best brand of chicken feed?

[Our Roost]

Excuse me, but dont you think major brand distributors have done all the legwork for you? Multiple feed variations for which ever application of bird stock you are raising is pretty much available. If you only have egg birds, then there is layer feed. If its meat birds, etc. The real problem comes into play depending on the breed you have. Some require on this or that depending on what you are using them for. Some birds are lined with fat globules from improper feeding ratio blends while others fed the same feed are lean and sinuey. Some people feed their chickens a steady diet of crumbles or pellet feed with very little to no grain nutrient. IMO I think both are important but most crumble and pellet products dont contain all of what is in scratch blends. Scratch blends lack sufficient protein levels, but contain other valuable nutrients. If you find a layer feed with at least 19% protein, you can add 25% scratch and your birds should do very well.

 

[echale3]

The major feed manufacturers have done legwork, but what they do is least-cost formulate a feed mix that will work well enough for most layers or broilers at varying stages but isn't particularly well optimized when considering the effect of things like house temperature, changes in feed intake rates, breed-specific nutrient needs, age-related changes in nutrient needs, etc.

That's why commercial poultry companies have nutritionists either on staff or on retainer--so they can optimize formulation to meet the need of the bird and maintain performance without overfeeding so that feed costs are constrained as well as possible.

 

[Our Roost]

Makes perfect sense to me, thats why I add scratch mix from our local grainery.

 

[missypebble]

Does anyone use "Scratch and Peck feeds"?

 

[Our Roost]

Scratch and Peck? Is that a brand name or a coined term your using? I use some scratch mixed in our feed but I dont use scratch as their main feed.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Does anyone use "Scratch and Peck feeds"?  

It's one of the brands I investigated. I chose a different feed in the end. One reason is I prefer a pelleted feed.

 

[Our Roost]

"YOU" prefer a pelleted feed most likely due to waste sediment in other feeds. Pelleted feed has less of it. Question is, how do your chickens like it? Put a bowl of scratch grain down and I guarantee the pellets most likely wont be eaten. The real issue is getting a feed manufacturer to include both in their product or mix it yourself.

 

[Michael Apple]

"YOU" prefer a pelleted feed most likely due to waste sediment in other feeds. Pelleted feed has less of it. Question is, how do your chickens like it? Put a bowl of scratch grain down and I guarantee the pellets most likely wont be eaten. The real issue is getting a feed manufacturer to include both in their product or mix it yourself.

Scratch grains do not have the nutritive value of formulated feed. Of course chickens will prefer the scratch over formulated feed when given the option. It is commonly understood that scratch grains are not to be the main source of food. If a feed mill were to add corn,wheat, milo to formulated feed (some do) chickens would ignore pellets/crumbles, and the likelihood of a nutritional deficiency would eventually take place since they are domesticated and do not live in the wild. Much the same if you supply a kid with never ending supply of sweets, the kid will choose that over the vegetables.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

"YOU" prefer a pelleted feed most likely due to waste sediment in other feeds. Pelleted feed has less of it. Question is, how do your chickens like it? Put a bowl of scratch grain down and I guarantee the pellets most likely wont be eaten. The real issue is getting a feed manufacturer to include both in their product or mix it yourself.

We do have our feed custom mixed. The custom recipe includes the same things we toss out as scratch, plus some other stuff. But that's not so special, is it? Most feed labels I've read, the first thing listed will is some type of cereal grain ... usually corn as that's usually the cheapest here in the USA. So chickens don't need more grain on the side, unless the feed is a concentrate.*

Of course the birds like scratch and will eat it first. Kids would eat a piece of candy before they'd eat their veggies ... I'm not sure that means much. Neither candy nor scratch is nutritionally complete.

There have been studies done to see what "texture" of food particle chickens prefer and I gather cracked corn was the winner. But in some countries chickens never see corn of any texture, so I question the research a bit. I don't feed any cracked corn as scratch. No corn in the pellets, either. We don't give our birds much scratch. They don't need it, I just need them to come to me sometimes or toss the coop litter around for me so I don't have to. And because it gets them excited. But so does an apple falling from a tree, or a butterfly, or fresh pellets in the hopper ... they love food. As scratch is cheaper than the pellets, I prefer to use the scratch for entertainment purposes ... but tossing out pellets also works.

Some people do have some success having a hopper of concentrated poultry pellets, and a hopper of whole grains, then letting the birds self-regulate how much of each to eat. I gather the birds have a learning curve on that. From what I've read, poultry will eat to fill up, but they will also eat to fulfill nutritional requirements. I've read an improperly balanced feed may make the birds overindulge to get the nutrients they need. Conversely, if the feed is too rich so they receive all their required nutrients without much bulk, then I gather the birds will need more scratch/bulky stuff to feel full enough to relax. The research I've read suggests feed needs to meet both requirements of bulk and nutrition.

* There are some companies offering concentrated poultry rations designed to be "cut" with certain percentages of whole grains. It's a great system, especially if you have access to nice whole grains straight from the farmer, or can grow your own. My personal problem with any of those is the lack of control of the ingredients/nutrients in the concentrate. Feed recipes tend to shift as commodity prices change, so each batch of a specific brand of feed is likely its own unique recipe.

 

[perchie.girl]

I just stumbled on this thread and need to read it through.... before adding in my personal 2 cents

LDJ

deb