Chicken Feed Brand Comparison Chart??

[MountainFireflyAcres]

Interesting feed back, especially on the changes to ingredients over the seasons. GC-Raptor, I will be doing the same thing thing and saving the ingredient listing just to see the changes, good idea there!
With humans, dogs and cats.....and I can only assume with chickens, Different foods may have a set protein, fat or vitamin content but the source of nutrients vary in their digestibility based on the animal consuming it. A bag of dog food may have 35% protein but if the main portion of that protein comes from corn and other grains it wont be digested and utilized like it would if fed to a horse.
I wonder what food sources chickens are very good at digesting that are common in feeds as compared to what ingredients may not be so well digested that would be fillers to prop up the nutrient percentages on paper? anyone know?
Also, imnuksensec....thank you for putting a proper link on that website I referenced in my initial post! I'm still learning the ropes on here so much appreciated. If you look at that link and say click on the layer feed for chickens, some feeds....purina, nutrena and a couple others have some vitamins that others are completely free of, such as vitamin e and d if I remember from the other day comparing. I was scratching my head as to how important or helpful it was to have these in them when so many of the other brands don't have it added to their formula at all. it really makes me lean heavily towards the feeds that adds them as a precaution vs the others that are similar in most other ways except lacking them. anyone that might have any feed back on that I would defiantly love to hear too.

I am always happy to hear others so feel welcome to chime in! , thanks ~Brian

 

[Cindy in PA]

Interesting feed back, especially on the changes to ingredients over the seasons. GC-Raptor, I will be doing the same thing thing and saving the ingredient listing just to see the changes, good idea there!
With humans, dogs and cats.....and I can only assume with chickens, Different foods may have a set protein, fat or vitamin content but the source of nutrients vary in their digestibility based on the animal consuming it. A bag of dog food may have 35% protein but if the main portion of that protein comes from corn and other grains it wont be digested and utilized like it would if fed to a horse.
I wonder what food sources chickens are very good at digesting that are common in feeds as compared to what ingredients may not be so well digested that would be fillers to prop up the nutrient percentages on paper? anyone know?
Also, imnuksensec....thank you for putting a proper link on that website I referenced in my initial post! I'm still learning the ropes on here so much appreciated. If you look at that link and say click on the layer feed for chickens, some feeds....purina, nutrena and a couple others have some vitamins that others are completely free of, such as vitamin e and d if I remember from the other day comparing. I was scratching my head as to how important or helpful it was to have these in them when so many of the other brands don't have it added to their formula at all. it really makes me lean heavily towards the feeds that adds them as a precaution vs the others that are similar in most other ways except lacking them. anyone that might have any feed back on that I would defiantly love to hear too.

I am always happy to hear others so feel welcome to chime in! , thanks ~Brian

Don't know if that chart is totally accurate on the additional vitamins. I have tags from Kalmbach Natural layer & Organic layer & Nature's Best Organic & they both have vitamins listed on the tag, whereas the chart shows none.

 

[MountainFireflyAcres]

Cindy, I am glad I checked into what you said, I am amazed by the variety of offerings from Kalmbach, they even offer a version touted with additional vitamin D and omega 3 on their website, worth looking into pricing for me in the future for consideration. It also made me aware that some of the brands that list none of the vitamins have other product lines that do carry them in that brand name.

The reason you see the disparity is as follows after looking into it: The "Natural layer & organic layer" is not on the poultry DVM website comparison. The DVM website comparison lists the "20% all natural poultry premix" formula and a couple pullet formulas which when looking at the kalmbach website does not have those additional vitamins- A,D,E listed for that formula they chose to use, looks like one of their more basic formulas, whilst your formula you have does in fact list those vitamins on the kalmbach website for that product. how do you like that feed from them would you give it good marks?

I haven't looked up Natures best brand yet, but when I do I'm guessing it will have the same deal where its a different product line compared on the website to what you have on hand.

I`m going to try to do some more research, look up chicken nutritional requirements and see if I can get any requirement listings from searching that and such to see if these vitamins additions in some of the feeds are just a gimmick or extra insurance they are getting all the required nutrients that might be lacking if they don't get adequate forage or something.

I do recall reading about the discovery of vitamin D or its use for chickens being a huge deal for commercial chicken laying factories around the turn of the century for egg production on a couple sites as well in past readings so I will look into that as well to get more detail.

-Brian

 

[Cindy in PA]

Hi Brian,
Glad it was of some help to you. I have only been using Kalmbach 17% Natural Layer pellets for a month, so don't know long term. The girls seem to like it & they are laying well. I never even knew Kalmbach was available in my area. I prefer organic, so I am picking up some Kalmbach Organic Harvest 17% Layer Pellets with Omega tomorrow. My more local feed store (not the one where I picked up the Kalmbach ) could special order it through a distributor that used to bring in Nature's Best for them. They only carry Purina Organic in the store. I am excited to try it since it is 17% & has added Omegas & Vitamin D. Had been using Nature's Best that I can only get now at TSC. I am anxious to try it. I also like the Organic (They have non organic too) 22% meat bird pellets for fall molting. Will have to see if the distributor carries it all year. Good luck on your search!

 

[MountainFireflyAcres]

This is by no means a definitive nor completed copy of what my search into what quality means in chicken feed. It is a posting of my personal notes that I will be using to choose feed for "MY" personal flock. It is a combination of hand written notes, links and findings converted into this following post. Use it, don't use it, its up to you.

Chickens like all living organisms have a set of nutritional requirements they must meet in order to thrive. If these requirements are not met, like any living organism it will not thrive to its full potential.

The following info is taken from https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...t-poultry/nutritional-requirements-of-poultry

The nutrient requirement figures published in Nutrient Requirements of Poultry (National Research Council, 1994) are the most recent available and should be viewed as minimal nutrient needs for poultry.

The chart on the link lists nutritional requirements for laying breeds at different feed intakes split between white and brown egg laying types. (I am assuming the brown egg rates are higher on this chart because they tend to be dual purpose vs leghorn type for white egg layers. and have heavier bodies.)

the following requirements from the above referenced laying chart are based on the brown egg layer fed 110 grams of feed per day as adults from this chart and the mineral and vitamin chart for leghorn type chickens (they did not have a separate chart for minerals for brown egg layer type) Your situation based on how much you feed and the breed and a myriad of factors may make you choose one of the other available feed intake amounts. I chose one of the middle of the road listings of 110 grams for my comparisons because this is also what the chart for the mineral requirements was based from so I wanted it to be the same.

Protein- 16.4%
Lysine- .76%
Methionine- .33%
Calcium- 3.64%
Phosphorus- .27%
Vitamin A- 3000 IU/LB
Vitamin D- 300 IU/LB
Vitamin E- 5-10 IU/LB


The reason I chose these nutriants above some of the others they had is due to these being the common nutrients listed on poultry feed and this is the exact listing used to compare feed by the website poultry comparison tool http://www.poultrydvm.com/feeds.php a great but not complete comparison tool with many brands and lines within brands of chicken feeds. Be sure you click the link of the particular feed in the tool to ensure it is the one you are using or looking at using. not all the lines within the brands are listed, just some of the common ones, to find listings for others you will have to look at the brands website or look at the feed bag for the info.

a quick review of the Poultry DVM chart will reveal many of the brands do not list the vitamins A, D, E. Without emailing and asking them there is no way to know if it has any of these vitamins in sufficient quantities or any of them added to the ingrediants at all or it they are so low as to make them insignificant to list on that particular feed.

I chose to focus on the feeds that did include many or all of these additional vitamins. Purina omega 3, Purina multiflock, Southern states, Blue seal extra egg, nutrena naturewise all flock feed. (keep in mind that these brands stated above have several listings without these vitamins so just because you feed blue seal or southern states does not mean it has them listed or has them at all unless it is that specific line of their feed used.

if you take the time to compare the above listed feed that actually have sufficient quantities of vitamins to list or took the time to list them on their descriptions, you will notice most lack vitamin D, or they are low in Lysine, calcium, phosphorus or in my view on the low side for protein for my liking.

although these were the crème of the crop for the chart in my view due to the vitamins, they all had improvements that could be made in "MY" view. once again, this is my humble opinion that is neither scientific or meant to be scientific posting or facts, just the conclusion of my research for my personal flock that I intend to eat the eggs and meat from and want them to be healthy in both respects.

I am sure if you allow your birds to forage they will be able to pick up on many of the items that are deficient. what "I" was seeking was a feed that would be good if they had to remain in their pen for an extended amount of time or during winter when forage was low and I could feel confident they were still able to meet their nutritional needs.

After searching other feeds and talking to others about what they feed and like (shout out to Cindy in PA for mentioning Kalmbach feeds!) I looked into this brand. Many in its line contain the missing nutrients and required nutrient amounts I set out above to find in a feed brand. In particular the 17% Hi-Omega/Hi D All natural Layer that comes in pelleted and crumbles met my requirement of quality and competitively priced and meeting or exceeding all the required nutrient levels that I could not find in any of the others feed brands so far. it`s listing is as follows...

Protein- 17.0%
Lysine- .88%
Methionine- .35%
Calcium- 3.40-4.40
Phosphorus- .50%
Vit A- 5000 IU/LB
Vit D- 2000 IU/LB
Vit E- 15 IU/LB

I enjoy the fact this choice from Kalmbach meets and exceeds my personal view of required nutrients for my flock. There are many choices from Kalmbach worth looking into that also may, including organic. When someone asks me an opinion on why my feed is better then another or why I feed it I can now point out the difference or have them read this instead of just a personal opinion not based on any known points.

If anyone knows of any other feeds that meet/exceed these feel free to list them as well, I would love to find others that meet these set requirements.

-Brian

 

[cin111]

I have read about and experimented with many different brands of chicken feed, and have always returned to New Country Organic's corn free layer, or starter if I have babies. Do some more research and come to understand that corn for chickens is like white sugar is to humans, not necessary and a cause of fat! Then we come to the ever-present soy. It's easy to find information regarding the detrimental effects of soy in our diets, and if it's in the chicken feed, it's in the eggs! The grains for the feeds for many popular brands are imported and grown how? I want grown in America, sustainably sourced, tested for purity, and none of that canola oil crap, in the feed for my feathered friends. Best of luck to you all!

 

[blackdog043]

Here's a comparison chart done by @KikisGirls, one of our members.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...rision-chart-feed-brand-names-needed.1243483/

 

[amoretsky]

Here's one I just posted in another thread.

http://www.poultrydvm.com/feeds.php

Nice job on the list!