feed date code translation

[Cindy in PA]

I went to TSC for Nature's Best layer today & was happy to find it was 26 days old. For me just over 3 weeks is good. I will use it within 4 weeks. I did see some Feather Fixer that was milled March 18th & Dumor Organic layer pallets marked 079-18 ( I believe this is made by NB) which was almost 11 weeks old.

 

[GC-Raptor]

In my experience, feed stored in my house at room temperature is good up to 5 months, before I see a drop in egg production.
Within 2 days of dumping out the old feed, washing the feeder, , and filling with feed less than a month old, ,egg production was back on track.
This is the feed I removed, . It was dry, not moldy, but it had an off smell to it, not grainy like the new bag I opened.
So feed may look good, but smell bad.
Moral of the story, don't buy a 40 or 50 pound bag if you can't use it within 5 months of mill date. GC
Edited to add; So learning to read the date code is important.
Some like Nutrena Naturewise have an easy to understand date on the tag; MFG:11DEC17.
I am now feeding Non-Medicated Start & Grow in 25# bags, with Oyster Shells on the side.

 

[lingon]

Tractor Supply refunded me the purchase price, called someone to make sure they got someone else to remove the old feed, and apologized. I will look to see if the stuff milled in 2016 is still there next time I’m at TSC.
Mainly I’m hoping they’ll start being a bit faster getting feed, if enough people start complaining.

 

[lazy gardener]

Perhaps a letter to the editors of all the local newspapers might result in some action???

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Tractor Supply refunded me the purchase price, called someone to make sure they got someone else to remove the old feed, and apologized. I will look to see if the stuff milled in 2016 is still there next time I’m at TSC.
Mainly I’m hoping they’ll start being a bit faster getting feed, if enough people start complaining.

It's all about the educated consumer and voicing your concerns to the right person. If you don't tell the right person, management will never know your mindset.
I think it may be a company policy at TSC. The one by me runs sales frequently. They told me it was to keep feed fresh.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

In my experience, feed stored in my house at room temperature is good up to 5 months, before I see a drop in egg production.
Within 2 days of dumping out the old feed, washing the feeder,View attachment 1417190 , and filling with feed less than a month old,View attachment 1417191 ,egg production was back on track.
This is the feed I removed,View attachment 1417192 . It was dry, not moldy, but it had an off smell to it, not grainy like the new bag I opened.
So feed may look good, but smell bad.
Moral of the story, don't buy a 40 or 50 pound bag if you can't use it within 5 months of mill date. GC
Edited to add; So learning to read the date code is important.
Some like Nutrena Naturewise have an easy to understand date on the tag; MFG:11DEC17.
I am now feeding Non-Medicated Start & Grow in 25# bags, with Oyster Shells on the side.

Thank you for sharing your observations. It is very helpful.
You must have a small flock. Your feeder may be too large for the number of birds. How long does it take them to go through a full feeder?
My largest bulk feeder is 30 lbs. and it is empty in a week (about 14 birds). Most other flocks' feeders hold about 20 lbs. and they empty in a week too (about 10 birds ea.), depending on time of year and the amount of forage.
If you refrigerate some of your feed it may keep longer.
I certainly don't want to keep feed till production goes down. That would fly in the face of providing optimal nutrition to get good hatchability from my eggs.

 

[GC-Raptor]

You must have a small flock. Your feeder may be too large for the number of birds

I had 5 hens for 2 years, lost 2 earlier this year.
My feeder is 12 pound capacity. I only fill it half way now for 3 hens. GC
ETA; I fill feeder half way and bring bag back to my house.

 

[GrubsUp]

Our TSC in town is awesome. Very helpful and I travel 20 min to them over the local feed store 2 miles away who is $2-5 more expensive for the same feed. We buy in bulk for all the farm animals so the drive per bag is absolutely worth it.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I had 5 hens for 2 years, lost 2 earlier this year.
My feeder is 12 pound capacity. I only fill it half way now for 3 hens. GC
ETA; I fill feeder half way and bring bag back to my house.

It looked bigger in the picture. It looked like my 30 lb. feeder.