Best feed for the money?

[TheSpeckledRoo]

Hey everyone, i just wanted to ask what everyone's favorite brand of commercial feed and why. Right now i am using Dumor crumbles for layers. I am relatively new at raising chickens so any feedback would be helpful.

 

[daoustaj]

I like tye dumor. When i gradually switched to layena i had funny shaped eggs and they quit laying.

 

[TheSpeckledRoo]

I like tye dumor. When i gradually switched to layena i had funny shaped eggs and they quit laying.

I wondered what would happen if i switch feed. I know if you switch feed on a dog they are likely to get sick. I wonder if the same is true with chickens? :s

 

[Donna Raybon]

Triple Trust has a waterfowl pellet that I use with chickens, ducks, and geese. I start the babies on a crumble (Dumor has a good one that is ok for chickens and waterfowl) and gradually switch them to the waterfowl pellet as they get big enough to eat them. As their protein requirments change, I will mix with scratch to get what is needed. The scratch I use is a mix that is 11% with BOSS, millet, cracked corn, oats, wheat, milo, etc....
I use free choice oyster shell and granite grit, too.
You don't save anything by using a 'cheap' product in the long run. BTW chickens are NOT vegetarians and a lot of the 'no animal meat' feeds won't meet your birds needs! Same with the ducks! Probably closest to vegetarian would be maybe a goose? And, even they will take the opportunity to grab the odd bug, frog, lizard, etc...
My birds didn't seem to care much for the Layena either. I really noticed drop in eggs in the Khaki Campbell ducks the most. They came back up when I went back to the old ration.
Keep your feeds out of direct sun as the vitamin content is very vunerable to degradation by light.
Birds love sprouted grains, too. There has been a lot of research lately on the huge increase in nutrition that sprouting provides over just feeding the grain.
Donna in Dandridge, TN

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I prefer nutrena because the crumbles are not as small and there is not as much powder in the bottom of the bag.

 

[TheSpeckledRoo]

I just wanted everyone to know that i switched my girls from Dumor crumbles to a feed from the company Kalmbach (which i never heard of before) A new feed store opened up in my small town so i will start buying my feed there instead of driving 11 miles to the nearest TSC. ANYWAYS my girls have laid 13 eggs today and i have a hen in the nesting box acting like she is going to lay again. I only have 13 hens! I live in Michigan, and winter has already set in. This is amazing to me! Has anyone ever heard of the Kalmbach company?

 

[dsedler]

I feed Kalmbach layer crumbles and have for years now. Mine do great on it. It's quite a bit cheaper than Purina and when I was feeding Purina, I kept getting bags that were more dust than crumble and the chickens didn't eat it as well. I can't compare it to the Dumor, because I never have and never will feed that.

 

[TheSpeckledRoo]

Did you notice a drop in egg size when you switched?