Do you change your feed in the winter ?

[Lori J]

Simple, I like simple! It's not necessary to complicate something unnecessarily. There's already enough to do, so I rely on the experts for feed, and then don't worry about it.
mary

so what did the expert say to feed ?

 

[Lori J]

I don’t, but you could change to a flock grower with more protein. Since they’re free range, they should be okay. Mine hardly glance at their crumbles, they fill up on kitchen scraps then snack on whatever they can find while free ranging.

Did those come in crumbles? I’ve got some one time and it was so so Sandy. They seem to waste a lot of it

 

[townchicks]

I used to switch in the winter, but I think this year I will stick with grower for all as I have added 3 new pullets. The only reason I switch to layer in the spring is that even with oyster shell available, and on layer food, I still occasionally had a shell less egg. I think they were from the hen I lost this summer though. So, we'll see how it goes.

 

[Folly's place]

I was talking about the experts who researched and designed these feeds; lots of money and time went into them!
And, what's on the labels; layer feed is for laying hens, as per the label directions. I believe it.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

I use those yellow plastic feeders from Premier, and have much less wasted feed. I'm not building tube feeders here, too lazy...
Pelleted feed would be nice some of the time, when I don't have chicks, but it's not available here in my choice of feed.
Mary

 

[Mosey2003]

Did those come in crumbles? I’ve got some one time and it was so so Sandy. They seem to waste a lot of it

Grower feeds are usually a crumble, yes. You'll have to look locally to see what your stores stock specifically.

Wastage can be fixed by changing feeders. Personally, I really like a trough feeder. For grown birds that are tall enough, I stand two cinder blocks upright and put a 5' length of PVC house gutter through the top holes. Lets a lot of birds eat at once and they can't flip the feed out of it. For shorter birds (ie bigger chicks) I really like the trough feeders with spinner bars, like this:
https://www.farmandfleet.com/produc...cturing-36-reel-top-poultry-range-feeder.html

If they can't flip it out very easily, they can't waste it, no matter what kind of feed

 

[Cindy in PA]

When did 16% feed become only for small chickens?? Why do the companies even sell 16% layer? They are really pulling the wool over our eyes, I guess.

 

[Folly's place]

It works well for many, I want to do better than the minimum.
Mary

 

[Mosey2003]

When did 16% feed become only for small chickens?? Why do the companies even sell 16% layer? They are really pulling the wool over our eyes, I guess.

It's formulated for production layers like leghorns, and it's the bare minimum. Companies aren't going to reformulate for smaller populations of chicken keepers.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I used to feed layer pellets until the folks here at BYC educated me that it contains calcium which is not good for the rooster and other non-layers, like the hens when they are molting. That was especially important to me when we got day-olds last spring. So we switched to an all-flock feed and will stick with that. Of course grit and oyster shell are available at all times. I also built a no-waste feeder out of a five-gallon bucket and some PVC pipe and that has cut down on cost.