feed for rangers?

[hensonly]

HI,

I just ordered our first flock of meat birds. I'll get 30 Rangers from JM Hatchery the end of April. Right now I get Dumor Layer crumble for my laying hens...I get it from Tractor Supply for under $12 for 50 lbs. Now - the Agway store is lots closer, and I will be buying feed much more frequently for the meat birds, as i don't have much secure storage space right now... but Agway doesn't carry Dumor. I know they have Purina products, and I'm pretty sure I saw some others that I've seen mentioned on BYC (can't remember which ones). So - does anyone have any strong preferences for one brand of feed over another? As long as it's the appropriate feed for the type of bird I'm feeding, are the various brands really all that different from one another?

I'm thinking it would be a heck of a lot easier to scoot the 2 miles to Agway rather than trek the 15 miles to TSC, and I'm guessing the different brands aren't all that different - but if anyone knows any reason why the Dumor feed is a lot better for any reason, I'll do it. Any opinions? (Boy, is THAT a silly question!) Of course, if I get the meat birds' food from Agway, I'd probably switch the hens over to feed from there, as well. And I've been happy with Dumor for the layers, but I only have to buy that every three weeks or so....

Thanks!

 

[blueskylen]

I have used both to raise the Cornish that I get each spring - I haven't seen any difference feeding one or the other - I'd go with price and convenience for either one. the chickens don't seem to mind, as long as their dishes are full.

 

[jaku]

You will go broke feeding prebagged feed to your meaties. I average 500 pounds of feed for every 25 birds. If you can, have it ground at the mill. I'm paying around $8/50lb bag.

 

[hensonly]

Quote:
Guess I didn't mention, we're putting them in tractors so they can find some of their own food. Not that much, I know, confined in a tractor, but I don't know of any mills around here who do poultry food. If I found a mill, what would I ask for? I mean, I don't know what makes up a good feed for meaties...bearing in mind that these aren't cornish x's, in case that makes any difference. I'd guess meat birds eat the same stuff no matter what kind of meaty it is, right?

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:
If you have a feed mill close by I would get it specially milled. During summertime a lot of feed mills have the stuff on hand and you do not have to buy in bulk but buy just what you need. See the thing is, the feed mills grind it right there for your... there is no extra processing that is being done like Dumor and Purina. It's a more wholesome feed and you can actually make out the ingredients. It's not like the crumbles that are all brown.

I would start by googling feed mills within a driving distance. I drive an hour to pick up feed, and would drive further if I had to.

Good luck.

 

[jaku]

I'd be shocked if they wouldn't do poultry feed for you. The bulk of what they put in is corn and soy, with the rest being (at least in my mill,) a premixed "poultry base," that they can feed all types of poultry by adjusting the other ingredients, so they'd be missing out on a lot of business by not offering it. You'd just ask for on site mixed broiler feed.