Changing feeds

[Krs Yng Chicks]

I switched from pellets to mash and my birds acted like they didn't know the difference.  Only went back to pellets because my birds knocked so much mash onto the ground.  I tried to switch so that I could buy locally sourced feed, but unfortunately it was way too inefficient.  My birds, however, were very easy to transition.  

Love the idea of locally sourced, what I am getting is from Virginia, I believe. I read on another thread to use the more dusty parts that would be wasted by adding it to yogurt or add water to it and make it more of a porridge consistency.

I just really would like to go the organic non GMO route. My husband already has cancer, although in remission now, there is no cure for Multiple Myeloma..... I am just trying to do what I can to keep us healthy.

Hope everyone is having an awesome Sunday with their loved ones!

Kris

 

[hyelaw]

My advice is to always feed any Mystery Feed in a separate feeder, as follows:

• Try to find a second feeder identical to the one you're already using.
• Put equal amounts of feed in each feeder: your current feed in its current feeder, and your new feed in the other feeder.
• Watch and wait. Keep your hands in your pockets until one feeder is nearly empty.
• If one feeder is practically empty and the other is practically full, you have a winner and a loser. Don't buy any more of the loser.
• If the rates of consumption are more even, you can do what you like.

I've heard that "chickens are set in their ways and don't like novelty, and it takes them a while to get used to a new feed" and "chickens love novelty and will consider anything new to be a treat." Go figure. My attitude is that if your feeders are big enough to hold several days' worth of feed, you don't have to care which one is right (or whether either is right, or if it all depends). By the time one feeder goes empty, enough time will have passed that these short-term effects will have passed.

Robert

The flaw to this is you are setting the new feed up to failure. Yes, they can be very set in their ways. To make this work you need to make the change more even, put the new feed in the old feeder and the old feed in the new one. Or else they will stick with the old food and old feeder regardless.

I'm lazy and if I want to change their feed it's my choice, not theirs. I'm obviously doing it for a reason and not because I feel like changing their routine and diet. So, I prefer to transition them slowly. If they are hungry, they will eat the only thing available to them.