Organic Poultry Feed Buying Club

[Barbara Standley]

In case you missed this discussion on the general Forum site, I have added this discussion here.Would you like to provide your poultry with organic feed? If your experience is like mine, you can’t find a feed store in Phoenix that carries such products and, if you have ordered them online, you are daunted by the cost. How about joining me in forming a Buying Club?I have had experience with a producer of organic livestock feeds in Iowa. I fed their products to my little flock of 3 hens as I was raising them to maturity earlier this year. I had purchased the feed through MacMurray’s website and just couldn’t justify continuing to use them because of the cost. So, I started to investigate….and here is what I have learned.The wholesale cost of the feeds themselves, before the transportation costs, taxes, and profits of a retail store, is roughly equal to the retail cost of the non-organic Arizona feeds (that contain animal byproducts and who knows what else!). So, how can we get this stuff at wholesale prices with as little add-on cost as possible?This supplier is interested in gaining a foothold in Arizona and is willing to sell us their products at the prices shown below, but we must order 40 50-pound bags, or the equivalent, as a minimum order to be able to ship as a truck pallet. This is the secret to keeping the shipping costs down to a minimum. The supplier will ship smaller loads, of course, but the shipping costs then go up dramatically because the smaller shipments are sent via retail carriers.Shipping costs can be lowered even more if we can find a retail location that is willing to take our delivery.This supplier uses all organic certified grains and supplements to produce complete nutritious livestock feeds. No animal byproducts are used in any of these feeds. The variety of grains and oil used to meet nutritional needs are in accordance with the NOP standards for organically raised livestock.The feeds from this supplier are listed below, with their wholesale prices (not including shipping costs). These feeds are certified as follows:The growing fields have been free of harmful chemicals or prohibited substances for at least 3 years,Milling operations follow strict standardsDetailed records of practices are keptEcologically friendly methods and substances are used to improve the soil and control pests# of pounds Price ($)Chicken Feed:Organic Chick Starter 5 3.55Organic Chick Starter 50 18.47Organic Chick Grower 50 17.58Organic Broiler Finisher 50 16.82Organic Layer Complete 50 15.80Additions:Aragonite Flour 10 7.8350 25.65Fishmeal w/Naturox 10 14.8650 53.85Kelp 5 7.1050 38.90Flaxseed 5 6.4550 41.10Premix bases:Starter/Grower/Finisher 10 10.9820 18.25Layer Base 20 17.83Duck Feeds:Starter 50 18.21Grower 50 17.88Finisher 50 17.25Turkey Feeds:Starter 26% 50 19.13Grower 24% 50 18.80Finisher 22% 50 18.20Wild Game Feed 50 19.98Other grains:Extruded soybean meal 50 27.70Corn, shell 50 14.70Corn, ground fine 50 15.10Corn, ground med. 50 15.10If you are interested in forming a buyer’s club, please let me know by emailing: [e-mail] will need to get together to decide on the working details of the organization. Perhaps a potluck organizational meeting of the buying club would be a great way to meet everyone, present any more research information we may have, make decisions about the operations of the group, and decide the role each member will play. Some considerations for the group include deciding who will receive shipments, who will handle the ordering and payment (a treasurer?), planning meetings, discussing surcharges and membership fees (if any), and creating bylaws (a quick and easy list of rules).I really look forward to hearing from you!Barbara Standley

[Scott Brown]

Another feed group has materialized in Tucson Arizona.  They are buying certified organic feed and the prices are much lower than anything available in retails.  They have a website:  www.tucsonorganicfeed.com

[Scott Brown]

It is time for another wholesale organic feed order. The link below will take you to a live order form. If you are interested in participating, view our website, www.phoenixorganicfeed.com, to get your questions answered before submitting your order. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGQ0RTlxWHppb3...

[Scott Brown]

Barbara

I have started a group which is already ordering Organic feed.  We have this exact operation up and running.  Take a look at the link below.  I am guessing that your buying group isn't still operational.  The pricing listed on the following link does include pricing, so please take a look and let me know if you would like to known more:

http://www.facebook.com/BackyardChickenFarmersUnite/info 

OR

http://www.phoenixpermaculture.org/profiles/blogs/group-purchase-of...

Please share this information with anyone who would benefit.

Thank you

SB

[Scott Brown]

Here is a website to a group which does exactly as this blog proposes:  

www.phoenixorganicfeed.com

[Kat]

I saw an old post about organic chicken feed in bulk.

Did you ever get this going? If so, I am interested in buying large quantities of feed but do not know where to buy from. Do you have suggestions. I am buying non-organic for $13.00 for 50 lb bags. If I could get that cheaper or get organic for that price, that is what I am looking for. I buy 600 lbs of feed a month. I would be willing to buy a few months supply if needed.

[Rachel]

It's O.H. Kruse and here's the link to their product sheet: http://www.krusefeed.com/Products.htm

[Kristin Parsons]

I see on their website they're in cali...it's a smaller carbon footprint to ship here from Cali than from Iowa...even though I'm from a midwestern family and I'm sure that both companies have great stuff, if we could get equal or better prices from the mill in CA it would be the more environmentally friendly option IMHO.

I don't have my chickens yet (moving into my new house hopefully in about a month and would need probably another month or so to get settled and build a coop) but I am certainly interested in being part of this group!

[Rachel]

I got the price list you emailed, and with the shipping charges, it would actually be at least $6 MORE per bag than regular retail prices for organic feed at our local feedstores. The Stock Shop is a wonderful business that has always had excellent customer service, so I'm hesistant to send my business elsewhere especially if it means paying more for having a product shipped very far (not so food for the ol' carbon footprint). I'm sure this product is of high quality, but it just doesn't make sense for me economically or environmentally. I really appreciate all the legwork you've been doing to try and get this organized.
Please remember that the stock shop will give us a 10% discount on a 2000 pound order as well. We could save some money and buy locally.

[Kelly Liston]

I would be more interested in buying locally as well. Let me know what happens with this.

[Barbara Standley]

Do you know from where the Stock Shop gets its organic feed? I would like to check out the product. If we can get a 2,000 lb order together, we could go directly to the source.