Chickens hate new feed, what to do?

Rianoel

Hatching
Jun 10, 2025
5
8
6
I am new at keeping chickens. All of them were on manna pro, but it’s expensive so I decided to switch to Kalmbach.

The big girls, some Easter eggers and silkies, don’t care for it a lot, but are still eating it. They’re and 4.5 months and look healthy and growing well.

My other chickens, all seramas, are 5 months old, and absolutely hate the new food. They don’t eat much of it—by which I mean, roughly 2/3 to 3/4 uneaten, when before the food was devoured. I actually wet their feed with water and serve it as a mash. So a lot is wasted if they don’t eat it. I have started serving dry, but they hate that even more.

At first I thought it would just take awhile for them to get used to it. Then I thought maybe they were just eating too much before. But now they aren’t looking so healthy anymore. They still come running for food, but get all droopy and leave when they see what’s on the menu. This has been going on for almost 2 weeks now. They’re teeny, so it’s not like there’s a lot of room for weight loss.

Since the big girls are eating the food, my plan is to leave them on it (I bought it mail order in bulk, so I have a lot). Is there a way to make it more palatable for the seramas? Should I just switch them back? I switched because the kalmbach is way cheaper, but at this point I’m paying the same price as the manna pro anyway. Does anyone know of a food that is more similar in flavor?

Thanks,

Susan
 
I don't think anyone here can comment on flavor.
Is it a whole grain feed?
Does it smell ok?
Lol, there are people out there employed to taste test pet food…I’m not sure it applies to chickens. But I figured maybe there was a chance.

It says Kalmbach feeds all natural 17% layer crumbles on the bag. Also my dog thinks it’s the cat’s meow. I accidentally spilled some and she vacuumed it up.
 
Lol, there are people out there employed to taste test pet food…I’m not sure it applies to chickens. But I figured maybe there was a chance.

It says Kalmbach feeds all natural 17% layer crumbles on the bag. Also my dog thinks it’s the cat’s meow. I accidentally spilled some and she vacuumed it up.
My dog likes chicken feed too. If it's just the seramas, I'm wondering one has decided they don't like it and the others are just following lead. I had a hen like that for grapes, nobody ate grapes but after Iost her, they loved grapes.
 
I do think there's some feeds where the chickens just decide "nope" - I tried switching my flock to grower pellets and with each bag they ate less and less and made more of a mess, so I finally gave in after 3 or 4 bags and switched back to their old pellets.
 
I can tell you firsthand that some chickens just don't like Kalmbach. My previous flock absolutely refused it, and I've seen reviews here and there (or even posts on BYC) with people having the same issue. My current chickens like it fine. It does smell a bit different, IMO. Can you get Nutrena or Purina where you are? Nutrena is also sold on Chewy.
 

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