's growth and spread by feeding it to the rabbits, that might not matter. But, well....just sayin'.... it is the vine that ate the South after all!<br /><br />__________ Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:10 am __________<br /><br />

I do have a question about fodder: If it's 90 or so degrees outside, if planted in dirt, will they sprout well enough? Or would you suggest keeping them indoors--at 75 degrees--until it cools down in fall?

I have my fodder system outside in one of those "5-tier/shelf 'greenhouse'" things. Worked great until it got hot and humid. Then, mold and fermentation! Since I can't bring it indoors... I am leaving it open for better air circulation and I am giving them some 3 day sprouts and (once I'm back to full production) 7 day fodder (if it can go that long without molding....). Since I'm using wheat and not barley, my rabbits seem to prefer 3 day sprouts over the 7 day fodder anyway. (Wheat isn't as sweet as barley.)

 

[zee]

Maybe you should consider buying from the LDS cannery. They're selling 25# bags of hard red / white wheat for $11.45. I got 2 bags of each a couple of months ago.

 

[Jack]

OH YES
contact your local LDS church, they have everything you need, the LDS have a VERY strong 'survivalist' bent, and if you know anything of their doctrine and history, you understand why. EVERYTHING you need can be bought from them, and they have no problem selling to non members.

 

[Cspr]

Thanks for all the extra help, guys. I will have to see if there is a local LDS church. I know a girl whose religion is that, but we got Baptists up the wazoo around here. ALL the Baptists. No idea if there even is an LDS cannery. -will look about-

 

[Jack]

https://www.lds.org/topics/emergency-pr ... s?lang=eng

 

[Cspr]

I had a "D'oh!" moment. There's a LSD covenant downtown I could get to. Not sure if they sell any grain or whatnot, but I could ask to find out. I'm impressed with the resolve to prepare for natural disasters rather than thinking they will just be blessed with good luck (common problem I notice with religious and non-religious people).

Thanks for the information.