Feed questions from a new member!

[Tillowacres]

Hi, and I join you in being a newbie to the BYC forum. ...and new flock owner as well. My lovely ladies are now 5 months and I'm just now beginning to experience the thrill and reward of my first eggs. Seems so far from last September when first receiving those tiny chicks, wondering if I knew what the heck I was doing. Lol.

Raising w/organic practices are important to me, and I sincerely appreciate Ridgerunner's post. We all will want to follow what makes it the best fit for our needs. My feed of choice is New Country Organics.

https://www.newcountryorganics.com/
I used their Starter up to 8 weeks, switching to their Grower/Broiler til week 16. Now, I have them on their Unmilled Classic Layer. I order 2-50 lb bags about once a month. The grind date is always the week prior to receiving the feed so I and the ladies (12) are extremely satisfied with their feed/formula. Have never used pellet form so can't speak to their pellet feed.

I don't use scratch, but do hang sprigs of oregano 4-5 times a week, if nights dip below 20 (in NW Ohio), I'll give them 2-3 cups of cooked steel-cut oates around sunset. Started this around 12-14 weeks of age. They are limited to staying inside a large coop (10x26) for now but once warmer weather comes, will open them up to the farmstead grounds. ...well minus the gardens.

Much success to you, and know you'll be experiencing great fun and delicious eggs very soon!

 

[West Bend]

I hear ya, West Bend! It can get confusing.

I'm a baker and I make bread from spent grain mash. That particular "mash" is the soaked or cooked soft and fermented grains you're familiar with. But, with respect specifically to commercial chicken feed, "mash" means something else. It means grains that have been "mashed up" into the smallest particles.

This link has a good picture of the difference between pellets, crumbles and mash. I'm sure no one here is going to go out and buy their own feed milling machine but the illustrations are particularly clear I think. It also makes clear that it's all the same stuff just shaped differently in processing.
View attachment 2033817
If you don't care to follow the link, the feed above is mash on the left, crumbles in the middle and pellets on the right.

Yes, it can be. Like stated, I've called the pellets/crumbles that I moisten mash, so when my friend gave me a bag she called mash (it looked like scratch grains that were hit with a hammer & some powder) and that is what confused me. It didn't have anything to do with the ingredient/ nutritional label or mill date, it was the appearance. I might just run it through the mill I have here & moisten it. I am attaching a picture of what she gave me.

 

[rosemarythyme]

when my friend gave me a bag she called mash (it looked like scratch grains that were hit with a hammer & some powder) and that is what confused me. View attachment 2034486

That's a whole grain mash. Yes it's confusing that mash is used to mean a completely ground down feed as IamRainey showed in post #18, but can also be used to refer to whole or cracked grain blends with vitamins added to form a feed.

Best served fermented or at least wet to ensure the chickens eat everything there. That powder contains vitamins, minerals, protein so the chickens need to eat it.

 

[West Bend]

That's a whole grain mash. Yes it's confusing that mash is used to mean a completely ground down feed as IamRainey showed in post #18, but can also be used to refer to whole or cracked grain blends with vitamins added to form a feed.

Best served fermented or at least wet to ensure the chickens eat everything there. That powder contains vitamins, minerals, protein so the chickens need to eat it.

Thanks everyone for your input. I might just run some through the mill I have. I ferment the grains & pellets. I might just keep the pellets for the dry container I leave out.

 

[IamRainey]

It's all good, BTW. Your chickens will gobble it all and get strong and healthy.