best brand of chicken feed?

[LeslieDJoyce]

Here is a link to Payback brand's poultry feeds page. It lists there concentrates.

I think a concentrated poultry pellet is a great choice. It can be very economical and flexible.

http://www.paybacknutrition.com/poultry.html

 

[pdirt]

I just use wheat germ oil ( 2-4 tsp per pound of feed), and no more than once every couple weeks. Cod liver oil is alright so long as it is kept around 3% content in feed like other oils. The oils won't go rancid because I only mix up enough to be fed that day. You'd have to ask a formulator at a mill about stabilizers. Be careful with fish meal, like any protein supplement. Too much can cause enteritis. Slow digestion is the reason, and is the cause for the multiplication of bad bacteria in the intestinal tract.

Thanks for the input. I will probably only do this through the winter (mixing any feed) for a variety of reasons, one being oil rancidity, as I'm not interested in mixing up feed every day. I'd like to do it every couple weeks or so. I think the summer it would just be too hot.

The first batch I mixed up I had about 4% fish meal, by weight. I think next batch I will up it to about 7%, does that sound reasonable?

The one feed we used to buy did have fish meal listed as the final main ingredient (before the premix) and I figured that was for cost, but what you're saying is it could be as much so as not to cause slow digestion. We ferment some feed and the new mixed up feed will have some direct fed microbials from Nutri Balancer as well. It could be a coincidence, but they are laying more eggs since giving them a little animal protein from the fish meal, since there are no bugs left to forage.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Too much fish meal can make eggs and meat taste fishy. Birds do better with some animal proteins, but there are pluses and minuses with all feed ingredients.

 

[Michael Apple]

Thanks for the input. I will probably only do this through the winter (mixing any feed) for a variety of reasons, one being oil rancidity, as I'm not interested in mixing up feed every day. I'd like to do it every couple weeks or so. I think the summer it would just be too hot.

The first batch I mixed up I had about 4% fish meal, by weight. I think next batch I will up it to about 7%, does that sound reasonable?

Based upon what I've read regarding fish proteins, that percentage may be alright for mature birds. Freeze dried white fish has been used at 10-12% at 3-11 weeks of age. Make sure sodium (NaC1) is less than 7%. Somewhere between 4-10% fish protein would be a safe range for mature birds depending on how often you supplement with it. Don't overlook whey protein, which has also been attributed to higher egg quality due to water soluble vitamins including riboflavin. It's use of no more than 10% is recommended. It was once valued in the control of Coccidiosis, likely because of the polysaccharides which support digestive flora. Avoid the flavored ones with artificial ingredients and added sugars. NOW makes one I have used which has less than 3% sodium: http://www.luckyvitamin.com/p-643004-now-foods-whey-protein-concentrate-natural-unflavored-15-lbs
I only use 1 tsp per lb of moistened feed. The same amount I'd use if it were KAL nutritional yeast.

Perhaps I could supplement more often, but don't see the need to with the health of my birds. That is why I may do it once a week, or every two weeks, towards the end of Winter, or in Fall before and during moult. It is much easier to just use a good quality avian moult supplement which supplies the aminos, minerals, and vitamins needed. Some of the pigeon supply outfits carry a wide variety of them. Some are supplemented in water, and others mixed with feed.

The one feed we used to buy did have fish meal listed as the final main ingredient (before the premix) and I figured that was for cost, but what you're saying is it could be as much so as not to cause slow digestion. We ferment some feed and the new mixed up feed will have some direct fed microbials from Nutri Balancer as well. It could be a coincidence, but they are laying more eggs since giving them a little animal protein from the fish meal, since there are no bugs left to forage.

I believe what has been recorded in trials performed by the Agricultural Experiment Station at Cornell with the results of a good balance of plant and animal proteins. I rarely use fish proteins, but have used no-salt canned tuna on occasion.

 

[seminolewind]

Buckeye feed looks good, I looked up places near me, one is closed down. The other only sells for horses. I'll have to call the one left.
They do have several different layer feeds, one is 20% and has porcine meal and animal fat in it. I think that's good. Which brings me to the question, Why did chicken feed go all vegetarian? Was it because of meat or chicken by products like feathers?

I am surprised that a commercial feed for chickens actually gives you a choice of a few different layer diets.

I have searched a zillion ways to evict corn from my chook's diets. But then you're left with the evil soybeans. I've come to realize that the most important nutrient for a chicken is calories. And that comes from corn.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote: Yes fish meal can slow digestion which is not good. Use in moderation.

 

[pdirt]

Excellent, thank you, most helpful. I use fish meal because its high quality. It's too hard to get quality animal protein from other sources, IMO. I will look into whey protein again, but last I read about it was it wasn't recommended because the high heat used in processing it dentures the proteins, or some such. But I have a 50lbs bag of fish meal to get through first!

 

[pdirt]

Buckeye feed looks good, I looked up places near me, one is closed down.  The other only sells for horses.  I'll have to call the one left.
They do have several different layer feeds, one is 20% and has porcine meal and animal fat in it.  I think that's good.  Which brings me to the question, Why did chicken feed go all vegetarian?  Was it because of meat or chicken by products like feathers?

I am surprised that a commercial feed for chickens actually gives you a choice of a few different layer diets.  

I have searched a zillion ways to evict corn from my chook's diets.  But then you're left with the evil soybeans.  I've come to realize that the most important nutrient for a chicken is calories.  And that comes from corn.  

Hah! And I am trying to get corn into their diet! But I'm now pretty much more anti GMO than I am pro organic, if I have to choose. The only GMO free corn I can find is organic and it's pretty expensive. And the soybeans aren't really evil, if you go organic, because they're not GMO.

 

[pdirt]

Too much fish meal can make eggs and meat taste fishy. Birds do better with some animal proteins, but there are pluses and minuses with all feed ingredients.

Thanks for the tip. I had the vague sense of a fishy taste in my eggs this morning, but it could've been just me. It wasn't bad. I'll keep my tongue peeled and will report back if I taste it again.

 

[pdirt]

Quote:
Okay, so I did some quicky research and it looks like there is a difference in whey protein. There's Whey Protein Isolate (90% protein) and then there's Whey Protein Concentrate(70% protein) (the link you mention is the latter). The isolate is the stuff that has been heated and denatured and treated with acids. Concentrate is simply filtered and dried. The concentrate you linked is s-spendy, those are some spoiled chickens! I would consider it as an occasional supplement if I could find an organic source, or at least a source that hasn't been pumped full of antibiotics, etc.

Actually, I found one, but it is even spendier: https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/product/10792//

When there's some extra piggies in the bank, I might try this occasionally.