best brand of chicken feed?

[The Yakima Kid]

Lets say a mill wants to make a batch of 18% poultry layer all they have to do is mix --

1200 lbs corn
700 lbs (40%) poultry concentrate
50 lbs ground oyster shells
50 lbs calcium carbonate

Want a 17 % grower ok, mix --

1400 lbs corn
600 lbs (40%) poultry concentrate

Exactly. And if you find smaller mills that don't use a base from a major feed mill, they are still adding a vitamin/mineral/amino acid "premix." This is actually a necessity, in part because beef scrap and other animal materials are no longer used in most feeds. Not too many years ago it was fairly common to find crab and fish meal in poultry feed; now only Scratch and Peck seems to use fish meal. The King feed non-GMO I am currently feeding is really big on wheat, rice products, ground sugar snap peas, ground peanuts and peanut shells, lima beans, and hydrolyzed yeast products, along with various herbs and probiotics. Note that it has significant premix and added assorted nutrients, in part because the proteins require far more careful balancing than the old soy/corn recipes.

 

[Chris09]

Exactly. And if you find smaller mills that don't use a base from a major feed mill, they are still adding a vitamin/mineral/amino acid "premix." This is actually a necessity, in part because beef scrap and other animal materials are no longer used in most feeds. Not too many years ago it was fairly common to find crab and fish meal in poultry feed; now only Scratch and Peck seems to use fish meal. The King feed non-GMO I am currently feeding is really big on wheat, rice products, ground sugar snap peas, ground peanuts and peanut shells, lima beans, and hydrolyzed yeast products, along with various herbs and probiotics. Note that it has significant premix and added assorted nutrients, in part because the proteins require far more careful balancing than the old soy/corn recipes.

The small Mom and Pop mills around here use the poultry concentrates in there name brand feeds.
Purina uses fish meal in there Game Bird Feed
Purina show feed still contains a animal protein but I cant remember what type.
Mazuri game bird uses fish meal (menhaden) and porcine meat meal (this is what I feed)
Buckeye uses porcine meat meal

The starter I use (30% protein)
Dehulled soybean meal, ground corn, wheat middlings, fish meal (menhaden), porcine meat meal, dehydrated alfalfa meal, brewers dried yeast, glyceryl monostearate, soybean oil, calcium carbonate, salt, dl-methionine, choline chloride, dicalcium phosphate, mixed tocopherols (a preservative), cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), vitamin A acetate, manganous oxide, d-alpha tocopheryl acetate (natural source vitamin E), zinc oxide, l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C), niacin, calcium pantothenate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (vitamin K), vitamin B12 supplement, copper sulfate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, calcium iodate, thiamin mononitrate, sodium selenite, biotin.

The breeder I use (20% protein)
Ground corn, dehulled soybean meal, wheat middlings, calcium carbonate, fish meal (menhaden), dehydrated alfalfa meal, soybean oil, brewers dried yeast, dicalcium phosphate, salt, calcium propionate (a preservative), mixed tocopherols (a preservative), cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), vitamin A acetate, d-alpha tocopheryl acetate (natural source vitamin E), manganous oxide, zinc oxide, choline chloride, niacin, calcium pantothenate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (vitamin K), copper sulfate, vitamin B12 supplement, dl-methionine, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride, calcium iodate, folic acid, thiamin mononitrate, sodium selenite, biotin.

The supplement I use (47% protein) (also what I feed my aquarium fish)
Fish meal (menhaden), soybean meal, spray dried porcine blood cells, ground wheat, fish oil (menhaden), dried egg product, salt, dicalcium phosphate, carrageenan, Primalac (Lactobacillus cultures: Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Bifido bacterium bifidium, Enterococcus faecium, rice mill, calcium carbonate), Betaine (a chemo attractant for fish), lecithin, brewers dried yeast, l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C), mixed tocopherols (a natural preservative), ascorbic acid, citric acid, rosemary extract, choline chloride, manganese sulfate, niacin, d-alpha-tocopheryl acetate (natural source of vitamin E), vitamin B12 supplement, cobalt carbonate, calcium pantothenate, dl-methionine, zinc proteinate, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, manganese ptoreinate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, canthaxanthin, tribasic copper chloride, copper proteinate, folic acid, calcium carbonate, marigold extract, vitamin A acetate, palnt protein products, calcium iodate, sodium selenite, biotin, cobalt proteinate, ethylenediamine dihydroiodide, cholecalciferol (vitamin D3).

 

[Bethel3330]

Were you both depriving them of feed for eight hours overnight? It sounds like they died from either overfeeding or overheating.

She's raised them many times before and never had that happen.

 

[WhiteLeghorn2]

Lets say a mill wants to make a batch of 18% poultry layer all they have to do is mix --

1200 lbs corn
700 lbs (40%) poultry concentrate
50 lbs ground oyster shells
50 lbs calcium carbonate

Want a 17 % grower ok, mix --

1400 lbs corn
600 lbs (40%) poultry concentrate

I'm not disagreeing with you at all, but I'd still rather support my local business than support a big name company. (For example, Tractor Supply Co.) Even if the feed isn't made by them, I still would rather give my money to a local business than to give it to a big corporate name company that knocks local stores out of business.

 

[shmeggs]

we have good results using southern states layer crumbles.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I'm not disagreeing with you at all, but I'd still rather support my local business than support a big name company. (For example, Tractor Supply Co.) Even if the feed isn't made by them, I still would rather give my money to a local business than to give it to a big corporate name company that knocks local stores out of business.

I have used both Purina and King Feed. Currently I am using King non-GMO. King was started by Larry Hearne in 1938 and is still owned by the Hearne family. They are now a reasonably large, regional feed provider with a PhD animal nutritionist on staff. I have talked with their animal nutritionist on the telephone and he is a very nice guy who is willing to explain things - including the sources of the ingredients - to people who call and have questions about their products.

King is actually more expensive than Purina here. There are other local brands; but I like King.

 

[jasonvong]

Where can I buy cheap chickens feed in Southern California I live in anaheim ca.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Where can I buy cheap chickens feed in Southern California I live in anaheim ca.

Cheap feed and good feed aren't always the same thing. Avoid the bargain basement product of any manufacturer, usually labelled with something like "money saver" or "Do More" or something similar.

There are quite a few feed stores in your area listed in your yellow pages and on Google. Kruse feed is in La Habra.

Trabuco General Store in Trabuco Canyon and the Hitch 'n Post in Orange both carry King feeds.

If you know what brand of feed you want, go to the producer's website and use their dealer search.

 

[CrazyTalk]

If you're just looking for layer feed, I'd recommend seeing what your local mill or farm shop has. It's always better to support the local business than to buy low quality mass produced feed like Purina.

There's no reason to think that something mass produced is low quality - and in my experience, large companies tend to have better quality control departments than smaller ones.

What criteria are you using to say that Purina is low quality feed?

 

[Chris09]

I'm not disagreeing with you at all, but I'd still rather support my local business than support a big name company. (For example, Tractor Supply Co.) Even if the feed isn't made by them, I still would rather give my money to a local business than to give it to a big corporate name company that knocks local stores out of business.

Most of the small and larger local mills use a concentrate and local grains (if available) when mixing there feeds.
It's more simpler and cheaper for them to do so. I don't know what brand your using but there is a good chance that they use a mixer also.