Feed

[deserthotwings]

I could use a little advice from some of you pheasant experts. I feed my birds Purena Game Chow and Scratch grain in seperate feeders. I have a mixture of 84 birds (Red, Yellow Goldens, Amherst, and Ringnecks. All in seperate pens. Each pen prefers the scratch over the commercial feed to the point that they are eating very little Game Chow. Should I cut back on feeding the scratch grain so they will eat more Purena Chow or continue to let them choose between the two. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[birdboy15]

I mix scratch in with the gamebird feed along with other things. Can you get anything other than purena feed? the truth is that purena feed is NOT that high of a quality feed. we have had many types of purena feed tested and they do not match what the bag says. Just my advice.

 

[rittert3]

I can beleive that bird boy, purena makes their money off of advertizing not feed quality...that is deffinatley the case with their dog food.

 

[deserthotwings]

Birdboy do you have any recomandations for anything other than purena ? We have quite a few feed stores in the area if you can suggest another brand. Also what do you mix with your feed besides scratch ?

 

[birdboy15]

I feed Kalmbach but I don't think that you can get it. The next best would be kent. If you cant get their gamebird feed, multi-flock is a good choice. I mix in scratch, mana pro show supplement, kickin chicken, and 30% protien dry cat food from our local amish store.

 

[deserthotwings]

Sad to say, I don't think I can get hardly any of that feed. Would you recommend a little Petsmart type commerical high protein cat food mixed in.

 

[birdboy15]

As long as its not purena it should be fine

 

[Resolution]

They won't need to eat much of the gamebird soft feed to get what they need because you are feeding scratch grain, which fills their crops. The soft feed remains in their digestive tract longer and the birds are actually able to absorb the nutrients in that feed. When they have no scratch grain and have nothing but soft food to eat they basically stay hungry all day- a bit like eating cheerios. It's nutritious alright- but you'd have to eat a whole lot of it to meet all your requirements. If you had a granola bar on your way to school after those cheerios or a piece of beef jerky- a handful or two of almonds- you'd be good to go until lunchtime. Any catfood by Wellness is a good bet-look for one with fish protein in it- a kitten chow is even better. Unless its in the weeks running up to egg laying through moulting season, their requirements for the high quality animal protein and animal fat are not necessary. They'll be fine with the scratch grain and few mouthfuls of soft feed. Come late winter a few weeks before spring, that's when throwing out a few handfuls of kitten chow are useful -keep that up through moult- increasing that kitten chow to about the last clutch of eggs and tapering back down to the non-breeding maintenance ration for the rest of the year. One of the best things you can do to further increase the nutrient value of what you're already feeding is provide them with pumpkins, melons, cucumbers- these are all types of gourds basically- filled with dietary fibres and sugars that need to sit out for a bit to really be nutritious -but that fibre fills up the digestive system and helps the birds retain even the scratch grain for a little while longer. Peanut hearts, Proso Millet and Milo are good supplements for very wet cold days. Dry cold its time to put some bacon drippings over the scratch or a suet cake out.

 

[deserthotwings]

Thanks much for the much needed nutrition advice. My birds are all doing great right now, but I want to make sure they have the right balance during laying season. Speaking of laying season, has anyone seen what Yellow Golden eggs are going for on Ebay. $159.00 for half a dozen. Seems like a little over priced doesn't it ?? Just wondering if anyone has had any experience shipping eggs. Looks like a lot of folks making advance orders on YG and Amherst eggs.

 

[gobblerunfarms]

some of the yellow golden eggs on ebay are mine and i couldn t believe the price people are paying for my pre sale eggs. I was only asking fifty bucks with free shipping. my eye balls about popped out of my head when i pulled my ebay account up. some people obviously have more money than me.