This week has been one for huge savings on chicken and rabbit feed- I was able to score 3 boxes full of produce from the local grocer and paid absolutely nothing! There are all kinds of delicious treats for my chickens and rabbits to feast on. This was not the only score I made this week. I got 4 watermelons from my boss as she said they had too many seeds for human consumption. Also, pumpkins went on sale for the end of the season and several folks I know are tossing out their carved pumpkins. Now if only I had a pig to feed all this bounty to, I am not sure the chickens and rabbits will be able to eat all of this before it spoils. Then on top of all that, my coworker’s husband brewed some beer and had two large bags of spent brewers grain to share with me.
The chickens and the rabbits both didn’t really know what to do with the pumpkins so I will make note of that in the future as it doesn’t seem like they care for them all that much. Maybe I will just have to save the seeds and bake them up with some seasoning. Who doesn’t love a good healthy snack?
The chickens went absolutely insane for the spent grains and of course, as usual, the rabbits loved the romaine lettuce. They pressed their cute little faces to the doors begging for more. This easily saved me a week’s worth of feed expenses. Now if I could find a way to cut down on the cost of owning a horse as well. Chickens and rabbits are small potatoes compared to the dogs and horse. One of the ways I have cut back a little on the hay expense was to let Johnny free roam the property; since the flower beds are done for the season he won’t cause much harm. He seemed to enjoy roaming over by the rabbit hutches and terrorizing the poor little ones. 
I will continue to do a weekly pick up at the grocery store and my boss and coworker both plan to keep me on their list of compost items and beer waste. How lucky am I? Below is an image of the spent grains. As long as they are fed by the third day after brewing they are a perfect treat for the chickens. How do you save on feeding costs? 
Homesteading With a View 
Freeze the fruit to feed later. Especially in the summer.
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Great idea!
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You can also compost the extra fruit and them let the chickens turn the compost to feed on the insects that are eating the veggies. Look up Vermont Compost and Justin Rhodes for more info. Both have composting systems that provide 100 percent of the food for their chickens.
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Thank is brilliant! Thanks for the heads up on the sources to get going with it. I’ll look tonight on incorporating it into my setup.
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Let me know how it works for you! I’m currently doing the same. It would be interesting to compare notes.
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I just met another woman on Friday who is doing this with 500 chickens! Her feed bill is absolutely zero dollars!! I’m a believer 😮
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😮 I would love to see it in action. This Tuesday I am getting ready to “unveil” (turn) my first pile for the chickens. I can’t wait to see what’s in there!
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Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.
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Thank you! I hope you continue to enjoy it
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