Help me identify a Nutrena brand feed... please?

Picked up this year's day old chicks yesterday that we ordered through a local feed store and told them to put a bag of chick feed in my car while I was paying my bill. I got home and pulled the bag out to find this:


It says POULTRY FEED, not the normal chick starter I'm used to seeing. I promptly called the feed store and asked if this was the correct bag, and she said that Nutrena had changed their bags and after I told her the color of the bag and what it says on the front, she said that yes this is in fact chick starter feed. I was confused. I got off the phone and looked at the back of the bag and it mentions to check the tag for feed instructions, etc and conveniently the tag (that is normally sewn into the seam) is missing. At the bottom of the bag there is this:


It lists Country Feeds Chick Starter Grower 18% as one of their feeds, and shows a picture of the bag (the first one if you cant make it out). However, it does not mention a product just called "Poultry Feed". I also went to the Nutrena website and can't find any product called simply "Country Feeds Poultry Feed" anywhere... just the chick starter and layer feeds.

Unfortunately it is Saturday & the Nutrena offices are closed so I can't call. Can someone please help me identify this feed? Is it a chick feed or an "adult" feed? It lists no nutritional info on the bag since the tag is missing so I dont know if it is the needed 18% for chicks or 16% for normal layers...

Strange.

There's no tag on the bottom of the bag with nutritional info? I checked their website and they don't have any bags labeled just Poultry Feed.

Hmm... problem possibly solved. I checked with a friend who also bought a bag of this and she has a tag on hers, it says to feed from hatch until 22 weeks, but for layer pullets to switch to layer feed at 16 weeks. So that makes me feel better.

I am curious to know what the difference is between this and the purple bag of Nutrena Country Feeds chick starter I see pictured online is.

That bag doesn't even come up on there web page
http://www.nutrenaworld.com/nutrena/products/poultry/country-feeds-poultry/index.jsp

Chris

Nutrena recently changed feed formulation. The Nature Wise one went from the white/brown (chick starter) to a red one with a chicken picture on it. The size reduced from 50 lbs to 40lbs. When they did this they introduced the label you have in the 50lb size. This is the new look of the bag, I made my bag into a shopping one but you get the drift. The "Country" feeds label is going to be the more 'grade" formulation for large flock feeding and the Nature Wise the natural one they have always offered. Nutrena will be at our local store one evening this week to go over the changes and answer questions on sort of a "chick" night.

There have been a lot of changes within the last couple of months on their site. Stuff has gone on, stuff has gone off.... It's been driving me and consequently my feed dealer crazy.

So far my dealer still has the older feed bags coming in and his order sheets still show some of the products that are no longer showing online. Also some of the online stuff isn't showing as order able. I'm not sure they've established what all they are doing yet.

What it looks like according to things online and bag tags is that a few of the old offerings will be no more and those remaining originals are now the Country Feeds. We still have the original stuff here, so haven't gotten any yet. Like the 16% layer pellets will be the same, but the 20% pellets are now the CF All Flock pellets. No more Meat bird, now just flat out chick starter. Don't know if they'll have the gamebird or if that too will just be rolled in with the "chick starter". Their original formulas contain animal protein, which is one of the reasons I use/prefer Nutrena.

Their new Naturewise line is 100% vegetarian with marigold extract. yeast, probiotics, etc. Has a prettier bag and costs $2-$3 more/bag. The bags I've gotten so far however have all been 50lb bags whereas the originals here are all 40lb. Personally, I'd rather have the animal proteins and blander bag, skip the marigold. I'm okay with the rest. The stuff reeks though . I think it's the yeast, because it's a strong fermented smell.

Currently, no 20% Nutrena layer pellets or Country Feeds All Flock is showing order able, so I'm trying the Naturwise All Flock. I will buy all 5 bags that were brought in just for me so the dealer doesn't get stuck with any, but I'm likely switching brands.

I am thinking its been a geographical issue. According to our local store the newer version, 40# bags have been available on the east coast for over a year. The new look, and formulation has just arrived here in SW Washington State clear on the other side. I have fed the NatureWise label since getting chickens over a Year and half ago. The dealer here is keeping the price per lb the same as before and currently 10.00 as a promo during the switch. I am unhappy about the reduction from 50# to 40# as that means for my buying cycle I have to buy 3 bags not two but switching means also switching to stores not as close to home. Still undecided about the whole thing but it feels like a switch to to Purina/layena feed will be in the near future. I still need to compare the labels.

i have a 50# bag that looks the same as that and its 20% layer crumbles.

Hmmmm, maybe they test marketed the "all natural" stuff on the west coast to see how it would sell. Certainly has to be regional to some extent as I couldn't get the 20% pellets ever. Honestly all the stuff that's supposedly so great in the Naturewise just causes me to think of the Purina Sunfresh stuff. Sort of a Pepsi vs Coke kind of thing. Something like 3 months ago was when my dealer told me it was coming, but they didn't have anything but the original stuff on their website until a month or so ago. Even that's changed from when I first saw it. Purina isn't an option for me. Been there, done that, no thanks.


I just want a 20% pelleted feed w/ animal protein, no marigold, preferably in 50lb bags that doesn't disappear off the market as soon as I get comfortable. Waiting on an email from the ADM dealer now.