Mash, Pellets or Crumbles? Poll!

[Chris09]

Oh ok,
It's Circle M as in a M with in a full circle and I never registered it.
Its more a second farm name used mostly for the poultry, the main farm name is Brazen Oaks.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

The brand is Mazuri. I get it through a local dealer and it's a little expensive but it's not near as bad as the sight price.

The chick starter I use (first 4 week of life) then I switch to a similar 20% feed.
Exotic Gamebird Starter-

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude protein not less than
Lysine not less than
Methionine not less than
Crude fat not less than
Crude fiber not more than
Ash not more than
Calcium (Ca) not less than
Calcium (Ca) not more than
Phosphorous (P) not less than
Salt (NaCl) not less than
Salt (NaCl) not more than
Moisture not more than
30.0%
1.5%
0.60%
2.5%
6.5%
9.0%
0.95%
1.5%
0.90%
0.10%
0.50%
12%


Ingredients
Dehulled soybean meal, ground corn, wheat middlings, fish meal (menhaden), porcine meat meal, dehydrated alfalfa meal, brewers dried yeast, glyceryl monostearate, soybean oil, calcium carbonate, salt, dl-methionine, choline chloride, dicalcium phosphate, mixed tocopherols (a preservative), cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), vitamin A acetate, manganous oxide, d-alpha tocopheryl acetate (natural source vitamin E), zinc oxide, l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C), niacin, calcium pantothenate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (vitamin K), vitamin B12 supplement, copper sulfate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, calcium iodate, thiamin mononitrate, sodium selenite, biotin.

NUTRIENTS
Protein, 30%
Arginine, 2.0%
Cystine, 0.47%
Glycine, 1.8%
Histidine, 0.78%
Isoleucine, 1.3%
Leucine, 2.3%
Lysine, 1.8%
Methionine, 0.62%
Phenylalanine, 1.4%
Tyrosine, 0.94%
Threonine, 1.2%
Tryptophan, 0.36%
Valine, 1.4%
Fat (Acid hydrolysis), 5.1%
Linoleic acid,1.6%
Omega-3 Fatty Acids, 0.22%
Omega-6 Fatty Acids, 1.6%
Fiber (Crude), 4.3%
Neutral Detergent Fiber, 15%
Acid Detergent Fiber, 5.0%
Metabolizable Energy2, kcal/kg 2,625

MINERALS
Ash, 7.6%
Calcium, 1.2%
Phosphorus, 0.94%
Phosphorus (non-phytate), 0.57%
Potassium, 1.3%
Magnesium, 0.25%
Sodium, 0.22%
Chloride, 0.33%
Iron, ppm 220
Zinc, ppm 130
Manganese, ppm 140
Copper, ppm 21
Iodine, ppm 1.9
Selenium (added), ppm 0.30

VITAMINS
Thiamin, ppm 7.8
Riboflavin, ppm 14
Niacin, ppm 95
Pantothenic acid, ppm 23
Choline, ppm 2,375
Folic acid, ppm 4.8
Pyridoxine, ppm 8.5
Biotin, ppm 0.30
Vitamin B12, μg/kg 31
Vitamin A (added), IU/kg 13,425
Vitamin D3, IU/kg 2,135
Vitamin E, IU/kg 150
Vitamin K (as menadione), ppm 0.76
Beta-carotene, ppm 1.1
Ascorbic acid, ppm 72

I didn't know Mazuri made poultry feed. I thought it was just rattites, exotic birds, and game birds.

 

[Chris09]

I didn't know Mazuri made poultry feed. I thought it was just rattites, exotic birds, and game birds.

I feed there game bird feed and there water fowl feed. I'v been feeding game bird feed for close to 10 years now.
I started out feeding Kent Highflyer then went to Purina Wild Life game bird feed and now I feed Mazuri.
I really like the Mazui feed, I even feed there Exotic Canine Diet to my dogs and never looked better.

 

[AnnieSantiago]

18% Mash, There is very little waste with our home made PVC feeders. Oster shell and grit on the side. Just one feed for all sizes.

What do you put your oyster shell and grit in???
I'm running out of space in my coop.

Also, my girls just don't like pellets, but they're gonna have to eat them up because I'm not buying more food.
Maybe I'll smash the pellets and see if they'll like it better.

 

[Budhoyt]

french frys ? bet they love them !

 

[Our Roost]

My vote is other but a combo of crumbles and scratch. I manage to have a local grainery that offers a higher protein feed I alternate with the crumbles.

 

[wflynt01]

We prefer pellets because the crumbles are ground so fine which causes a lot of dust and waste.

 

[Our Roost]

While it is literally impossible to rid the problem of feed waste and powdery sediment residue, you can minimize or make better use of it. Crumbles and pellets are a manufactured feed generally having less sediment and also contain most nutrients to raise healthy chickens. The main problem being that chickens are not real fond of the manufactured crumbles and pellets. Scratch grains harvested from local farms and processed through a grainery are much more to their liking. Min and Max protein levels maintained is always a concern and keeping a well balanced nutritional level is key to the health and growth of your chickens.
The real question is what do you do with the waste and how do you make better use of it to save on feed costs. Plenty of options here as other animals will consume and make a fine meal of it! I have deer and turkey along with other critters on the property that devour the scraps I put out for them. I dont have pigs or hogs but I am sure if these scraps were mixed in with their food, it would be eaten. Keep it simple and make maintenance as easy on yourself as you can.

 

[diana507]

When my girls were pretty much all laying I switched then from grower to layer pellets. Needless to say they throw most of the pellets on the floor of the coop, pretty much empty their big feeder and won't touch them then. The bag is almost gone so when it is I am going to switch to layer crumble to see if they waste less. Anyone else's do this?

 

[Our Roost]

OUI! I hate when people start posting product contents and brand names. To me its more about knowing what they will eat and not eat. No matter how hard you try, you cant force feed a chicken to eat something it doesnt want! I would hope most people know or explore the contents of what they are buying and paying for. The price doesnt dictate what you need.
Generally you will find the feed store or grainery to carry 4 main products of Mash, Scratch, Crumbles, and pellets. But of course you will find your basic and not so basic chicken feed including the 4 mentioned that they carry in many varities also. I have used and tried them all plus combinations of such to meet protein levels recomended to maintain healthy chickens. As this conversation suggests, waste is of a concern. A grist mill is a machine configuration used to grind products like corn, grain, and seed into feed grains or is also used to make flour products. More basically speaking, they MASH it!! An extreme amount of grist sediment comes from using mash as a supplement chicken feed. This is not to say mash is bad but only to say it has a lot of waste sediment in its contents. Scratch to me is an excellent source for grain products in a whole state without the mashing or grist wheel usage. Some scratch products have black sunflower seeds which is a bonus treat for the chickens. The problem with just feeding chickens scratch is its lack of protein. Keep in mind it has a lot of other nutritional nutrients. Although they love it, they dont get enough additives and protein that a manufactured product offers. Crumbles is a manufactured chicken feed and based on its content lables, This and the pellet version have enough protein and all the necessary nutrients for raising healthy chickens. Put pellets and crumbles into 2 seperate bowls and see which one disapears first. My bet is that you will be staring at a bowl of pellets!
All this being said, I try to use both scratch and crumbles to feed my chickens but still have waste. In my opinion, pellets deliver the least amount of waste of all products but my chickens are unhappy eating it.