best brand of chicken feed?

[The Yakima Kid]

perchie.girl :

Dog food adds are designed to sell dog food to people. Mad Cow is caused by Prions. Prions are neither virus Nor bacteria they are proteins that have gone wrong. Its not the only disease caused by Prions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prion

I dont believe chickens can pass on Mad Cow.
http://consumerfreedom.com/article_detail.cfm/a/137-mad-cow-q--a

Chickens may not be able to pass on Mad Cow - but the problem with feeding chickens ruminant by-product feed comes when they share the same pasture with ruminants which will eat any spilled or otherwise accessible feed and the ruminants can pick it up from ruminant by-products in their feed.

Isn't Kuru also caused by Prions? I know Mad Cow and scrapie are prion diseases.

I sure know that the pet food advertisements weren't designed to appeal to the coonhound I used to own - if they were they'd have featured rotting, stinky meat that smelled to high heaven and could serve both as a dinner and a fragrant wallow.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Apparently another reason for no animal by-products in chicken feed is concern that this is a route for salmonella exposure.

Of course, my birds are quite happy to eat any passing mouse, which probably also exposes them to diseases I don't want to think about. It's amazing that I lived this long and never died from any of this stuff if half of the excitement on TV is half as bad as they say it is.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Chickens may not be able to pass on Mad Cow - but the problem with feeding chickens ruminant by-product feed comes when they share the same pasture with ruminants which will eat any spilled or otherwise accessible feed and the ruminants can pick it up from ruminant by-products in their feed.

Isn't Kuru also caused by Prions? I know Mad Cow and scrapie are prion diseases.

I sure know that the pet food advertisements weren't designed to appeal to the coonhound I used to own - if they were they'd have featured rotting, stinky meat that smelled to high heaven and could serve both as a dinner and a fragrant wallow.

Bwhahahaha..... the Pepe Le Pew factor. I love my doggies.

WRT (with regard to) passing on Mad cow. The deal is the Proteins that pass on Mad cow are involved with nerve tissue. There are too many technical documents to really absorb unless you are a biologist. GAWD I wish I wasn't a Gear head instead of a Bio head. But what little I understand is the prions are a folded wrongly constructed protein that passes on its traits to another protein. Yep if its a mammal you have the chance of getting a Prion targeted disease... no matter how remote. Even some Avian species have their own prion diseases.

But.... here comes the one point I am aiming at.... most Chicken feed is augmented with fish byproducts. If Prions exist there they will be targeted toward fish. The same goes for mammal prions even Cow. Ok I am not against an all vegetable feed product as long as it provides the appropriate digestible protein content to raise healthy robust Poultry.

WRT salmonella Your other post. Believe it or not salmonella is common in garden soil. It floats about on dust particles brought in by a spring breeze. In other words its everywhere. Along with Botulism.... It becomes a problem when people either ignore common food handling practices or they forget them.

So many Chicken littles in the world.... not enough people with actual facts.... which I am woefully deficient.

edited for clarity

 

[KDK1]

Chicken.Lytle :

Quote:
Dumor is the TSC generic made by Purina.

I recently discovered that the little gas station in Tomball sells M - G 20 layer crumbles. Yay! My birds like M - G 20. I am hoping to try Coyote Creek organic layer feed but the closest dealer is in a location I prefer to avoid.

Also, my chickens are not happy with the mix I improvised. Need help with that.

All I use is M-G and My birds love it... Plus I can get right here on the Island (Galveston)​

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
So, Purina Layena is more expensive than most, and now they have a MORE expensive feed??? I think they're cashing in on the backyard chicken craze. I'm with the Kid, for the extra money I can give them alot of REAL food!

 

[luminarist]

Quote:
You're so lucky! I pay as much for shipping as I do for the feed. Darn. But the feed is so good, I'm willing to pay.

We just started with our first batch of chickens and being a novice we started off with Purina. Admittedly, that's no excuse for not stating off with better food than Purina, but it was all I could find at the time.

I really like the sound of the Country Side Natural, but the shipping is only $1 less than the feed. So far my only local option (89 miles away) sells the Blue Seal brand. Fortunately, we were already planning on driving up that way this weekend. In the future I think I'm going to order the Country Side Natural. With a little luck we'll be able to find a wholesome organic food closer by.

Thanks a lot for the good discussion! I sure have a lot to learn!!






edited for clarity

 

[julsmc]

I am still looking for any opinions on Nutrena? or Manna Pro? Love this link

 

[kizanne]

I love countryside organics as well. We have a co-op that gets together and orders a pallet which is 44 bags. That way they get it at the best price and shipping is negligible.

Their online single bag price is like $25 and in pallet bulk with shipping we paid like 23.50

 

[seminolewind]

Can someone post the first 10+ ingredients from a bag of southern states? Thanks.

 

[mikecnorthwest]

I use Purina Layena for feed but my hens also free range in the backyard during the day. So far they haven't complained and they continue to lay eggs so I'm happy. I pay about $15 a bag for the feed which is much cheaper than the custom feeds sold in Portland urban farm stores.