Coyote Creek and feed dust

[losttexan]

One of the local feed stores recently started carrying it on regular basis, so I switched to the layer pellets about a month ago. My birds love it, and I do see an improvement in their appearance and egg-laying. However, the dust is ridiculous. Out of a 50lb. bag, I bet at least 20lbs. is useless dust. I was willing to get a second bag, and see if it was a one-time problem, but nope - just as much as the first time.

I called the folks at Coyote Creek, and they were very friendly and willing to talk. The first thing they did was blame it on rough handling by the distributor/retailer. Well, ok - yes, that could have some effect, but not to this degree. I have bought many feeds over the years at this store, and they don't all look pulverized. I suspect the formula is somewhat to blame. When I mentioned that to the person on the phone, they said actually yes, they were making some recipe changes to help with the dust. I asked how long it would take to trickle down to the supply, and they told me new stuff would go out with that day's shipment.

Fast-forward to last week. The retailer told me he received his bags in the day before, so I bought another one, took it home, and guess what - pounds and pounds of dust! There's so much, it clogs up my feeders (on their most open setting), and I have to take it all out and screen sift the entire bag. My chickens love this feed, but the amount of material I'm wasting is not sustainable. I'm paying twice as much for a bag, and using half the amount as I was before - that's a four-fold increase in cost.

So, to the point: 1) has anyone else had this problem? 2) If so, what did you do about it? 3) Did you find a good workaround or find a better feed?

I was thinking about mixing it with corn oil and feeding it back to them, or maybe making it into blocks, but honestly, I would rather just be able to feed it as intended.

 

[AmyPaperlady]

Maybe ferment the dust, or just feed it to them wet?

 

[pdirt]

You don't want to toss the dust. It's full of nutrition. You could mix it with yogurt or kefir and they'd love it, but it would get expensive. I'd probably just ferment it like AmyPaperlady suggested. Or even just feeding wet. But if it's clogging up your feeders and you want to keep using this feed, maybe you need a different style of feeder? I had to adjust the flow on our treadle feeder when I switched feeds because otherwise it got clogged up or would overfill the feeder tray and then they'd waste it.

 

[CMolberg]

Greetings from Elgin and Coyote Creek Organic Feed Mill!

We understand your frustration and we are doing everything we can to improve the physical durability of our pelleted feed. Because our feed is certified organic we cannot use the binders that are used in conventional pelleted feed. However, we have seen much improvement over the past month as we've tweaked the formulations a bit. We also hope to acquire some new equipment in the coming months that would help decrease the amount of dust, although it is an expensive piece of equipment that we are making room for in our budget.

On the other hand, it is wonderful to read that your hens love the Coyote Creek feed and that you've seen improvement in their appearance and egg production! This is surely due to the high-quality ingredients that we use in every Coyote Creek feed formulation, in addition to the fact that our feeds never contain chemical residues from synthetic herbicides and pesticides, animal-byproducts, GMOs, or pharmaceuticals.

In order to help your hens benefit from the entire bag of feed, we recommend having at least one trough-style feeder to use for the leftover powdery remnants. Please check out our Feeder Design Guide to see this easy-to-make feeder. It is conducive to adding water to the powdery remnants, easy to clean, and simple to make with just one trip to your local hardware store.

Please let us know what you think! We are here to support you and we're glad to discuss other ideas to help your hens get the absolute best nourishment they can get!

 

[losttexan]

Well, I've had it - I'm dropping the Coyote Creek feed. The dust has only become worse, and when one boils this down into actual consumed feed per dollar, the cost of the feed is absolutely ridiculous. Pity, because I think the hens like it, but if CC is not going to make their product more useable, I have no choice but to switch to something else. Any recommendations?

 

[Sirius452]

I bought a 20lb bag of Coyote Creek layer pellets last week. I too am on a hunt for a good feed. My bag is maybe 15% crumbly material that my girls eat without any work on my part. I am still going to go down my list of other brands to try to see what they have to offer, but Coyote Creek is the one to beat so far. Before that I tried Happy Chick'n which is about 90% dust so don't buy that brand. My eggs tasted especially delicious on that feed but I would rather have something that I don't have to water down and can leave out free choice. I am going to try Scratch n Peck next even though the reviews on Amazon all say it's a mash. I'd like to hear what else you try/find. It's harder than I thought it would be to find the feed I want.

 

[enola]

You guys could try fermenting the feed. The health benefits are great. And feed costs will go way down, because more nutrients are digested, meaning your chickens will eat less feed.

 

[losttexan]

Sirius - I'm glad your bag seems to be in better shape than mine. I'm not complaining about pellets getting crushed to crumbles - that is to be expected. My problem is a significant amount (at least least half of the feed) has been reduced to dust. I'm talking talcum powder consistency, and my birds won't eat that.

Helpful folks (like enola) have replied with suggestions, and I have no doubt many of them would work. The problem is, I'm not looking to build a bunch of extra steps into my routine to compensate for an inferior product. As seen above, a representative of the company responded, and, although it was worked into an obvious ham-fisted attempt at a commercial, suggested an alternative feeder approach. Unfortunately, I'm not about to rework my entire coop to change feeder styles that will do nothing to prevent the dust problem, only keep it contained. My birds are not going to eat talcum powder, regardless of what type of feeder it is in.

The overarching problem is that this feed is approximately twice the cost of the alternative I will probably be switching to. When scaled over a year, that is a significance difference. If the dust was somewhat less, I could probably justify the extra cost. But twice the cost, and one-half the usable feed is simply absurd. Others may be willing to compensate and work with their approach, feeder styles, fermentation, etc. to try and overcome the dust problem, but with my busy schedule and real job, that's a level of added time that takes away from my enjoyment of my birds.

I'm not running down Coyote Creek. Their product has its benefits, but it also has some serious downfalls. I am simply putting my experience/opinion out there, so others can have information to help them choose. I personally am choosing to go with another company's product, and giving my reasons.

 

[henless]

What feed have you found to use? Have you tried Texas Naturals feed? It's a non soy, non gmo feed. I've been using it for about a year now and really like it. I have 15 hens, and they go through a 50 lb bag in about a month, eating free choice. I pay $25 for a 50 lb bag. I do feed them starter since I like the higher protein and I don't have to switch feed when some stop laying or when youngsters are growing.

 

[losttexan]

I use their scratch and like it, but have not tried their feed. Since you're using starter as an all-flock approach, do you supplement your layers with calcium?