Crumbles vs. Pellets (or both)

[TheSpiceGirls]

My girls are 5 weeks old and have solely had crumbles. I had thought about switching to pellets but read posts from a number of people that their chickens won't eat the pellets.

Does anyone buy crumbles AND pellets and mix the two?
Can you think of any reason why this would be a bad idea?

I've got good sized hens: BO, EE and a Jersey Giant and I think they are ready for bigger bites of food.

Curious what others have to say who have had some experience in this area.

 

[dianaross77]

Some chickens are pickier than others. I think mixing for a little while might be good to get them used to it. I gave my chickens some leftover pellets from my ducks. They love them but I think it might be because it has animal protein in it and I can't for the life of me find any chicken feed with animals in it!

 

[jennh]

I use pellets. I had used crumbles at first, but there was alot of waste. Not to worry, if they get hungry enough, they'll eat the pellets JMHO

Jen

 

[WallTenters]

We used to not feed pellets because our birds liked the crumbles better, but we've found a supplier of smaller pellets and we like them and our birds are eating them fine. Check your local feed store and see what the size of pellet is - if they don't like one size, try another. You can and should mix the feeds anytime you change the type of feed (unless the ONLY difference is crumble vs pellet) so as to not upset their stomachs as much.

 

[Sierra pachie bars]

I feed crumbles to younger crowd. But my big girls get pellets. For me seems more cost effective and less waste.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Ditto.

 

[DebbieF]

Same here, I feed pellets, much less waste.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to buy a bag of pellets and mix it with their crumbles so that doesn't go to waste and slowly switch them over.