The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[Pyxis]

I can't buy Dumor unless I am in a desperate situation. I bought one bag of starter once and it was okay, though it didn't smell as good as Tucker Milling. Then, the second one was green. Yuck, took it back. I knew they had a rep for bad feed, per Ladyhawk's terrible history with moldy TSC feeds, and I guess it's well-earned, at least at some locations.

Mine actually like the DuMor, which is good, and I haven't had a problem with it yet. Purina actually makes it, so it's almost pretty much Purina branded for TSC, although there are probably some differences in ingredient ratios.

I'm glad DuMor is working out well for me because everything else I have access to is at least $2 more a bag around here - no local feed mills or anything. The closest one is over an hour away.

 

[speckledhen]

Mine actually like the DuMor, which is good, and I haven't had a problem with it yet. Purina actually makes it, so it's almost pretty much Purina branded for TSC, although there are probably some differences in ingredient ratios.

I'm glad DuMor is working out well for me because everything else I have access to is at least $2 more a bag around here - no local feed mills or anything. The closest one is over an hour away.

See, maybe that's the problem. I hate Purina feeds because they smell like chemicals to me and are vegetarian to boot. Can't figure out why they smell so bad. I mean, I pay $11 for Tucker Milling layer pellets which smell so fresh and still contain animal protein (porcine sources). My "scratch", which is, in reality, a gamecock conditioner with its own grit, 13 grains and 16% protein is the most expensive stuff I buy at $15/bag. That's still cheap for what it is. This is why I hope the co-op stays in business. It used to be run by some odd and quite rude men when we first moved here, but the manger now, April, is a real gem.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It was the smell for my chickens too I think. The brand I buy smells good enough to pour some milk on it and eat it. Dumor had a funky smell. My birds couldn't adjust and refused to eat it for days before I said that was enough. If they never knew anything different they would have probably been fine eating it.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I have a relatively local feed mill as I live not too far from a heavy Amish area. They have conventional, non-gmo, or organic grains. I use organic so I was glad to find them as I don't like to feed glyphosate and other chemicals as best as I can.

I started out having them grind feed for me. But it was a special mix as I don't feed soy and had them do a feed using field peas instead. I had to purchase a min of 300 lbs, however, since it was a special mix. I shared the batch with another person, but it was still sitting around longer than I liked since I had so few birds.

Once I got their recipe, I just started purchasing the grains in 50 lb bags and grinding my own as I go so that it is fresh about every 1-2 weeks and not going rancid. I use Fertrel Nutribalancer for the mineral mix.

I've only had a problem with bugs in a bag of corn once.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@speckledhen
I have literally never seen any pre-made feed that has animal protein in it. Wish I could find something in my area.

The feed mill uses the fish meal but you can only use so much of that and I question the quality of the fish meals.

Since I have a very small flock right now, I can afford to add other animal protein sources in addition to the basic feed. But If my flock increases, that will be another thing I'll have to figure out.

 

[speckledhen]

@speckledhen
I have literally never seen any pre-made feed that has animal protein in it. Wish I could find something in my area.

The feed mill uses the fish meal but you can only use so much of that and I question the quality of the fish meals.

Since I have a very small flock right now, I can afford to add other animal protein sources in addition to the basic feed. But If my flock increases, that will be another thing I'll have to figure out.

Not many left out there, are there? And they may bow to public pressure, the same ones who feed the FF probably go nuts if they think there is meat in there, like there's such a thing as Mad Chicken Disease. Mine get bugs, of course, and whatever snakes and mice they can catch when out on range, but I have them penned more than I used to so I really want them to have that good protein.

 

[Pyxis]

See, maybe that's the problem. I hate Purina feeds because they smell like chemicals to me and are vegetarian to boot. Can't figure out why they smell so bad. I mean, I pay $11 for Tucker Milling layer pellets which smell so fresh and still contain animal protein (porcine sources). My "scratch", which is, in reality, a gamecock conditioner with its own grit, 13 grains and 16% protein is the most expensive stuff I buy at $15/bag. That's still cheap for what it is. This is why I hope the co-op stays in business. It used to be run by some odd and quite rude men when we first moved here, but the manger now, April, is a real gem.

I wish I had a local co-op. All I've got is Tractor Supply in both directions. I could drive out to my closest Blue Seal store, but that's 45 minutes away and charges more for feed.

Or I could go to my nearest locally owned farm store, but again that's an hour away and they don't actually make their own feed, they just sell brands like Naturewise and Nutrena, which I like, but they also cost something like $3 more a bag, and I'm already paying a little more a bag since I feed chick feed to the whole flock, not layer (I do that because I often have chicks in the flock, and also because that way birds that aren't laying like roosters and molting hens etc aren't getting more calcium than they need, which over time will cause kidney damage and possibly even kidney failure and death; don't want to strain their kidneys!).

My final option is to go to a local general and feed store, which is close, and buy Poulin Grain, a local brand made right here in VT, but for some reason it costs $17 a bag.

There is one other local feed store that I do go visit to buy my more exotic feeds like turkey starter for the turkeys and peafowl, but they again charge more for regular feed.

Not a lot of good options in my area! Which is weird, because you'd think rural Vermont would have more places to buy good feed.

 

[speckledhen]

@Pyxis, you just have to do what you can do. I'm lucky that I have both a co-op and another feed store in addition to the new TSC in Blue Ridge, which opened this year, a couple years after the one that is north of me, almost the same distance. There was another long-running feed store in town, but not long after I reported her to the state vet for allowing sick birds to "free range" with the customers all over the store, they went out of business. They were a Southern States dealer and ALWAYS had buggy feed. The owner acted like I was nuts when I brought it back, said she'd give it to hers. It says on almost every bag I've ever seen to not feed it if it's bug-infested.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I can't get fresh game bird around here so my turkeys get raised on chick starter and a daily dose of scrambled eggs to boost the daily protein, works wonderfully. They grow like weeds. I don't have a shortage of eggs.

 

[1muttsfan]

I once bought a bag of sunflower seed for wild bird feed at a local store and it was totally infested. I took it back and she said, "well the birds will just eat the bugs"

I had to go out and take a sniff of my Dumor, and quite honestly it smelled fine to me.