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

[Barbara Standley]

We cannot place an order until we have a group commitment for 2,000 lb. The order can include any of the products on the list, it is the total poundage that determines when we can use trucking instead of the much more expensive postal or FedEx-type services. I will post a notice when we are close; last year we could not get enough interest.

[Janine]

I emailed you. We are only interested in duck food. We are using manna pro right now. The gal at feedlot said it was the best, they use it on their poultry. and the ducklings are finally off the ground up stuff.

[Barbara Standley]

Hi, Janine. please note that the feed provider I am currently working with offers duck feeds. please let me know if you are interested. We need a combined order of 2,000 pounds to be able to use trucking, which is much cheaper than the post office or FedEx-type services.

[Kelly Liston]

Awesome! Count me in! I will email you as well. Right now I have a 16 week old and 3 12 week olds that are going through some grower. But, they will start laying soon and I would like to start buying organic when I move to the layer feed. I have a 50 pound bag of the grower, but they aren't even half way done with that. I am pretty sure they will finish that by the time they start laying. This is my first go with chickens, so I don't really know how fast they go through food.

[Barbara Standley]

Hi, Kelly: Please have a look at my update regarding the prices of the organic feeds available from the feed manufacturer I am working with. We need to get a combined order for 2,000 lb in order to take advantage of the lower prices for truck transport.

[Kelly Liston]

Barbara, are the updated prices listed at the top? I would be interested in a 50 pound bag of layer feed as my hens will start laying in a month or two.

[Barbara Standley]

You are the first person to reply in the affirmative! Others find the prices too high, so I am researching other alternatives and will keep everyone posted. Please keep checking for updates!

Barbara

[Kelly Liston]

Keep me in the know. If you find somewhere else that is cheaper, then GREAT!

[Barbara Standley]

I am again in touch with Bluestem of Iowa, who produce organic feed that is very successful with my hens. They have a comprehensive group of poultry feeds and will be sending their information and pricing to me next week.

If we can get together an order for 40 50-lb. bags, mix or match the types of feed, we can get their wholesale prices plus shipping costs.

I will post the information as soon as I get it. Maybe we can get enough of an order together this time!

[MariaInWPhx]

I know this is a bit off-topic, but does this company by chance manufacture rabbit food?