At a Crossroads on Feed!

[Mimi13]

My first flock, all hens, have eaten Purina Layena Plus with wonderful results. I still provided oyster shell/crushed egg shell on the side.

I now have a mixed flock: four 2+ yo hens (the originals), nineteen 16 week old pullets, and four 16 wo cockerels (the littles). The littles were on Purina Medicated Chick Starter.

When the littles were 12 wo and beginning integration with the originals, I changed all of them over to Purina Flock Raiser (PFR) Crumbles. All is well...except waste. The waste is unfathomable and draws a monumental army of ants!

I want my feed to be good for ALL my birds (no calcium hurting the cockerels), but I can’t have all that waste. I have been using the hanging 10# feeders which easily allows the birds to bill out the feed. And bill out they do!

So, I ordered a Grandpa’s Feeder in hopes of stopping the waste.

I ordered only one small feeder ($139 +s/h) to see if it worked before investing an arm and a leg in feeders, as I would need three. But, I’m not happy with it. First of all it sits on the ground! Can we all sing “The Ants Go Marching One By One?” Yep, it doesn’t keep ants out. And it is too low, as my birds are used to eating from the higher, hanging feeders.

What I want is to purchase PFR in PELLET form. I’m sure Purina makes it because I found a picture of it on the internet...

...but, I cannot find it anywhere in a store or online for purchase. (I have emailed Purina).

Here is my dilemma: If I can’t find the pellet form, how bad will it be for my cockerels if I feed them the Layena Plus? I have no problem finding it in pellets and the pellets are not wasted like the crumbles.

I am truly torn and at my wits end!

Thank you for your advice.

 

[Criticalicious]

Sounds like you need to find a feeder that the birds can't bill out AND that ants can't reach. A rubbermaid container with PVC elbows works well and forces the birds to reach in to get the food.
As for feed types, does your local farm store have other choices? Why stick with Purina? Any brand that offers a "grower/broiler" option would be safe for the roosters or a mixed flock.

 

[SueT]

I feed Purina flock raiser crumbles to all chickens all the time. They love it so much they never waste it. If any spills, they clean it up.

 

[Criticalicious]

One way to train birds to waste less is, cut off access to the feeder for a couple hours. They'll clean up the mess in no time.

 

[SueT]

I also moisten some of my feed and put it in dog bowls. This is a good alternative to dry crumbles...

 

[Mimi13]

Sounds like you need to find a feeder that the birds can't bill out AND that ants can't reach. A rubbermaid container with PVC elbows works well and forces the birds to reach in to get the food.
As for feed types, does your local farm store have other choices? Why stick with Purina? Any brand that offers a "grower/broiler" option would be safe for the roosters or a mixed flock.

I have considered making my own feeders and may resort to that.

I should have mentioned that I don’t necessarily have to have Purina. I have looked at Nutrena and Dumor as well. I have 3 TSC’s that I visit and not one of them carries the pellet form. My local co-op sells chicken feed that is primarily scratch.

I didn’t know that a “grower/broiler” feed was acceptable for a laying flock. I thought it was >20% protein, which I’ve read isn’t good for layers, long term. Is that not true?

 

[SueT]

Make sure your feed is fresh...check the date on the bag. If it is old, funky, moldy, that could be why chickens waste feed....

 

[Folly's place]

I like the yellow plastic feeders from Premier1supplies.com. They can sit on blocks, or be hung, and there's much less waste. I also would like Flock Raiser pelleted feed, and it seems to be nowhere! People do make those PVC pipe feeders, but I'm not doing it myself.
Mary

 

[Mimi13]

Make sure your feed is fresh...check the date on the bag. If it is old, funky, moldy, that could be why chickens waste feed....

Yes, I do check the date religiously. It’s amazing how much I’ve learned here on BYC. I don’t know if just not enough people buy chicken feed for the dates to be fresh around where I live, but I do struggle with that. IMHO I think most around here, central Alabama, must feed scraps, scratch, free range, instead of nutritionally balanced store bought feed. It is so difficult sometimes to buy really fresh food that I wish I could buy straight from the manufacturer.
Example: On 8/2 I went to buy feed at a fairly new TSC. It opened at the beginning of May. All of the bags of feed were dated mid April, which was probably from their very first feed shipment, except for one bag. It was dated 6/8. That bag of feed was already almost 2 months old. I went ahead and got it since I feed one 50# bag/wk right now.

I’m exhausted trying to figure this out and do what’s right.

 

[Mimi13]

I like the yellow plastic feeders from Premier1supplies.com. They can sit on blocks, or be hung, and there's much less waste. I also would like Flock Raiser pelleted feed, and it seems to be nowhere! People do make those PVC pipe feeders, but I'm not doing it myself.
View attachment 1497091 Mary

The only reason I haven’t made any of the PVC feeders is because the chicken has to completely stick its head into the container, thus making it unaware of its surroundings at the time. My four originals are notorious for running the littles off from the feeders (they can see them coming.) I’m afraid, with their head stuck in a hole, that the hens would begin pecking and maybe even hurting them. I don’t want to get that started and I have currently placed 5 feeders throughout the coop, run and chicken yard where they free range, because of that. I hope that will lessen as time goes on.