Chicken feed is deteriorating

[mychooks]

I keep everything from various peacocks, quail, pheasants, bantams, ducks, egg layers etc. Anyway the point is : I feed them all a mixture of wild bird seed, cracked corn, wheat, oats but mostly 26% game bird starter crumble. Over the past year or so, I notice that they are not finishing their crumble. The birds will be hungry and I have to dump what is left and put in new crumble. There seems to be low quality fillers in the food that the birds just won't finish up. I reckon that 10% of the crumble ration is wasted. I wonder if anyone else is having this problem.

 

[happi752]

Yes I have the same problem with our crumble. I hate it that it is waste that the chickens just wont eat. I guess all brands would be like this.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

I finally had to switch to layer PELLETS. The crumble was being wasted way too much. The hens finish off the pellets and they are doing just fine with it.

 

[crtrlovr]

do you mind if I ask what brand(s) you two are using? I use Purina game bird maintenance (26% protein) since I have LF, OEGBs, one blue slate turkey hen, and silkies, and they waste very little of it. I feed them a couple of large scoops of scratch scattered in the run each morning, and keep a hanging feeder available inside the hen house (left open during the day, they're closed up inside at night) so they can free feed. I tried the pellets, but they didn't eat them as well, and they were too large for the smaller birds to really be able to eat as well as they needed to.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Sure, it is Penn. the pellets are pretty small. I get it at my local feed store.

I resisted the pellets at first too. Thought the smaller birds would not be able to eat them. But, they are all fat and sassy.

I too use the Game bird feed, but only for MY Guineas when they are in the nursery and when winter comes and the bugs go.