Gluttonous pullets

[Ponte]

Five pullets, six to ten months old.
Diet has consisted of crumble, fallen fruits and typical free ranging scavenging.
Last bag of crumble lasted seven weeks.
Yesterday I switch them to Nutrina All Flock pellets . Usually I topped off the feeding station once a day, today I had to fill it twice.
Before you ask, no, rats did not eat the feed.


My question is do pullets eat more when they like it ?

 

[ronott1]

Five pullets, six to ten months old.
Diet has consisted of crumble, fallen fruits and typical free ranging scavenging.
Last bag of crumble lasted seven weeks.
Yesterday I switch them to Nutrina All Flock pellets . Usually I topped off the feeding station once a day, today I had to fill it twice.
Before you ask, no, rats did not eat the feed.


My question is do pullets eat more when they like it ?

It does sound like the new feed is a hit!

With my quail, I fill their feeder once a day and when it is gone it is gone.

Unless there is a lot less fodder available due to it being winter, consider not filling the feeder more than once.

Of course keep an eye on them to make sure they keep their weight

 

[twendt]

Wow, I have 3 pullets and 4 hens, I have never had feed last 7 weeks. I fed them Kalmbach Hen House Reserve, 3 bags total, they ate that stuff so fast I went back to my feed mill's proprietary pellet layer 18%. This 50# bag has lasted 3 weeks, looks like I'll have to buy more in the next week or 10 days. They really loved the Hen house reserve!! But I was going broke.

 

[aart]

Five pullets, six to ten months old.
Diet has consisted of crumble, fallen fruits and typical free ranging scavenging.
Last bag of crumble lasted seven weeks.
Yesterday I switch them to Nutrina All Flock pellets . Usually I topped off the feeding station once a day, today I had to fill it twice.
Before you ask, no, rats did not eat the feed.
My question is do pullets eat more when they like it ?

Compare the nutrition percentages of both feeds.
Tag should be sewn into bottom of feed bags.
Also good to look at manufacturing dates too, could be on label or printed on sew strip.
I've had birds not eat feed that is too old.

 

[NatJ]

Yesterday I switch them to Nutrina All Flock pellets . Usually I topped off the feeding station once a day, today I had to fill it twice....My question is do pullets eat more when they like it ?

Maybe?
I'd let them have as much as they want for at least a week, and see if consumption settles down.

This might be caused by the novelty of the new feed, in which case it'll go back to normal soon.

If they were not eating as much as they should of the old feed, or if it was deficient in something, they might be eating a lot more to make up for it, but that would also go back to normal consumption after a while.

Is there any chance that they're throwing it out on the ground, or picking out some stuff and wasting the rest? That would make the feeder get empty quickly.

 

[Ponte]

Previous feed was 18% protein, the new one is 20%.
I see minimal waste, less than 2% on the ground. Never have had waste issue with my feeder.

 

[aart]

Previous feed was 18% protein, the new one is 20%.
I see minimal waste, less than 2% on the ground. Never have had waste issue with my feeder.

Did you check MFG dates?

 

[NatJ]

Previous feed was 18% protein, the new one is 20%.
I see minimal waste, less than 2% on the ground. Never have had waste issue with my feeder.

Glad to know they're not wasting it--some setups make it hard to tell (deep litter, for example), and I didn't know what yours was like.

Your original question, whether they eat more when they like the feed--right now, it looks like the answer is probably "yes"!

I will be curious to know whether they slow down after a few days, when the novelty wears off.

Maybe they're less motivated to forage, when the feed tastes better?

 

[Ponte]

Will post on future consumption.
Hopefully it will decrease.

regarding the date of the previous feed, not sure as the empty bag was discarded but i check the dates when I buy feed.

 

[aart]

regarding the date of the previous feed, not sure as the empty bag was discarded but i check the dates when I buy feed.

So you don't remember is this new feed was significantly fresher than the previous feed?
I record the mfg dates in my production/sales logs.