Welsh Poultry Centre

Can you save money by milling and mixing your own food for your poultry enterprise?

I have been asked by a couple of people recently, given the rising cost of feed, whether it is worth milling your own feed and what the savings are likely to be. 

Do you want to match like for like? 

The bought in feed you currently buy is likely to be in a pellet form. If you are considering milling and mixing your own, you will need to consider the pros and cons of producing pelleted feed or a mash. 

Energy Costs

While milling and mixing equipment can be purchased at reasonable cost, machines that will pellet feed are not very expensive to purchase they and very expensive to run. 

It is estimated that the energy requirements for pelleting feed are 59.5KWH compared with 21.6KWH for a mash. These figures where taken from a French feed mill. Obviously there are variations in these figures depending on size and state of the equipment, but it demonstrates that pelleting feed requires nearly three times the energy of mash.

Pellets or mash?

Pellets have several well documented advantages over mash although the nutritional value is the same. Higher feed density and no feed ingredient separation means improved growth and food conversion ratios. There is also less wastage with pellets.

A mash can produce a variety of particle sizes. The bigger more dominant birds tend to obtain the bigger particles, which are easier for the bird to digest and require less time to achieve the same nutritional intake. The older, more worn the grinder/hammermill the greater the particle sizes are likely to be. This is worth bearing in mind when considering purchasing a second hand mill.

Cost savings using home grown grain

If you grow your own grain it obviously has an economic benefit to use it on farm. You are adding value to a primary agricultural product and you have minimal transportation costs. 

Nutrient benefit

There is a definite nutrient benefit to your farm. It is likely that your poultry were on land that was then cultivated for the crop that produces the grain for you to mill and mix.

Nutrients produced by the farm would usually be lost i.e. grain sold off farm; while other nutrients i.e.the poultry feed, would be bought in.

By milling and mixing your own grain you are retaining nutrients on the farm for two cycles. Effectively you are recycling that nutrient back into your poultry.

Improved quality

You will also be ensuring the best quality product for your birds and be able to tailor your birds ration directly by having total control over the bulk raw ingredients.

Additional income stream

As well as feeding your own birds it may be possible to consider milling for other people and thus giving your farm another income stream. This would normally entail complying with local regulations but could enable you to buy in in larger quantities thus making savings. In the UK the Feeding Stuffs (Establishments and Intermediaries) Regulations 1999 implement EC Directive 95/69 require those who manufacture compound feeding stuffs, either for their own use or for use by other livestock owners, either be approved or to register with local authorities.

Additional capital costs

This is, unfortunately, not an easy question. So much depends on quantities you intend to mill, whether you have a suitable building already in which to house a mill, how much you want to store, before and after milling, whether you are bagging or bulkstoring, if you are buying new or secondhand, and what existing facilities exist.

Consequently the costings suggested below are very much ball park figures.

Most equipment available is 3 phase. Costs may be greater if only single phase is available.

Buying New

A small scale hammermill                  2000.00

Installation                                             500.00

Half tonne mixer                                    4000.00

Bulk storage bins                                    8500.00

Augers                                             4500.00

Total                                                      18500.00

This would be assuming a storage capacity of around 34 tonnes. Obviously the greater the ability to buy and store cereals/straights, the greater the ability to save on tonne cost. With installation and other work this could easily be rounded up to £20,000.

Secondhand

Despite the numerous variables to do with individual location and buildings it is possible with new costs to get some idea of what might be expected. Secondhand costs are altogether more difficult to suggest as along with all the above variables it depends on where you are and what you might be able to find. Assuming reasonable equipment or money spent on making good I don’t think £10,000 would be far off the mark.

The equipment I have costed for assumes milling 400tonnes per year and storing in bulkbins. It is possible to consider much smaller equipment storing in bags, thus saving on bulk bins and augers but the operation would be much more labour intensive and would still leave you with a storage problem.

Is it cheaper?

It is cheaper to mill and mix your own but by how much very much depends on what you are paying for your cereals. If you grow your own cereals then you are going to save up to £40 per tonne. It is also likely that you already have the means to store your grain and possible the ability to move that grain fairly easily.

If you don’t grow your own then it all depends on what price you have to pay for cereals and how much you can store. If these are additional capital costs, (in storage) it is possible that the savings per tonne of feed are not justified.

The amount of labour that you have to put into the mill and mix should also be taken into consideration. It doesn’t take many hours of work mill and mixing your own ration to wipe out the £15-20 saving per tonne.

Conclusion

In the end it is probably only worth considering milling and mixing your own feed stuff if you grow your own cereals or possibly if you intend to sell your product as well. Otherwise the possible saving you make will be lost in capital costs and labour

About the author

Stephen Merritt is a partner in The Welsh Poultry Centre and an accredited advisor and board member of The Institute of Organic Training and Advice and has spent over 30 years working in sustainable agriculture in developing countries, England and Wales.  In the last 8 years Steve has specialised in free range and organic poultry production and now offers on farm advice, information and training to this sector.

The Author has used their best efforts in preparing this article.However, the author makes no warranties of any kind, express or implied, with regard to the informational content, documentation, or files contained in this article, and specifically disclaim, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with respect to program listings in the book, the techniques described in the book,and/or the use of files.

In no event shall the author be responsible or liable for loss of profit,or any commercial damages, including, but not limited to, special incidental,consequential, or any other damages in connection with or arising out offurnishing, performance, or use of this this information.

Further, the author has used their best efforts to proof and confirm the content of the files, but you should proof and confirm information such as dates, measurements, prices and any other content for yourself. The author makes no warranties of any kind, express or implied, with regard to that contentor its accuracy.

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