Changing chicken feed: a horror story

[BuckeyeFoodie]

I think generally people ferment whole grain feeds. Not that you couldn't ferment pellets or crumble (I save any pellet/crumble fines and serve that wet, to save on waste) but I would think it'd be slightly more prone to molding, given what I've seen with pellets vs whole grain feed outside and water-to-feed ratios might differ a bit.

I have experimented with fermenting whole grains before, and my birds weren't big fans by the time the end of the bag rolled around... As for fermenting pellets/crumbles, that would be my biggest worry, mold. If I only had five birds, sure, that would be easy to keep up with, but I have closer to 50, and a full-time job...

 

[JCaseyHammond]

I’m so sorry! How heartbreaking it is to discover what happened. I’m glad you have the answer now and can go forward. I too noticed that protein pellets in game bird mix went uneaten and were attracting rats, and birds were falling ill. I switched to an all flock formula and serve it moistened with water. Aside from rat damage, there have been no more mysteriously dead birds.

 

[Feath3rDust3r]

I'm very interested in this. I have had a similar experience except that I never realized what was happening until I read this article and then the penny dropped!

Would it be ok to feed my whole flock unmedicated chick feed? I have chicks a lot of the time and it's tricky keeping the right birds eating the right food.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Would it be ok to feed my whole flock unmedicated chick feed? I have chicks a lot of the time and it's tricky keeping the right birds eating the right food.

That should be fine. Hens usually love chick crumble as it's high in protein.

 

[Maryot]

First and foremost before I share my story, I am absolutely not complaining about the quality of, or trying to demonize Front View Feeds. My story was a very unfortunate set of circumstances I am sharing so hopefully no one else goes through what I did. The company is completely blameless, I genuinely like their products, and will continue to highly recommend them to people.



Back in February (ah, life pre-pandemic, how fondly I remember it...) I decided that if I was going to be serious about breeding and exhibiting my birds that I needed to be feeding them the best quality feed that I could. After doing some research, and in consultation with the feed dealer (a friend), I decided to switch my Silkies and Ayam Cemani to FVF Master Mix.

For those of you unfamiliar with Master Mix, it is a 18% feed that is a combination of whole/cracked grains, and a 30% nutrient pellet. It looks gorgeous, smells gorgeous, and sounded like it would be great for my needs. I was warned that because it's not a homogenized mix that the birds would likely pick out the grains first, and leave the pellet behind, so be sure to make sure they were eating it all before topping my feeders back up.

After a bit of time, about two months, I started to lose some of my birds to a mystery illness. They would be increasing lethargic, with bad color and weight loss. When I had a respiratory infection hit my flock, my pampered breeding birds were hit hard versus my free-ranging egg flock that had minor symptoms. According to endless desperate google searches as I lost a bird or two every few weeks, I was convinced that despite having been NPIP certified not too long before, we must now have parasites of some kind. There is no vet that will work with chickens near me, but my equine vet also googled, and confirmed that my line of thinking was probably correct.

So I treated for mites. And worms. And coccidiosis, and what felt like a hundred other things. I could navigate the Pigeon Supplies Plus website blind. I become adept at tube feeding birds that are too lethargic to eat, only to lose all but one. I power-washed the coops and treated them with high-strength permethrin twice a month on top of cleaning them weekly. Months go by, but I was still slowly losing birds, including so many of the grow-outs I had hand-raised in my laundry room, but had no where else to put but in the coop once they got bigger.

The end of September rolls around, and I haven't lost any birds in a few weeks, so I think we may have finally gotten this pest issue under control. As I'm inspecting my remaining birds to see who I might want to enter into the virtual show, I notice that even my strongest birds are still feeling thin, so when I go to order feed for that month I ask what I can switch my feed to to help them put weight back on. I switch them to a homogenized 22% feed, and slowly all but one start to recover.

That is when I realize the horrible truth: my birds had done exactly what I was warned about and had essentially done this to themselves, and I was their unwitting enabler. The pushy birds would eat first, picking out the lower nutrient grains from the feed mix, leaving nothing but the 30% nutrient pellet behind for the others. By doing this half my birds were not getting enough nutrition, and the other half were getting way too much protein, thus leaving me with birds that would drop sick with a myriad of symptoms, never to get better.

My surviving birds are still slowly but surely recovering. However my breeding flock has taken a major hit, including the loss of the mother and all but one of my first home-bred greys I was so excited about. After the experience I had over this year (could 2020 possibly have been MORE of a dumpster fire?!?!?) I don't think I will ever feed a non-homogenized feed again. And while I will continue to offer scratch grains like I always have, it will be in far smaller amounts than previously out of fear of a similar situation.

Again I say, I'm not sharing my story to flame the feed company - I actually kept feeding their other feeds until I ran out this week, and only decided to switch back to my previous brand because I can get it at the feed store 5 minutes away, instead of driving 45 for the nearest FVF dealer. I am sharing this story to warn people that this situation CAN happen, and when it does it looks a whole lot like a parasitic infection.

Edited because: spelling

 

[Maryot]

Why does it say hatching in my post? Apparently I don’t know how to reply. Sometimes I can’t find the place to reply.
~~~Anyway I appreciate this post because I just started feeding my chickens a mix of non homogeneous feed. I mix it in with their other feed and usually do it as a second feeding. Thanks fir the heads up. Grub lies is one feed I’m thinking of.

 

[Maryot]

Oh it says hatching under my name. Wonder why.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Why does it say hatching in my post?

It's your "level" on the site: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-trophy-point-levels.1251359/

 

[claudiabostic]

I'm very interested in this. I have had a similar experience except that I never realized what was happening until I read this article and then the penny dropped!

Would it be ok to feed my whole flock unmedicated chick feed? I have chicks a lot of the time and it's tricky keeping the right birds eating the right food.

I've been feeding my flock grower feed for 2 years now with no problems. The laying hens get a couple kinds of calcium supplements which the roosters ignore other than tidbitting them to the hens. Chicks get a starter feed for about 3 weeks and then transition to grower. It makes it much simpler and the hens go through molt a lot better.

 

[GC-Raptor]

Would it be ok to feed my whole flock unmedicated chick feed? I have chicks a lot of the time and it's tricky keeping the right birds eating the right food.

It's my preferred feed (18% Protein crumble) for my pullets (7 months old) and hens (2 years old).

I do buy an All-Flock crumble 20% if my Starter-Grower is sold out for a dollar more.
I offer Oyster Shells separately.

GC