switching from starter feed for bantams

SunHwaKwon said:

That is true; however, the information is going to be biased by that manufacturer. For instance, Dumor is not going to give you a "multistage" feed as an option, because they don't make one. I've only seen a few bags that mention anything about alternative feeds for male chickens.

Beyond the protein and perhaps calcium numbers, most people don't know what to do with the guaranteed analysis information. That goes for their dog and cat food, as well. Heck, obviously people couldn't even understand human nutrition labels and they had to dumb those down (yet they are still confusing to many).

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Thank you everyone for your input! You're right, ChickenCanoe, it was obnoxious of me to ask about information that was not on my bag of food and to assume that more experienced people would be willing to share their advices with me.

I appreciate your suggestion SunHwaK, I believe I will look into the meat bird pellets, I do worry about my roo having issues with the layer feed. I just want everyone to be happy and healthy.

ChaChaP said:

Thank you everyone for your input! You're right, ChickenCanoe, it was obnoxious of me to ask about information that was not on my bag of food and to assume that more experienced people would be willing to share their advices with me.

I appreciate your suggestion SunHwaK, I believe I will look into the meat bird pellets, I do worry about my roo having issues with the layer feed. I just want everyone to be happy and healthy.

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In my experiences my rooster live a lot longer not being fed layer. In general I also find layer too low in protein for year round use. I haven't fed layer in almost 3 years now and my flock is much healthier for it.

Don't forget to check the mill date on each bag of feed; older than four week isn't worth buying, IMO. Local availability will make your choice of feeds, so go with the best feeds that are usually fresh at your feed stores. Some people have good success with locally milled feeds, but that's not true everywhere. Pellets tend to be nicer (less waste) but aren't available in all feeds. Mary

^ This is true. My meat bird pellets are a local specialty, I guess you could say, as the website does not even list the meat bird maker as available in pellet form. My bags are Southern States, which is available in many states, but they use local mills as far as I know (I know my bags have a local mill on them) so that helps with freshness but does mean sometimes price fluctuates with local grain process but only by about 50¢ one way or another and it's not frequent. The guaranteed analysis can change slightly sometimes, too, I've noticed, so just be aware of that if you go through them. I don't know if they have a location near you.

Wow, thanks for the heads up Folly's Place and SunHwaKwon. We have a few feed stores in the area, but I live in Sacramento and most of them tend to be commercial chains. I bought the starter at the same feed store I got my chicks at, so there wasn't much opportunity to be super particular. I'll definitely have to do some shopping around!