Frustrated with Buggy Feed

[Halfpasthen]

Just to throw in my 2 cents. I worked at a pet store for many many years. I can't remember the name of those moths. Indian meal moth or something? Anyway they're super common. We would get bags of dog food that came infested from the warehouses. Beneful was the absolute freaking worst. Every month we would go through the bags of dog food looking for the tell tale signs of that cob web material and larvae forming on the seams of the bags. It's not a problem generally in bags that are sealed in the hard plastic. Like blue buffalo and the more expensive foods. But cheap food generally comes in those paper bags and the moths walk right in there. It's really not the stores FAULT per se. Despite keeping vigilant watch we would still have customers return food with them.
Definitely get the bags out of you house bc the moths will infest bags of flour, cereal, any type of grain.
Just return it and consider switching to fold that comes in a different packaging. But I wouldn't be mad about this. It's disgusting but it's nature. It's incredibly difficult control when you're getting in large shipments and going though a lot of feed.

 

[Folly's place]

Purina livestock feed is fine; the issue for the OP is what's happened to the feed through that store. Our local TSC and their warehouse seems to do fine, as far as we've never had spoiled chicken feed from them.
Mary

 

[Halfpasthen]

Purina livestock feed is fine; the issue for the OP is what's happened to the feed through that store. Our local TSC and their warehouse seems to do fine, as far as we've never had spoiled chicken feed from them.
Mary

The feed could have easily come to the store infested from their warehouse. Depending on where you live and what your climate is like would make a difference. I live in the hot humid south and we got bags of feed like this into our store weekly. I worked for a fortune 500 company. It's in their best interest to solve that problem and they still struggle with it. It's hard to kill those little buggers and it's real hard to spot an infestation until they're forming outside of the bag bc you can't look inside obviously. And paper bag or any bag with a teeny tiny tear is subject to infestation.

 

[Halfpasthen]

The feed could have easily come to the store infested from their warehouse. Depending on where you live and what your climate is like would make a difference. I live in the hot humid south and we got bags of feed like this into our store weekly. I worked for a fortune 500 company. It's in their best interest to solve that problem and they still struggle with it. It's hard to kill those little buggers and it's real hard to spot an infestation until they're forming outside of the bag bc you can't look inside obviously. And paper bag or any bag with a teeny tiny tear is subject to infestation.

What I mean to say is the moths thrive in our hot environment and we would have issues with it year round.

 

[Eggs by Happy Chickens]

Edited to add that this feed was milled on MARCH 25TH 2021!


Some pictures of just a few wiggly clumps and larvae mingling about
View attachment 2607790
View attachment 2607798

That looks like moisture has gotten in the bag and couldn’t escape. I know Purina wouldn’t sell feed like that. I have never gotten feed like that but if it rains and gets wet and then sits it turns like that.


I am in FL and all of my animals are raised on Purina from day one. Absolutely love the brand and if I ever have an issue which I have only had once or twice they are so helpful. I use the Layena Pellets, Chick starter (medicated) and then some feed for other livestock. It’s the best in my opinion.

 

[Eggs by Happy Chickens]

Most likely it left purlins fine and the TSC is where something happened. Because the feed comes in on pallets that are Saran wrapped so nothing can get in them. However, they are opened up at TSC and that may be when your issue started.

 

[Halfpasthen]

Most likely it left purlins fine and the TSC is where something happened. Because the feed comes in on pallets that are Saran wrapped so nothing can get in them. However, they are opened up at TSC and that may be when your issue started.

The bags are not wrapped in saran wrap at warehouses. And I've unloaded many a pallet of saran wrapped feed. The moths can easily get in there. The saran wrap is more to keep the bags from falling off the pallet than protecting from bugs. It could have happened anywhere along the line or at the store. This is very common in the pet food industry and while it's very off-putting it is simply what it is. Any where there is food there will be bugs trying to get in. It doesn't matter the brand or the care of the employees. If there is a hole or a weak bag bugs can and will get in.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I didn't purchase this bag from TSC. The last few bags have been purchased from my local Southern States. This bag in particular had just been unloaded at SS (I had to wait for it). My frustration is that these bugs are difficult to get rid of and I've got ducklings hatching that I don't want to eat bugs/larvae at such a vulnerable age. I've ALWAYS fed FR. My FR pellets haven't had this problem and it's not as fresh. I called Purina and the Customer Service member that I spoke with said that it's likely coming from the Gainesville milling facility and that's who she was contacting first. I can't imagine the feed had been wet but of course I don't know it's history until it arrived at Southern States and it's definitely not been wet since. Also the feed didn't have that odor that feed tends to get once the finished product has been exposed to liquid (of course not right away). I wouldn't post on Purinas Facebook page. I am a business owner, albeit a small business, and I wouldn't post negatively on their page with no other motive but to make them look bad, especially when they're being amazing to interact with. That was in no way my intentions here. I was wondering if I'm crazy for expecting fresh quality poultry feed to be bug/larvae free and if there was an alternative that closely resembles FR crumbles in every aspect, especially nutrionally. My bantams are the only ones that eat FR crumbles and they're all over 1 year old. I intend on feeding my ducklings FR crumbles as well since the waterfowl feed that my big ducks eat isn't made for ducklings, plus it's far too large pieces.
I have two TSC local to me. The only issues I've had with them regarding feed is getting feed that's been milled recently or simply not having it in stock. I don't want to feed something that's multiple months old, no matter what the best by/sell by date is. They don't carry FR pellets at TSC and I've found that most of my birds prefer larger pieces of feed and oftentimes (not always) have more waste with crumbles. My bantams can eat pellets but prefer crumbles and the smallest birds even pick the tiniest of pieces from the crumbles to eat. So both forms of FR work for my flock. TSC also doesn't carry the waterfowl feed that my big ducks like because it's a Southern States feed (of course they don't carry it).
Since SS carried my big ducks feed, FR crumbles and pellets that have a recent mill date, I enjoyed the luxury of purchasing all feed from them, but it's not a big deal to visit multiple locations to buy bug free fresh feed. I'm not giving up on Purina FR but I'm trying to find it coming from another milling facility. For now I've got Kalmbach Flock Maker and it's liked by everyone that's had it. It's a starter feed though which is ideal for my ducklings but I don't think it's best for my adult flock.

 

[Halfpasthen]

https://www.earthkind.com/blog/pantry-moths-dog-food/

 

[Halfpasthen]

I didn't purchase this bag from TSC. The last few bags have been purchased from my local Southern States. This bag in particular had just been unloaded at SS (I had to wait for it). My frustration is that these bugs are difficult to get rid of and I've got ducklings hatching that I don't want to eat bugs/larvae at such a vulnerable age. I've ALWAYS fed FR. My FR pellets haven't had this problem and it's not as fresh. I called Purina and the Customer Service member that I spoke with said that it's likely coming from the Gainesville milling facility and that's who she was contacting first. I can't imagine the feed had been wet but of course I don't know it's history until it arrived at Southern States and it's definitely not been wet since. Also the feed didn't have that odor that feed tends to get once the finished product has been exposed to liquid (of course not right away). I wouldn't post on Purinas Facebook page. I am a business owner, albeit a small business, and I wouldn't post negatively on their page with no other motive but to make them look bad, especially when they're being amazing to interact with. That was in no way my intentions here. I was wondering if I'm crazy for expecting fresh quality poultry feed to be bug/larvae free and if there was an alternative that closely resembles FR crumbles in every aspect, especially nutrionally. My bantams are the only ones that eat FR crumbles and they're all over 1 year old. I intend on feeding my ducklings FR crumbles as well since the waterfowl feed that my big ducks eat isn't made for ducklings, plus it's far too large pieces.
I have two TSC local to me. The only issues I've had with them regarding feed is getting feed that's been milled recently or simply not having it in stock. I don't want to feed something that's multiple months old, no matter what the best by/sell by date is. They don't carry FR pellets at TSC and I've found that most of my birds prefer larger pieces of feed and oftentimes (not always) have more waste with crumbles. My bantams can eat pellets but prefer crumbles and the smallest birds even pick the tiniest of pieces from the crumbles to eat. So both forms of FR work for my flock. TSC also doesn't carry the waterfowl feed that my big ducks like because it's a Southern States feed (of course they don't carry it).
Since SS carried my big ducks feed, FR crumbles and pellets that have a recent mill date, I enjoyed the luxury of purchasing all feed from them, but it's not a big deal to visit multiple locations to buy bug free fresh feed. I'm not giving up on Purina FR but I'm trying to find it coming from another milling facility. For now I've got Kalmbach Flock Maker and it's liked by everyone that's had it. It's a starter feed though which is ideal for my ducklings but I don't think it's best for my adult flock.

I can totally understand how frustrating that is. For what it's worth I don't think that there have ever been reports of pets being sickened by consuming the webbing or larvae.