Feed Consumption Question, Vertical Feeder, Scratch and Peck Food

[trputman]

Hi All-

Looking for advice! We have three Dominique hens. They use a vertical PVC feeder that is supposed to reduce waste (https://www.royal-rooster.com/chicken-feeder.html) and eat Scratch and Peck 16% layer ration (https://www.scratchandpeck.com/shop/naturally-free-layer/) supplemented with grit and oyster shell and occasional adventures in our compost bins...

Question: They still manage to toss a lot of food on the ground and seem to be selecting the larger seeds in the mix. They get pretty noisy sometimes, and recently I've noticed that when I give them fermented feed they really settle down, which makes me wonder if they're not getting what they want/need from the feed mix. I tracked the last round, and they eat/waste about 0.75 lbs. per day per hen, which is substantially more than the 0.25-0.5 Scratch and Peck says is typical.

I've also contacted the company. Any advice given these specific notes on reducing waste or making sure they're getting the diet they need and not tossing aside what they don't need/want? We want to continue to use a high-quality feed.

Thanks! -Tyler

 

[Weeg]

I love Scratch and Peck! Its a great brand, with high quality ingredients. The only problem is that most of their feeds are textured. That means that picky eaters have the opportunity to only eat the things they want from the mix. Scratch and Peck has a Grub layer thats pelleted. Pelleted feeds work better for picky eaters since all the ingredients are combined in a pellet. You could probably try that for your flock. It also has grub protein, that raises the protein content in the feed, and adds more variety than plant proteins.
Sometimes flocks have no problem with the textured feed. My flock seems to eat it all. But, theres the occasional flock who make it just that much harder on us.

 

[Weeg]

Heres the feed I'm talking about- https://www.scratchandpeck.com/shop/organic-layer-pellets-grub-protein/
Its the only Scratch and Peck feed thats pelleted.

 

[3KillerBs]

Mixed grain feeds are meant to be served wet or fermented so that the chickens can't pick out only what they like. Picking only their favorites can cause serious nutritional imbalances.

When my chickens spill their pellets I don't feed them again until they've cleaned everything up off the ground.

 

[rosemarythyme]

With S&P whole grain feeds, best to serve it all fermented or at least wet, to reduce the risk of birds picking out only their favorite bits.

Alternatively, if you want to have some in a dry feeder, maybe put a tray under it to catch wasted bits and then add the "waste" to your ferment, or wet it the next day to 1) reduce waste and 2) ensure the birds are eating as much of the feed as possible, as the powdery fines they're likely pushing aside contains the proteins and vitamins that are added to make this a feed.

(I did feed S&P from a vertical feeder before and this was an issue - I no longer use a vertical feeder, feed S&P fermented only, and my dry feed is pelleted, so no more waste issue.)

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Welcome to BYC. You tread the path, well worn, of hundreds of others who find that their very expensive, very good feed.... isn't. At least, when their flock of chickens, acting like junior high students, use it for a cafeteria food fight and only eat their favorites - the burger, fries, and ketchup - while leaving the lettuce, tomato, pickle and side salad uneaten, the low fat milk ignored.

As the above posters have correctly stated, wet mash or sprouted are your options. Sadly, those feed methods are inconsistent with most feeder designs, the "J" feeders and treadle feeders, particularly.

Can I interest you in either some plastic gutters (which is what I use for serving a wet mash or barely fermented crumble, but works well for sprouted grains) or a change in feed????

 

[trputman]

Heres the feed I'm talking about- https://www.scratchandpeck.com/shop/organic-layer-pellets-grub-protein/
Its the only Scratch and Peck feed thats pelleted.

Thank you!

 

[trputman]

Mixed grain feeds are meant to be served wet or fermented so that the chickens can't pick out only what they like. Picking only their favorites can cause serious nutritional imbalances.

When my chickens spill their pellets I don't feed them again until they've cleaned everything up off the ground.

Thanks for your input!

 

[trputman]

With S&P whole grain feeds, best to serve it all fermented or at least wet, to reduce the risk of birds picking out only their favorite bits.

Alternatively, if you want to have some in a dry feeder, maybe put a tray under it to catch wasted bits and then add the "waste" to your ferment, or wet it the next day to 1) reduce waste and 2) ensure the birds are eating as much of the feed as possible, as the powdery fines they're likely pushing aside contains the proteins and vitamins that are added to make this a feed.

(I did feed S&P from a vertical feeder before and this was an issue - I no longer use a vertical feeder, feed S&P fermented only, and my dry feed is pelleted, so no more waste issue.)

Thanks for your help!

 

[trputman]

Welcome to BYC. You tread the path, well worn, of hundreds of others who find that their very expensive, very good feed.... isn't. At least, when their flock of chickens, acting like junior high students, use it for a cafeteria food fight and only eat their favorites - the burger, fries, and ketchup - while leaving the lettuce, tomato, pickle and side salad uneaten, the low fat milk ignored.

As the above posters have correctly stated, wet mash or sprouted are your options. Sadly, those feed methods are inconsistent with most feeder designs, the "J" feeders and treadle feeders, particularly.

Can I interest you in either some plastic gutters (which is what I use for serving a wet mash or barely fermented crumble, but works well for sprouted grains) or a change in feed????

Thanks very much for this help!