Crumbles or pellets

[kodiakchicken]

I have five chickens and three ducks that are about 13 weeks old. They are all on standard poultry feed right now, in the crumble style. But when I get ready to buy the next bag of feed (in a few weeks) I'll be getting layer feed. I was wondering if I should go with crumbles or pellets. I would like the ducks and chickens to still eat the same food. Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[whitecra]

My hens like the crumbles better. Hey I like your avatar. I have 2 boston terriers and my mom has 2 also.
Chris

 

[kodiakchicken]

Quote:
Thanks! That's Daisy. She's pretty small for a Boston - 14 pounds - but thinks she weighs 300, like all bostons. My mom had two when I was in high school, has one now and my brother has 2. I love bostons.

 

[whitecra]

Quote:
Thanks! That's Daisy. She's pretty small for a Boston - 14 pounds - but thinks she weighs 300, like all bostons. My mom had two when I was in high school, has one now and my brother has 2. I love bostons.

I have Angel that is 24 pounds and then her pup that is Oreo. He is only 132 pounds. He is now 2 1/2. The vet didn't think he would live when he was small. It took a lot of work to keep him alive but we did it. He still has problems. I love them also.
Chris

 

[peepkeeper]

I have a Boston too! He's my little shadow. Aren't they great dogs?

In answer to your question, I've used both and prefer pellets. It seems to be much easier for them to eat.

 

[Heather J]

Funny, I could swear I bought grower crumbles for my chicks last year when they finished their bag of mash (I fed it to geese, ducks and chickens), but now I just bought layer feed in crumbles and it's waaay smaller than what I used last year. And I insisted to the guy at the store that I had bought crumbles from him last year. lol I guess I picked up pelleted feed--which my six-week-old babies ate with no problem. I switched the birds all to scratch when they went through their bag of pellets (On advice from a neighbor who feeds this to all his birds), but now I'm switching them back to layer feed and keeping the scratch for treats (they all go gaga over it). If it weren't for the fact that I can buy layer crumbles for $10.32 at Wal-Mart and feed everywhere else is fifty percent more, I would switch to pellets when this stuff is gone, but no way can I afford to buy feed that expensive. They eat it, they'll deal. lol

 

[scooter147]

My chickens prefer crumbles.
The key to reducing waste is to keep the feed at the height of the hens back. This helps prevent them from flicking it out with their beaks.

I have Boston too. Here name is Lu Lu and I just love her. She is so smart and is constantly entertaining. She is my first Boston, I rescued her from a group that got her from a puppy mill because they were going to put her down because her first litter were still born. If I had known how much fun they were I would have gotten one years ago.

 

[NaturalChick]

I have the same question as kodiakchicken, except I was wondering if they would eat more of the crumbles because they like it better, or would they still eat the same amount, just enjoy it more?

 

[Alaskan]

one thing to look for is the percent protein.

I hadn't thought to pay attention...I thought the grower was lower in protein than the starter, but I never checked. duh So now I have two ducks with very slight angel wing.

Anyway, point being, if you are still feeding them the 20% protein, make sure you cut down to a lower protein to reduce the risk of angel wing.

Also, in some of the other threads I was reading on here, they thought you should stay with the regular feed (16% protein) and then have calcium on the side as free choice. Some thought it was bad for the ducks to get all the calcium in the layer feed.

I just tried to introduce my birds to the pellets and they said yuck...they might still be too young though. They are almost 2 months.

 

[moodusnewchick]

i made mine go to pellets b/c no matter what I did they managed to scoop out crumbles and waste.