Changing Feed Brands

[cochinbantam-lover]

Hello, Havn't been here in awhile but am back with a question. I ran out of my regular feed which is Layena for my chicks, well almost chickens

had to get another brand of laying feed and it is called Paymaster, it also is a layer feed and is 20 % protein. I am sure it is good an everything but it won't upset their stomachs or digestive systems by the switch, the Layena as you probably know are pellets whereas the new stuff is crumb.
Thankyou for any thoughts!

 

[A.T. Hagan]

If I can I like to transition birds over to a new feed slowly by mixing the old and new feed about half and half for a few days until I'm out of the old feed. Less chance of causing an upset than with changing them over all at once.

I feed Purina Flock Raiser which is a 20% general purpose poultry ration. I also feed free choice whole grains. The birds will typically eat about 40% Flock Raiser to 60% whole oats and corn. If you do this you'll want to offer a hopper of free choice oyster shell to keep their calcium intake up. I've gone over to mixing it into their grain as they seem to eat more of it that way.

.....Alan.

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

Thankyou!

 

[speckledhen]

Does Paymaster have animal protein? If so, it's probably better for them, as long as the quality control is okay. Layena is vegetarian.

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

Yes it says in the ingredients Animal Protein Products, what do you mean quality control?
Thanks alot!

 

[speckledhen]

I mean that the feed doesn't have alot of "fines" (powdery dust) in it or other undesirables. I guess I really meant the storage of it, free from bugs, etc, rather than the quality control. If the feed is fresh, smells okay, isn't excessively dusty, etc, then it should be a good feed for the birds. The only way to know is to feed it to them and see how they do with it.

After Purina started with their vegetarian thing and others jumped on the bandwagon, many were seeing problems with their birds' feathering, feather picking, etc. IMO, they need some good protein other than veggie.

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

Thankyou so much! I can't believe how much I have learned here about chickens!!

And there is always more to learn!