Which of these layer feeds should I choose?

[Brizi]

Why do people who are against organic always have to make things up & exaggerate? If you don't like organic, don't buy it.

I mean, if that's their opinion, that's fine. As long as they're not touting it as fact.

They're right about it being cheaper if nothing else. I'm honestly back and forth about the benefits of organic because, as I said, non-organic feed is still supposed to have a safe level of chemicals. I know U_Stormcrow had some non-organic feed lab tested recently, and the results came back saying that aflatoxins were below detectable limits. That's how it all should be, whether the feed is organic or not.

 

[Brizi]

After some more searching, I've found a feed from Kalmbach that seems to meet all my parameters except for the organic designation.

Food	Organic	Price/Lb	Protein	Fat	Lys	Met	First 5 Ingredients
Kalmbach "Full Plume Feathering"	No	$0.65	20%	3%	1.00	0.40	Corn, Soybean Meal, Dried Corn Distillers Grains with Solubles, Wheat Middlings, Vegetable Oil

 

[Chris2018]

First thing without even looking at % of this or that. Organic means spend more money. At 10 lbs you already spent $3.00 extra for what benefit. My birds get enough "organic" free ranging You can throw medicated in with organic. I'm just a skeptic when it comes to the buzz words "natural or organic", too old to fall in fad marketing.

When it comes to the word organic as an agriculture term, it is NOT a "buzz" word or a "fad" marketing term.

You're also confusing the layman's definition of organic ("relating to or derived from living matter.") with the agricultural definition of organic (produced or involving production without the use of chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, genetically modified organism (GMO)/genetically engineered products (GE)/bioengineered products (BE) or other artificial agents.).

I would recommend at very least knowing what organic is when it pertains to agriculture before putting it down or making thing up about it.

 

[Chris2018]

After some more searching, I've found a feed from Kalmbach that seems to meet all my parameters except for the organic designation.

Food	Organic	Price/Lb	Protein	Fat	Lys	Met	First 5 Ingredients
Kalmbach "Full Plume Feathering"	No	$0.65	20%	3%	1.00	0.40	Corn, Soybean Meal, Dried Corn Distillers Grains with Solubles, Wheat Middlings, Vegetable Oil

Most feed mills/ feed stores should be able to get the Kalmbach Organic feed if they are already selling Kalmbach feed.

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[Brizi]

Most feed mills/ feed stores should be able to get the Kalmbach Organic feed if they are already selling Kalmbach feed.

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I called our local stores and they don't have the Kalmbach Full Plume, BUT it's pretty reasonably priced at Chewy and Petco. It's the same price as the Nutrena Hearty Hen. I'm thinking I'll probably end up going with the Kalmbach Full Plume. The protein, lys, and met are all really nice on it, plus it's at a pretty good price. My only question would be if 20% is fine for birds of all ages, or if it's too high for older birds. I plan on keeping my girls till they reach the end of their natural lifespans.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

If you chose Kalmbach are you buying from chewy or from a local mill? The price difference is pretty drastic. I feed my entire flock Kalmbachs Flock Maker. On chewy I was paying $38 until I used their distributor map and found a feed mill near my husbands work. They keep my order on a monthly shipment so I never have to worry about being out of feed. It also is only $23 for that same exact bag of feed.

 

[Brizi]

If you chose Kalmbach are you buying from chewy or from a local mill? The price difference is pretty drastic. I feed my entire flock Kalmbachs Flock Maker. On chewy I was paying $38 until I used their distributor map and found a feed mill near my husbands work. They keep my order on a monthly shipment so I never have to worry about being out of feed. It also is only $23 for that same exact bag of feed.

It'd have to be online from Chewy or Petco. It's $32 for 50 lbs on there. Sadly, no store around here sells it. I may be able to find somewhere that sells it in a bigger city nearby, and I could stock up those few times a year that I go. Either way, I only have 4 girls right now and our max is 10 girls, so it wouldn't be so bad spending a little bit extra. I'm fine with $0.75/lb or less, it's when it gets over $1.00/lb that it's got to be really good to justify the cost difference.

 

[SourRoses]

My only question would be if 20% is fine for birds of all ages, or if it's too high for older birds. I plan on keeping my girls till they reach the end of their natural lifespans.

20% is fine for all ages.
A study found the upper limit for poultry is 25%.
The title says "Layer Feed"... I can't see how much calcium the feeds you're looking at have. The only high protein Layer I can find here is the new micro-pellets by Purina. But I mostly feed 20% Grower to everyone except for offering the Layer on the side since they hate the fake Oyster Shell and all the real Oyster is impossible to find.

 

[Brizi]

20% is fine for all ages.
A study found the upper limit for poultry is 25%.
The title says "Layer Feed"... I can't see how much calcium the feeds you're looking at have. The only high protein Layer I can find here is the new micro-pellets by Purina. But I mostly feed 20% Grower to everyone except for offering the Layer on the side since they hate the fake Oyster Shell and all the real Oyster is impossible to find.

I saw Purina's new high protein feed as well, but the Methionine is only 0.30%. I also hate that they don't have fixed formulas for their feeds.

The Kalmbach Full Plume averages out at 4.00% Calcium, and the Nutrena Hearty Hen averages out at 3.80% Calcium. I can't seem to find what the upper limit of calcium would be for an elderly hen.

 

[SourRoses]

I saw Purina's new high protein feed as well, but the Methionine is only 0.30%. I also hate that they don't have fixed formulas for their feeds.

The Kalmbach Full Plume averages out at 4.00% Calcium, and the Nutrena Hearty Hen averages out at 3.80% Calcium. I can't seem to find what the upper limit of calcium would be for an elderly hen.

Okay. The recommendation for hens that aren't laying is the 1% ish used in Grower and All-Flock formulas.
If you offer (palatable) calcium on the side, the laying gals will take it as they need it and the ones who don't will leave it alone.