Finding fresh & nutritious Commercial Feed

[Apis mellifera]

The 2 amino acids that are used to supplement animal proteins are L-Lysine and DL-Methionine. L-Lysine is made by a fermentation process. The DL-Methionine however is synthetic and is in most animal feeds like dog, cat, chicken, and pig. The people I know that seriously compete with their sport dogs internationally include a raw diet to keep dogs healthy and competitive. Im sure there are plenty of arguments for and against synthetic additives, but I like to add some real amino acids to my flocks diet (and my dogs). Purina Flock raiser with 20% plant protein and Methionine is $20.99 at my local TSC. Hudson Multi Flock 23% with plant, animal protein, and Methionine is $20.95 delivered to my door.

 

[Folly's place]

'Synthetic' lysine and methionine are the same chemically as the amino acids found in animal products. I'm glad you've found a diet that works for your flock, for a competitive price through a mail order company, and I do care about mill dates on the poultry feed I buy.
Flock Raiser costs $19.49 here, more than a year ago, but less than other choices available locally. And there isn't a local mill here any more.
We all have to find what works for our flocks, and is available where we live.
Mary

 

[rosemarythyme]

Isn't two or even three months+ old, too old, stale for chicken feed? We had read up on it and were trying to get feed no more than one month old.

Depending on location/availability, in many cases, 2-3 month old mill date is fine as long as the feed was stored correctly by the store/distributor, and as long as you can use up the feed in a reasonable period of time (like a 3 bird flock may not eat a 50 lb bag of feed fast enough before nutrients degrade to the point that it's no longer very good).

As my feed store carries feed from more local companies I do find that most of my feed from the store is pretty fresh, with mill dates of 1-2 months.

Kalmbach is a really good, nutrient balanced 20% feed so we were happy to find it, but not locally, in Ohio. Had to be shipped.

We were told that Country Road from our Rural King in Winchester was made right across the street. Mill dates are always fresh. But it's only about 15% protein. So we've been mixing Kalmbach (20% but not fresh) with Country Road (15% but fresh).

Would LOVE to find a local feed store that has better options. There is another one I'm going to check again, but when I looked before they had the lower protein feed.

How important is 20% protein to you?

As far as protein, I feed a lower protein than most recommendations on here (I combine layer + grower to get around 17% protein), but I don't really have feather pecking issues and the birds are active and well feathered so that's acceptable for me.

 

[backyardfeedco]

At our feed company, Backyard Feed Co., every bag is milled fresh to order for our online customers and shipped straight from our feed mill to your door. Unlike most commercial feeds, it’s never sitting in a warehouse.

Our formula was made by poultry nutrition expert Jeff Mattocks and contains the best ingredients possible for your birds.

 

[Apis mellifera]

At our feed company, Backyard Feed Co., every bag is milled fresh to order for our online customers and shipped straight from our feed mill to your door. Unlike most commercial feeds, it’s never sitting in a warehouse.

Our formula was made by poultry nutrition expert Jeff Mattocks and contains the best ingredients possible for your birds.

In the 20% chick starter ingredients what percentage of the protein is fish meal?

 

[CrazyTownChick]

I started out being picky with mill dates because of what I saw on here too, but when I also saw there were other members buying fresher bags of feed with the same issues just like I was I realized I needed to base my decision on my birds health and actually inspecting the bags myself. That's actually how I found Kalmbach when I was searching for new brand after the Purina fiasco. I buy mine from chewy or if we drive to the next state over. They have a feed store that carries it there so I'll pick it up when I'm in the area. I also have been looking at a more locally milled brand mainly because it's local, but since I also have ducks and there was no niacin analysis I haven't tried it yet. I'm not against switching feed if I see better results, but I guess at the end of the day for me if I see quality feed when I open the bag and my birds do well on it that's the feed I buy.

Makes sense, thanks for that.

 

[CrazyTownChick]

Depending on location/availability, in many cases, 2-3 month old mill date is fine as long as the feed was stored correctly by the store/distributor, and as long as you can use up the feed in a reasonable period of time (like a 3 bird flock may not eat a 50 lb bag of feed fast enough before nutrients degrade to the point that it's no longer very good).

As my feed store carries feed from more local companies I do find that most of my feed from the store is pretty fresh, with mill dates of 1-2 months.


As far as protein, I feed a lower protein than most recommendations on here (I combine layer + grower to get around 17% protein), but I don't really have feather pecking issues and the birds are active and well feathered so that's acceptable for me.

Thanks again, sounds like each flock's needs may be different. Have to learn what works best for my girls. They are all healthy and full of feathers, and we get big, delicious fresh eggs, so I think we're doing some things right.