Changing feed to Kalmbach 20% Flock Maker pellets

[WingItRanch]

Mine are fans. I switched to Kalmbach Full Plume Feathering Pellets. It has more calcium than their Flock Maker and is still 20% protein. I still give oyster shell in the side and feed them back the egg shells but I find the extra calcium in the feed reassuring.
I get mine mostly at Chewy. Sometimes Agway has it but not reliably enough.

Oh I haven't heard of the Full Plume Feathering option. I have a cockerel (for now...we'll see if he causes trouble) and read extra calcium isn't the best for the males.

 

[RoyalChick]

I have been feeding this to my flock for over a year and order it from Chewy too. However my last 5 bags have all been rotten. Made me gag when I opened the box. The feed looked fine, but smelled like rotten vegetables. It was very obvious something was wrong bc this feed usually smells like pizza to me! Chewy won’t tell me when they’ve replenished their warehouse stock, so I’m having to look for another source now.

For reference, here’s the code from the 5 bags of bad feed. Was made in January and Chewy has been shipping this batch since January (I still have all bags tags since then). Only the last 5 (of 12 or so) been rotten.

View attachment 3903642

That is awful. Normally it smells really yummy!

 

[alwaystj9]

Sounds like Kalmbach is doing good customer & safety work!
About the calcium, a lot of mineral issues are dependant on how and where you keep your birds. I have mineral issues with my pastures & property and have to supplement my goats pretty heavily. My chickens spend 12-14 hours a day roaming 4 acres, they get a lot of exercise!
I am using Kalmbach because it does seem to be a great feed and the price is better than almost anything else around here. Even adding in the extra oyster shell, I am coming out ahead pricewise. I will be interested to see if the demand changes when peak egg production tapers off.
I use the 22% Lay pellet, and have about 20 laying hens and maybe 15 pullets.

 

[StinkyAcres]

And that's even MORE interesting as hubby said since we switched to Flock Maker crumbles a couple of years ago, he'd like me to show him how to crack the eggs because they're so tough.

We have oyster shell out and here too they barely touch it.

That's good. I was using their 17% layer so that might have something to do with it. And it's very possible that something else is going on with my hens which is weakening their egg shells (we are having a terrible time with mites this year).

 

[Debbie292d]

That's good. I was using their 17% layer so that might have something to do with it. And it's very possible that something else is going on with my hens which is weakening their egg shells (we are having a terrible time with mites this year).

We mix their 16% layer 50/50 with the Flock Maker, and additionally, I sprinkle Rooster Booster granules in it. I've done that since day one 8 years ago, fearful of silkies being prone to vitamin deficiencies. I'm probably doing overkill with the vitamin granules, but I'll keep doing it.

As for mites, what are you using? I've never had them here but most folks say permethrin powder for the coop and the chickens. We do the DE monthly so presume that helps, although not with the SLM scaley leg mites. Three times we've had those.

 

[Big Mama Chicken]

You know… I do have a local feed place but I haven’t been yet. (We just moved out to the country in February after years of dreaming). I’ll make a point to go this weekend!

I’ve heard people say their younger chickens refuse to eat pellets because they got used to the crumbles. Have you had any issues with them being picky?

I started with Kalmbach after my chicks got off the starter feed before I moved them outside. They love it and I do too. From time to time, I roast egg shells and crush them and add them to the feed just to get a little extra calcium. My girls aren't real fond of oyster shells but they eat the crushed egg shells, especially if I put them in a flock block or on oatmeal (mainly in cold weather).

 

[StinkyAcres]

We mix their 16% layer 50/50 with the Flock Maker, and additionally, I sprinkle Rooster Booster granules in it. I've done that since day one 8 years ago, fearful of silkies being prone to vitamin deficiencies. I'm probably doing overkill with the vitamin granules, but I'll keep doing it.

As for mites, what are you using? I've never had them here but most folks say permethrin powder for the coop and the chickens. We do the DE monthly so presume that helps, although not with the SLM scaley leg mites. Three times we've had those.

I've been using the permethrin powder. It works to get rid of the mites but I'm trying to use it as little as possible because one of my hens is having trouble breathing and I'm thinking the powder might have been the cause. I may have to switch to the spray..

 

[FrostRanger]

If it gives you hope, I just refilled my feeders a bit ago with one of the bags I ordered around 2 weeks ago (I thought I was going to run out sooner than I actually did) and the feed looked and smelled the same as usual. Hopefully your bag will be fine too

 

[WingItRanch]

Good news! The bag finally arrived and I cut it open and it smells delicious. Exactly like pizza!

I mixed my Dumor crumble with some of the Flock Maker and gave it to the girls (and boy). Unsurprisingly, my Barred Rock were the first to check it out and they loved it. I'm sure the others will follow their lead.

 

[WingItRanch]

We mix their 16% layer 50/50 with the Flock Maker, and additionally, I sprinkle Rooster Booster granules in it. I've done that since day one 8 years ago, fearful of silkies being prone to vitamin deficiencies. I'm probably doing overkill with the vitamin granules, but I'll keep doing it.

As for mites, what are you using? I've never had them here but most folks say permethrin powder for the coop and the chickens. We do the DE monthly so presume that helps, although not with the SLM scaley leg mites. Three times we've had those.

I'm going to try this and spray it all over the coop and bedding. I have ant problems and DE isn't cutting it. People say you can spray it directly on your birds but I'm hesitant to spray anything directly on animals.