Chick crumbles seems so wasteful

[ForFlocksSake]

Ive tried 3 different brands of starter crumbles for my chicks and have had terrible luck with it. The bags seems like mostly dust. I have been making a big tray of mash out of the feed every morning for my 5-6 week olds and they love it. It lasts a good portion of the day for them but I also want to provide extra dry feed in a feeder so there is always food available. I just get very frustrated by the dust in the feed because it feels so wasteful using it in a feeder. I do my best to dump the leftover dust for a mash, but it seems like these feeds are mostly dust with some crumble the birds can actually eat. Does anyone do ONLY mash for food to prevent waste? How do you make sure there is always enough food available?

For reference I have used Purina Starter Crumbles, Dumor Organic Starter Crumbles and just opened a big bag of Kalmbach Organic Starter crumbles to find mostly dust once again.

 

[Shadrach]

Does anyone do ONLY mash for food to prevent waste?

I used to. This was with chickens that ranged from dawn to dusk though and I fed them morning and evening. Because they could forage they didn't need a supply of commercial feed throughout the day.
Is it not practicable for you to leave a tray of mash down throughout the day?

 

[ForFlocksSake]

I used to. This was with chickens that ranged from dawn to dusk though and I fed them morning and evening. Because they could forage they didn't need a supply of commercial feed throughout the day.
Is it not practicable for you to leave a tray of mash down throughout the day?

I have been able to so far, but I guess my concern is it may stop them from eating dry feed too. Could be overthinking it, but I worry about the day I can't make the mash for whatever reason and they refuse the available dry feed waiting on mash. They aren't free range so what I supply is what they get.

I also worry about providing the correct amount for them. With a dry feeder they can decide how much they need.

It's ok to tell me if I am overthinking haha.

 

[Shadrach]

I have been able to so far, but I guess my concern is it may stop them from eating dry feed too. Could be overthinking it, but I worry about the day I can't make the mash for whatever reason and they refuse the available dry feed waiting on mash. They aren't free range so what I supply is what they get.

I also worry about providing the correct amount for them. With a dry feeder they can decide how much they need.

It's ok to tell me if I am overthinking haha.

It's quite natural to worry whether ones chickens are getting enough to eat. I think we've all done it at some point.

However, you are overthinking it just a little bit.

Leave the mash down if you can and forget about the dry feed extra. They will eat what they need and maybe a bit extra if they are bored.
In the vast majority of circumstances chickens will eat whatever is there when they get hungry enough. Provided you supply something balanced and edible they won't starve.

 

[ForFlocksSake]

It's quite natural to worry whether ones chickens are getting enough to eat. I think we've all done it at some point.

However, you are overthinking it just a little bit.

Leave the mash down if you can and forget about the dry feed extra. They will eat what they need and maybe a bit extra if they are bored.
In the vast majority of circumstances chickens will eat whatever is there when they get hungry enough. Provided you supply something balanced and edible they won't starve.

Thank you! appreciate the help

 

[ForFlocksSake]

It's quite natural to worry whether ones chickens are getting enough to eat. I think we've all done it at some point.

However, you are overthinking it just a little bit.

Leave the mash down if you can and forget about the dry feed extra. They will eat what they need and maybe a bit extra if they are bored.
In the vast majority of circumstances chickens will eat whatever is there when they get hungry enough. Provided you supply something balanced and edible they won't starve.

Just want to make sure- wetting feed won’t fill them up faster because of the water thus potentially causing them to eat less than they need nutritionally, right? I know fermenting is different and can fill chickens faster but I’m worried I can be doing the same with growing chicks.

 

[Shadrach]

What may happen is they drink less water because the are getting it in the feed but I very much doubt you would notice unless you measured the chicks intake by the milli litre.
Some reassurance may be found in considering what a chick free ranging with their mother might eat. It won't be dried dust I can confidently state. The vast majority of what any chicken would eat on a forage only diet has water content.
This ranges from rodents to whole grains, grasses to fruits.
One is more likely to get digestive problems from dry feed only because it's not something a chicken would naturally feed on. You'll notice on the feed bags I hope, a very strong recommendation that when feeding dried feed there should be water available at all times. This is to ensure the feed in the crop isn't dry when it moves down to the gizzard for the grinding process.

 

[ForFlocksSake]

What may happen is they drink less water because the are getting it in the feed but I very much doubt you would notice unless you measured the chicks intake by the milli litre.
Some reassurance may be found in considering what a chick free ranging with their mother might eat. It won't be dried dust I can confidently state. The vast majority of what any chicken would eat on a forage only diet has water content.
This ranges from rodents to whole grains, grasses to fruits.
One is more likely to get digestive problems from dry feed only because it's not something a chicken would naturally feed on. You'll notice on the feed bags I hope, a very strong recommendation that when feeding dried feed there should be water available at all times. This is to ensure the feed in the crop isn't dry when it moves down to the gizzard for the grinding process.

Very good point! They definitely prefer the wet feed over the dry. And I guess if it’s lasting the whole day with a tiny amount left at the end of the day then they’re getting as much as they need.

 

[yakitori]

I use a sieve and sift out the dust (i do it in the bag so it doesn’t go everywhere) The sifted crumbles go in the feeder for the chicks and eventually I use the powder at the bottom of the feed bag to feed a few days of mash…

As soon as my birds are old wnough for all flock pellets I switch them to the pellets.

there’s probably a better way to do this, but it’s what worked for me so far!