Converting

[Driley62]

Hello all,

I'm changing feed from one brand to another. I know when changing food for dogs you gotta do it over the course of a week or longer depending on the sensitivity of the dogs stomach.

Do chickens need the same time to convert?
I mixed old to new somewhere between the 60/40 and 70/30 range. What was left of the old (about 25 pounds) to what was left of a new bag of food about 45 pounds and mixed it as best as I could in my galvanized feed barrel.

 

[3KillerBs]

I don't know if there's an accepted amount of time, but my feeder lasts 4-5 days and I start by adding about 1/4 of new feed to the feeder the first time, then half, and then the last bit of the old in with the new.

I don't measure or count time, just transition from old plus some new to 50-50 to new with the last of the old by eye.

 

[Driley62]

I don't know if there's an accepted amount of time, but my feeder lasts 4-5 days and I start by adding about 1/4 of new feed to the feeder the first time, then half, and then the last bit of the old in with the new.

I don't measure or count time, just transition from old plus some new to 50-50 to new with the last of the old by eye.

That's basically what I did. It was somewhere somewhat close to 50/50...im guessing 60/40. I made a custom feeder out of a 5 gallon food grade pickle pail. That will last me somewhere in the ball park of 4-5 days too but top off every 3 days when I fill their water up.

 

[GC-Raptor]

When I used to change from Starter Grower crumble to a Layers Pellet, I would mix feeds 50/50 for a week or two until Starter Grower feed was used up.
I also mixed Pellets with Scratch Grains 50/50 and scattered on dry ground for a few days to get them used to pellets.
I give Scratch as a treat daily, if you don't, don't Start.
If the new feed is the same type say Crumble and Protein is within 2%, I don't mix, just add to feeder when half empty.
I routinely switch to an All-flock crumble 20% when my preferred Non-medicated Starter Grower crumble 18% isn't available or fresh. GC

 

[Driley62]

When I used to change from Starter Grower crumble to a Layers Pellet, I would mix feeds 50/50 for a week or two until Starter Grower feed was used up.
I also mixed Pellets with Scratch Grains 50/50 and scattered on dry ground for a few days to get them used to pellets.
I give Scratch as a treat daily, if you don't, don't Start.
If the new feed is the same type say Crumble and Protein is within 2%, I don't mix, just add to feeder when half empty.
I routinely switch to an All-flock crumble 20% when my preferred Non-medicated Starter Grower crumble 18% isn't available or fresh. GC

I don't mix scratch with their feed but toss it around to get them to scratch and peck. I don't give it to then Daily either. I used to but it got expensive haha. Mostly because I was on quarantine lockdown and I was bored out of my mind. So I went crazy and gave the birds too much in treats and talked to them like they were people.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I actually don't do gradual transitions with mixing old and new feed, I switch all at once. Reason being I found that my flock would scratch out a lot of feed trying to get to the feed they were used to, which kind of defeats the purpose of slowly introducing the new feed, so after that I stopped doing gradual transitions.

I haven't changed feed that much on them though, I generally stick to what works for me. Maybe if I was constantly trying new feeds it would be problematic to switch them abruptly.

 

[Driley62]

I actually don't do gradual transitions with mixing old and new feed, I switch all at once. Reason being I found that my flock would scratch out a lot of feed trying to get to the feed they were used to, which kind of defeats the purpose of slowly introducing the new feed, so after that I stopped doing gradual transitions.

I haven't changed feed that much on them though, I generally stick to what works for me. Maybe if I was constantly trying new feeds it would be problematic to switch them abruptly.

It makes sense. I could see them pecking through for that or what they like more.

 

[3KillerBs]

I actually don't do gradual transitions with mixing old and new feed, I switch all at once. Reason being I found that my flock would scratch out a lot of feed trying to get to the feed they were used to, which kind of defeats the purpose of slowly introducing the new feed, so after that I stopped doing gradual transitions.

I haven't changed feed that much on them though, I generally stick to what works for me. Maybe if I was constantly trying new feeds it would be problematic to switch them abruptly.

That's interesting. I've never noticed mine even noticing the difference, except in the texture between pellet and crumble.

Perhaps it's my feeder? Which is the traditional metal one with the deep pan that makes it very difficult for them to spill and waste anything. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/in-praise-of-the-traditional-hanging-feeder.1452899/

 

[rosemarythyme]

That's interesting. I've never noticed mine even noticing the difference, except in the texture between pellet and crumble.

Perhaps it's my feeder? Which is the traditional metal one with the deep pan that makes it very difficult for them to spill and waste anything. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/in-praise-of-the-traditional-hanging-feeder.1452899/

I have the typical plastic gravity type feeder with the little ribbed dividers. I don't usually have a spillage issue (and they clean up anything that does spill) but when I tried switching between brands, they were billing out quite a lot, looking for the old brand. Switching between crumbled all flock and layer pellets of the same brand didn't cause any issue (I assume they taste similar).

 

[Huntmaster]

I've always done a gradual change over myself. I have never used medicated feed but was told that you shouldn't mix medicated feed with other feeds. Not sure y I didn't ask because I never use medicated feed.