Good chicken feed vs "scratch"

[TerryH]

If scratch is so bad for chickens why does Purina sell it in 50 lb bags?

Probably the same reason you can get a large size Big Mac meal. e


Seriously, 50lbs of scratch will go a very long way as treats for my 8 pullets that's for sure.

 

[speckledhen]

Well put, although I would counter that making your own feed once you have done some study is really not complicated.

If you have the money to store all those bags of feed/grains and want to go to all that trouble, that's up to you. It's still, IMO, over-complicating the process unnecessarily. Completely healthy chickens can be had w/o doing that, aside from the fact that no food-mixing, no complicated formulas can fix bad genetics. If they are going to be unhealthy and die from reproductive malfunctions at an early age due to what's in their genes, no amount of complicated food recipes or supplements can change that.

I realize that many never let their chickens out of the dirt pen, however, if they free range on good soil that isn't depleted with a fair amount of green foliage, it's entirely unnecessary to go to that trouble since the feed is supplementing their range food. But, again, if someone wants to go to the expense and trouble of doing that, that's their business. I'm just saying this for the sake of the newbies- many new-to-chickens folks start to believe that they have to feed their chickens even better than their own children and they become overly stressed about it when it really doesn't have to be that way. Trying to balance the scale a bit here.

 

[BruceAZ]

Probably the same reason you can get a large size Big Mac meal.

Seriously, 50lbs of scratch will go a very long way for my 8 pullets that's for sure.

i'm thinking of getting a 50lb bag of scratch from the local buyer's club

probably need to find a container and will be storing them in the house instead..

it will take a while for my chickens to go through 50lb of scratch along with their main feeds..
http://www.phoenixorganicfeed.com/prices.html

50lb of scratch for $27.. a bit pricey.. but it's cheaper than giving them treats.. which is around $7 for a 2 lb bag..

 

[ShanandGem]

@speckledhen I think my personal problem is that I live in a major urban center. We have exactly one feed store and when I bought my first bag of chick starter in February it had been sitting in their warehouse for over six months. Just due to my geographics sourcing fresh commercial feed is tougher than mxing it myself. Of course that's not true for everyone; I'm just doing what works for me.

And you have my wholehearted agreement on hatchery birds. I always buy from small independent farms. Although I did get my Ameraucana chicks from a place that calls themselves a 'heritage' hatchery (think 4-6 friends working to preserve endangered breeds of chicken like Light Sussex) and I have been very happy with them.

 

[speckledhen]

@speckledhen I think my personal problem is that I live in a major urban center. We have exactly one feed store and when I bought my first bag of chick starter in February it had been sitting in their warehouse for over six months. Just due to my geographics sourcing fresh commercial feed is tougher than mxing it myself. Of course that's not true for everyone; I'm just doing what works for me.

And you have my wholehearted agreement on hatchery birds. I always buy from small independent farms. Although I did get my Ameraucana chicks from a place that calls themselves a 'heritage' hatchery (think 4-6 friends working to preserve endangered breeds of chicken like Light Sussex) and I have been very happy with them.

I so agree on the bad storage practices! Tractor Supply is famous for moldy feed and they supposedly have good turnover. I won't buy from them. If you must mix it and can get fresh grains, just do the research and be sure the protein levels and quality of protein is up.

Best of luck with your birds.

 

[MeepBeep]

it had been sitting in their warehouse for over six months.  Just due to my geographics sourcing fresh commercial feed is tougher than mxing it myself.

Are you sure the stuff you would be mixing with is any fresher in the end? In my region they only harvest grains once a year in late fall, meaning by March any grains you get are 6 months old, by September they are almost a year old... Yeah whole grains last longer in storage but again only if properly stored...

 

[ShanandGem]

Are you sure the stuff you would be mixing with is any fresher in the end? In my region they only harvest grains once a year in late fall, meaning by March any grains you get are 6 months old, by September they are almost a year old... Yeah whole grains last longer in storage but again only if properly stored...

Other than the scratch grains base (which is really just for taste and some carb energy) and the soybean meal (which keeps for up to 3 years) I use human grade ingredients. When you buy in bulk (5kg at a time) it's not that expensive.

 

[MeepBeep]

probably need to find a container and will be storing them in the house instead..

You really can't beat old fashioned galvanized trash cans for home storage... They are rodent proof and they allow just enough 'breathing' to help avoid going moldy...

 

[MeepBeep]

Are you sure the stuff you would be mixing with is any fresher in the end? In my region they only harvest grains once a year in late fall, meaning by March any grains you get are 6 months old, by September they are almost a year old... Yeah whole grains last longer in storage but again only if properly stored...

Other than the scratch grains base (which is really just for taste and some carb energy) and the soybean meal (which keeps for up to 3 years) I use human grade ingredients.  When you buy in bulk (5kg at a time) it's not that expensive.

That really doesn't address the 'freshness' or age of the ingredients as a whole...

5kg is hardly considered bulk in my area for most things and won't get me a price break at a grain mill, that doesn't really happen until you purchase 1000lbs (454 kg) or more ...

Cost is also relative, my birds consume about 250-300 lbs (114-136 kg) of feed a week and that is with heavily supplementation of spent grains and fresh produce and sorts, mixing my own based on local price of the raw ingredients would drive my cost beyond reason,and I don't really have the facilities to properly store 1000s of lbs of freed to exploit price breaks...

 

[ShanandGem]

That really doesn't address the 'freshness' or age of the ingredients as a whole...

5kg is hardly considered bulk in my area for most things and won't get me a price break at a grain mill, that doesn't really happen until you purchase 1000lbs (454 kg) or more ...

Cost is also relative, my birds consume about 250-300 lbs (114-136 kg) of feed a week and that is with heavily supplementation of spent grains and fresh produce and sorts, mixing my own based on local price of the raw ingredients would drive my cost beyond reason,and I don't really have the facilities to properly store 1000s of lbs of freed to exploit price breaks...

It's less about the freshness of the grains and more about the degradation of the supplemented vitamins, particularly A. When a bag of any feed is stored for extended periods those supplements break down and are lost, and you are left feeding a product that you think is 100% complete but sadly, is not.
You obviously have many, many more birds than I do and if I had a flock your size I wouldn't be hand mixing feed either.