A Commercial Feed that Chickens actually Like?

[HeatherKellyB]

^^^This is another one of the incredibly knowledgeable folks that has tons of nutritional information @Kiki even has some awesome tables with all of the different feeds listed.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

*I* personally LOVE the smell of Nutrena All Flock and Hearty Hen.

I bought a Kalmbach feed off Amazon once.. it smelled so delicious.. I still think about serving it for Thanksgiving!

Alas, they aren't close enough to get their feed regularly.

If you are going through MORE feed than the stated average.. there might be some free loaders.. daytime birds, night time (day time under heavy load) rodents.. oh and sometimes my silly dogs!

I monitor my feed amounts closely.. and it's very on par with stated consumption levels.

Some feeds I've bought.. especially the higher protein game bird feeds smelled JUST like soy.. The birds always seemed to like it fine.. but the smell was no where as delicious as the Kalmbach.. I wonder.. maybe that one was made with wheat instead of corn.. smells better but paler yolks IN theory.. white corn however produces platinum colored yolks. None of the feeds I have seen personally are made with animal protein or byproducts.. which chickens require some animal based amino acids.. which are added in synthetically to the "vegetarian" formulas. I would expect those to smell maybe different.. like cat or dog food.. I wonder if chickens actually like that better?? I mean they go crazy for corn and wheat too.. kinda like me.

 

[deidreg]

I use Kalmbach feed and order it via chewy.com.

 

[K0k0shka]

I use Purina Flock Raiser crumbles, it's 20% protein and sold by Tractor Supply (and local feed stores - it's popular and easily found). My chickens like it enough, but they LOVE it when I mix it with water and make a clumpy mash. I use hot water in the winter and it's nice and warm by the time I take it to them. They will ignore the dry crumble and gobble the mash up like it's treats! So I get the effect of treats but without ruining their health.

 

[ZephyrCoveFarms]

Bluebonnet Layer Pellets

 

[kerbotx]

I've done a bit more experimenting this past year, trying lots of things I might not normally... The ones my chickens really seemed to dive right into:

Purina Flock Raiser Crumbles - TSC
Kalmbach 16% Protein Layer Crumbles - chewy
Dr. Pol Healthy Balance Poultry Pearls - TSC
Bryant Grain Co 22% Chick Grow Layer Crumbles - local farm/ranch store
Dumor 17% All Flock Pellets - TSC

I'm a little iffy on the Dr. Pol & the Dumor; I think they like it because it's a different shape, the Dr. Pol's is little round bbs, and the Dumor is a skinny pellet of varying lengths. They get dry feed and wet mash; they don't like the Dr. Pol's moistened, though. I'll probably go to the local feed mill for plain layer pellets on my next trip; they def like it better as a wet mash than a dry pellet, and that'll save a little money!