Is high quality feed worth the money?

[LRedHen]

What brand is the 24% you use?

What feed brand?

 

[PNWSilkieChick]

I agree that you are not charging enough for quality birds. Even at auction around here. Run of the mill (day old to a week or so old) silkie chicks bring $6 to $8 apiece. Silkie Roos average $10 apiece. Back in September 3 nice looking bearded silkie hens (being an auction no guarantee about true background and quality) brought $70 apiece! After two attempts and 5 years of time building up a flock of quality bearded silkies. Only to have a neighbors dog and a very determined mother raccoon totally eradicate every one that I had. I have given up on having silkies. I am still intrigued with them and always check out any that I come across.

Predator attacks are just the worst with silkies and I am so sorry about yours. After several tragedies I've been confining mine to the coop & run area while constructing chicken tunnels they can use to safely traverse the yard.

 

[jeansweezey]

Quality feed is more about ingredients than price. I save a lot of money by sprouting whole grains, growing fodder, and growing soldier fly and mealworms, as well as letting my birds free range. I buy commercial meat bird feed from Nutrena (22% protein, it's high but since they eat a lot of other stuff that number is mostly a target for my quail) and keep the feeders stocked and provide oyster shell free choice. I spend about $45 a month to feed 4 silkies, 8 standard hens, and about 50 quail. It takes more work, but I guess I pay with my time instead of money.

How do you grow your own food? I have 26 chickens and am always interested in how to feed better. I also give supplements: Garlic and vinegar in their water, black oil sunflower seeds, and oatmeal and red pepper flakes when it's cold.

 

[MadamContrary]

Can you please share about how to grow mealworms?

I grow them outside, some people develop acute allergies to them indoors. I use an old aquarium filled about halfway with a mix of wheat brain and steel cut oat, I put in slices of potato or apples and rotate those out as needed so things don't get moldy, and top the bedding with a layer of cardboard. There's a screen too to keep other things out. Periodically I use a fairly fine mesh sieve to relocate beetles if I get a bunch at once, they will eat the pupae stage larvae sometimes, but generally it's fairly self sustaining. Use the same sieve to separate out some mealworms for snacks. The beetles lay eggs in the bedding so you just need to top it up and make sure it doesn't get compacted. I feed the dead beetles to the birds as well.

 

[Double Yolked]

The tag "high quality" is ruining the experience for most casual chicken keepers. And pricing chickens right out of their budget.
If your flush with cash and trying to breed show birds I can see it being worth it, maybe. But for the most part, after taste testing eggs and comparing health/lifespans from both pampered birds getting extremely high priced, high quality feed and my own birds who get reasonably priced chicken feed, pasture forage, and kitchen food scraps plus my own home grown supplements like meal worms, I'm going to cry foul.
Too many chicken owners are being pressured into buying high priced feeds when what they really need is to just learn more about what they can do to improve their chickens diets with what is available.

 

[Knellie]

I agree. Other related question: Does anyone know if soaking grains removes or at least diminishes glyphosate?

 

[icy_flames]

I feed Modesto Milling Organic No Corn No Soy Layer Feed to my flock along with same brand No Soy Organic Scratch. I order from Chewy.com They also get some meat and veggies daily (not organic because of the price unfortunately).

Since the majority of their diet is the feed and scratch that is enough justification for me to spend the extra $ on organic. I have 7 hens. All very healthy active girls. I have two continuing to actively lay through winter. It's 10 degrees today in Colorado with snow.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I buy Purina's Flock raiser at our local TSC's for $19.49 per 50 pounds, with fresh mill dates, and then get oyster shell in the 50 pound bags too.
Shipped feed from Chewie or Amazon will cost way more, and there's no way to see mill dates first.
We don't have a local mill here any more, so that's not an option. When one was operating, their feed was not at all better, only cheaper.
I compare labels, and mill dates, and this is what's best for me here.
Mary

Ours used to be about that price but now it’s like $22 which I just can’t justify that so I switched to a different, cheaper feed but yeah.

 

[ShrekDawg]

The tag "high quality" is ruining the experience for most casual chicken keepers. And pricing chickens right out of their budget.
If your flush with cash and trying to breed show birds I can see it being worth it, maybe. But for the most part, after taste testing eggs and comparing health/lifespans from both pampered birds getting extremely high priced, high quality feed and my own birds who get reasonably priced chicken feed, pasture forage, and kitchen food scraps plus my own home grown supplements like meal worms, I'm going to cry foul.
Too many chicken owners are being pressured into buying high priced feeds when what they really need is to just learn more about what they can do to improve their chickens diets with what is available.

Even then I don’t think it’s worth it. My dad accidentally bought the organic stuff once and we’ll never buy it again. It was literally like entirely dust. And I thought Putin’s was bad about dust. so you pay like triple the price and get way less feed now, granted, if you soak the feed, you can use even the dust and take advantage of that, but most people won’t do that so it’s just wasted.

 

[RavenSunRanch]

Hi. I am really glad of this discussion. I always used premium pelles but the birds weren't that excited. I started using budget laying pellets because they have grain protein instead of animal protein. I have been able to convince my malnourished vegan friends my eggs are ok. No animals harmed (except insects and worms) and the roosters I charge top dollar for so they are less likely to end up in the pot (not that there is anything wrong with that). So 'vegan eggs', organic, free range gives me offers of twice the normal price. I think a handful of wheat per chook makes a big difference to the laying. I am a bit of a convert to the budget pellets and my vegan friends have slightly more colour in their cheeks.

Hi! Which budget laying pellets do you use?