Do I feed the same feed from arrival to butcher?

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I don't know about that Jaku, aren't you the one who just lost 27 birds to what sounds like a mix up at the feed mill? I pay a little more for the Purina, but have the peace of mind of consistency. Plus I can buy a 50# bag whenever I need it, for me that's much more convenient to my lifestyle and storage availability. I would like to get my own feed ground, and am experimenting with supplementing with whole grains, but lacking a degree in animal nutrition I decided to leave that up to the experts for now.

 

[lincoln]

well, the mill is out. they don't have the ingredients for the recipe i sent over. I went ahead and ordered homestead fast grow from a local feed store, and it'll be here tomorrow.

i'm comfortable using a mill since growing up with them on the dairy farm. i love, and will never forget, the sweet smell of feed being augured into the grain bin.

 

[jaku]

Nope- wasn't me. And a mix up at the mill was just a GUESS in that thread. I would certainly trust what I'm getting from a small operation before that of a large company any day. Isn't that pretty much the reason we raise our own birds in the first place? Let's also not forget the outbreak of pet deaths in 2007- remember when hundreds, if not thousands of animals died because of contaminated products from China? And that affected a lot of brands of dog and cat food. Yeah, I'd take my chances locally before spending double for whatever passes for animal grade food in China.

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
I agree 100% w/ Jaku about mills. I get a 23% feed ground fresh. I pick it up the same day it's made. It smells good enough to eat. To me it's a much better choice than gray "mystery" pellets. No telling how old their feed is. I also like knowing the grains are grown in my area, as my mill used local grains for their feed.

To answer your question, I feed the same feed start to finish.

 

[ourflockof4]

If you have enough birds, and a feed mill that you trust Then go ahead and have it ground. I do smaller batches just for us, so I go bagged from the local feed store, but it's made at a smaller mill somewhat locally. My local feed store gives a quantity discount so I picked up #1500 last time, a combination of layer, flock raiser and turkey.

I switched to 20% flock raiser for this batch and happy so far at 6 weeks. I also feed crumbles for the first couple weeks and then switch to pellets and this does seem to help eliminate some waste.