Feeding Peafowl

[zazouse]

Mine are totally free ranged.
I Feed them ultra fruit &nut by Pennington, it has all different kinds of nuts and a bit of dried fruit and is 18 percent protein, they also get some ultra kibble with that now and like it, plus they sometimes steal the cats food cause they eat on the same platform but at different times.
They also get eggs and veggies from the garden a couple times a week

I never see my peas eat flock raiser anymore and they were on that and along with ultra fruit and nut till they hit 4 months old and i turned them loose.

 

[Trefoil]

Ranit - would you post your formula? Please.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Thanks bdfive, your explanation makes a lot of sense.
It does get dry here, too, but there always seems to be something green around for them to eat.
If I knew of good hardy plants that don't need much watering that they really love to eat, I'd do some planting.
(any suggestions, anyone? I seem to be in 9a/9b hardiness zone).

As far as my intentions (thanks for your interest), I will happily keep giving the peas food every day.
The reason I asked about this is because these are actually not "my" peas, I'm a tenant who has had the remarkable good fortune to live with and get to know this group of birds. I guess you'd have to say they're shared birds.

Because I adore these birds (and seem to be the only person here who knows each one individually), I can't help thinking about what will happen when I eventually have to move.
And so, I wonder if they could really get along without any diet supplementation, if such a situation was to occur.

 

[Resolution]

Hello Deerman, first I want to say I hope you have a good day. Mine is going to be busy as usual but have had out of state family leave so now life can get back to our normal routine. Regarding feed, it's so darn difficult to find what's right around here and when you do locate some they drop the line and you're back to square one. Every time I need feed I have to call to see what's available at the time. Can't find a "breeder ration" anymore and only "grower" is 28%. I didn't know Tractor Supply carries gamebird......is it turkey you purchase from them? Are you saying the ingredients in UK is mostly corn? It's so yellow in color it makes me wonder. LOL, I've wanted to eat one to see what it tastes like but haven't conjured up the nerve, haha!!! I wish I could believe what you say about blended feed having what the bird needs in each bite. In this day and time of companies cutting back and the almighty buck being what's important in many industries I think even human food is lacking. I don't see anything wrong with mentioning a product known to be reliable and healthy for our pets/animals. I've heard Dumor is good feed. Also Sportsman Choice and we all know of Purina and Mazuri. I'm still not giving up on UK as a supplement .............will be very upset if I learn I'm giving them predominantly corn. Hmmmmmmmmm, maybe I should have it annualized. Anyone tasted it????????????????? Come on.....someone add a little milk and pretend it a scrumptious bowl of cereal and let us know what you think, LOL!!!

Remember, there is no such thing as cheap fast food. You may not pay for it at the cash register but someone has to pay for it. In all cases the health of you, your family and your animals pays for it. You cannot separate nutrition from health. Food is medicine. Better food=better birds. It's a very simple equation.


Formulating feed requires more than a text book and an ingredient label. Proprietary information isn't something one reads on a label.

To gain a comprehension of the topic at hand, one has to care to learn about the specific formulations- the levels of each tiny minute ingredient-
For example, what amino acids are included in a specific diet and at what ratios?
What antioxidants ""?
Hatchling Supplements ""?
Mycotoxin Solutions "" ?
Probiotics ""?
Organic Acids and Essential Oils ""?
Enzymes ""?
Minerals ""?
Essential Fatty Acids "" ?
Prebiotics "" ?
Mold Inhibitors ""?
Vitamin Premix ""?

What species were these diets developed around? Were they commonly kept Palearctic species like turkeys and ringnecks, bobwhites?
Were the products formulated for and by the commercial poultry industry?

Corn is a miracle crop. There is exactly nothing wrong with it. It feeds the planet and is the cornerstone of all livestock nutrition.

Some corn is grown primarily for ethanol, some for popcorn, some for corn syrup and some for swine etc.. There are literally hundreds of varieties of corn grown with commercial applications. How that corn is processed, and what part is used and at what quantities are important factors worth educating yourself on. All corn is not equal. For example, is the corn in your feed GMO? Does it produce its own insecticide? Is it round up ready? Do you have any curiosity where the grains that went into your feed come from? Do you want to know how its grown, where, by whom? I know I do.

UltraKibble contains corn and nearly an equal proportion of sorghum. It is soy free.
We source all the materials in our feed very carefully and support local farmers. We support sustainable agriculture. The ethics of sustainability are paramount to our company.

There are two different business models put to use in the animal nutrition business.
You have your bare minimum bread and butter scrape a buck low quality feed. That's the equivalent of a truckstop diner.

The animal health first profits last model is more in keeping with the ethics I maintain as animal husbander and steward.

Any nutritionist interested in the latter takes the health of your birds very seriously.
The big corporations that produce the former are not concerned with the long term health of your birds. Their first priority is and always has been profit.

The make a buck ration at the expense of health is inefficient and costs the consumer substantially more at the end of the month.

People unconcerned with their pocket book can feed as much cheap feed as they can fit in their truck. They're going to need to fill their vehicle with bags of feed because that's how quickly it goes through the birds and how much of that feed is required to sustain themselves. Then there's the issue of the disease vector created by conventional feeds, which disintegrate in ambient humidity and while being pecked on.
Have a look at the bottom of your feed bag. What is that at the bottom? Is that dust? Is that feed particulate going to readily mix with feather dander and fecal material and coat every surface area of the enclosure and bird?
The answer to all these questions is a resounding YES. But there's a trendy notion perpetuated in an alarming number of forums, which asserts that respiratory infections, i.e, "swollen eye", rattling breath, severe respiratory distress, can all be treated with wormers (highly toxic and unrelated), and intermuscular injections of antibiotics that may or may not be appropriate for the specific bacterial infection. These carriers that are only rarely fully treated are born and reared until sale- covered in poultry smut ( feed particulates X feather dander X fecal material X environmental dust). They are then sold and traded away where their unique strain of bacteria is spread to still another collection.
The person that treats a sick bird incorrectly further compromises its immune system.
Once the symptoms are no longer evident they ship it out. Then they tell you all you have to do is treat it incorrectly when it gets sick at your facilities. That doesn't happen with poultry that are just culled when they're infected.

I'll reiterate. You cannot separate nutrition from health. Food is medicine. Better food=better birds. It's a simple equation. Immune deficient birds are more prone to parasitic infestation and bacterial infection than those with immune systems that have not been compromised. That's not rocket science. It's poultry science. It's the science of animal nutrition and the discipline of animal husbandry. People that need to worm their birds at the drop of a hat and treat respiratory infections with antibiotics - are without exception feeding conventional soft pellets and/or crumbles as maintenance rations. Their birds are immune deficient. Don't take my word for it- study this forum and ask around. A sick bird was bought from someone else. And the person that sold that sick bird prescribed some haphazard remedy that treated the symptoms not the source of the infection.

In the zoo field animal managers are extremely reluctant to handle birds. Many of them are critically endangered. A sick bird is already have dead by the time it shows the symptoms of sickness. In the zoo, veterinarians are obliged by law to take blood and go through any number of other invasive procedures to adequately treat the bird. And you know that they will be exhaustively thorough in treating that bird- none of this- give it a shot and hope it gets better business. The birds will be treated as prescribed - they will be tested to determine if that infection is completely gone.

The point of this missive is to reiterate once again-


You cannot separate nutrition from health.
This is why the zoo field develops feeds of the highest quality- first- and then these feeds are adapted for use with pets.
A single Ethiopian Wolf suffering from malnutrition endangers an entire captive population. They are so rare, every animal in captivity is invaluable. That's why special diets are tailored for them by the best minds in the field-using state of the art methods.

The highest quality dog foods started out as zoo feeds for carnivores with similar biologies.
The highest quality cat foods started out as zoo diets for carnivores with similar biologies.

The scrape a buck pet feeds are made from all those byproducts that would otherwise be thrown away and wasted. That's not a bad thing.
But the objective of the scrape a buck feed is to make a buck with low grade byproducts from Lord knows where.

We should not be feeding peafowl like domestic poultry because
1.the feed manufactures are cutting costs and quality.
2. the feed is not formulated for peafowl
Those feeds were already substandard ten years ago- more so every year.

It's all about efficacy. Conventional feeds can only take you so far.

I feed a 50/45 blend of whole oats and millet with 5% brown rice. This dry mixture makes up the bulk of a daily ration for most species.
Deep forest subtropical species will not be provided oats. Ultra Kibble is fed at varying percentages entirely dependent on the age, stage of development, reproductive phase and species.

Of course fruit and greens are provided as I've outlined in peafowl nutrition 101.

 

[deerman]

I've heard Dumor is good feed. Also Sportsman Choice and we all know of Purina and Mazuri. I'm still not giving up on UK as a supplement .............will be very upset if I learn I'm giving them predominantly corn. Hmmmmmmmmm, maybe I should have it annualized. Anyone tasted it????????????????? Come on.....someone add a little milk and pretend it a scrumptious bowl of cereal and let us know what you think, LOL!!!

I have fed all three of those brands, as far as UK supplement if the 1st thing listed on the label is corn...it has more corn than anything next the 2nd list will be next and so forth.

 

[Trefoil]

I looked into UK after reading about it here. I like convenience but you are paying a really high price for corn. Its like buying a can of mixed nuts for $7/lb because you like almonds, when you could have bought a pound of almonds for $7./lb. That's just my opinion.
The tsc''s around me have flock raiser but no gamebird or turkey starter. I can get kent flock raiser @22%, unmedicated gamebird starter @27%, or gamebird @28%, or layer @16% at the elevator though.

 

[deerman]

I looked into UK after reading about it here. I like convenience but you are paying a really high price for corn. Its like buying a can of mixed nuts for $7/lb because you like almonds, when you could have bought a pound of almonds for $7./lb. That's just my opinion.
The tsc''s around me have flock raiser but no gamebird or turkey starter. I can get kent flock raiser @22%, unmedicated gamebird starter @27%, or gamebird @28%, or layer @16% at the elevator though.

good way to put it......like peanuts sell for $ 3.00 , yet those are the most in the can of mixed nuts, so they get almond money for peanuts...

nothing wrong with corn but why pay super high price for it to add to a mainly corn base feed ,anyway.. it is just low in protein . corn, wheat, oats, and rice all feed the world.

reason i said check labels, by law . they will be list most first ,2nd most 2nd and so on.
problem it doesn't list the %

I love cornbread....but bet whole wheat bread is better for me.

thing that got me some of those super high price dog feed, the 1 st thing list was corn.

or the honey packs at KFC list corn syrup.....wow i thought it was pure honey.....i was wrong

 

[Resolution]

I looked into UK after reading about it here. I like convenience but you are paying a really high price for corn. Its like buying a can of mixed nuts for $7/lb because you like almonds, when you could have bought a pound of almonds for $7./lb. That's just my opinion.
The tsc''s around me have flock raiser but no gamebird or turkey starter. I can get kent flock raiser @22%, unmedicated gamebird starter @27%, or gamebird @28%, or layer @16% at the elevator though.

Quote:

 

[deerman]

Myself and so many other peafowl breeders of peafowl , have had great result with blend feed.

It's not as big deal, as it sound..many way to feed them my point was a pellet where each bite is a bal. diet . is easier than a guess.

I have all way like the supplement , add to the pellet / crumble than letting birds chose.

Will my racing homers , i saw how birds would leave peas till last in the pigeon grain, same with a lot of other birds.

JMO

Look at the health of your birds and results. this will tell you are giving them what they need , not some sale pitch.

have seen some of the BYC member peafowl , and know how they are feeding is working. They have been feeding all kinds of food cat food ,sunflower seed.....can't knock how they are feeding. I wouldn't think about it ...if how your feeding. works keep it up.

northern bird do better in winter with more corn. birds in dry area may need more green , or meal worms and etc

corn is one of the cheaper grains. reason it is use so much but need supplement add....

my birds have very few heath problem.

have seen birds that are fat , get egg bound , even die.

no feed will keep your birds from getting worms, maybe able to live with them if you keep giving top feed. they pick them up from host insects.

to end this post there is no miracle feed.....cure all....'

well guess just feed peaches if you want to raise peach peafowl....lol

 

[Resolution]

Ultrakibble is a complete diet in every bite. I'm completely baffled how that is somehow repeatedly trounced over.
Everything the bird actually requires in its diet is realised with a teaspoon of kibble. Everything else (whole grain) is a healthy filler for satiation.
It costs close to 40% less to feed your birds in this method. It's a sustainable solution for those resolved to end the cycle of disease and infection.

Wild birds raised as domestics are very often carriers to infectious disease. This happens all too often with the sale of peafowl and gamebirds. The well meaning traditionalist inadvertently creates a disease vector ( generally in the enclosures and within the airs sacs) that is then passed on to the new steward's facilities.

The disease vector is poultry smut something I've been obliged to repeat I don't know how many times. Poultry smut (once again) is the combination of the powdery residue of pellets/mashes/crumbles -their fines;the disintegrated particulate matter of those same feedstuffs that have mixed into the substrate of the enclosure and poultry yard- especially during months when birds are somewhat crowded together- young and old alike- the substrate within the enclosure becomes sour with decaying feedstuffs- this in turn mixes with fecal material -now the bacteria is really growing- then there's the perpetual issue of feather dander. It's constantly being shed by every single bird in your collection. That mixes into the same tasty bacteria laden dirt and this becomes airborne as the birds dig and scratch and take dustbaths in it.
The dusty bacteria laden contaminated feed feather dander poultry smut eventually covers every surface of your facilities.
Every tiny lacing of netting, every wall, every perch- and naturally the birds are covered in it. They preen it repeatedly through their feathers where they inhale the finest particulates as they groom their plumage and skin.



To be absolutely unambiguously transparent,I haven't dewormed or medicated a single bird on one of my facilities in over a decade. I know plenty that have been obliged to even those under my consultation. I utilise different protocols, preventative measures and optimal nutrition. You can't separate nutrition from health. Enough said.

edited by staff