Has Purina changed its Flock Raiser?

[aart]

Sometimes the ingredients change...which can change the color.
I've never had any trouble with them eating it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/purina-flock-raiser.1216347/page-3#post-19470415

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

I just opened a new bag of Purina Flock Raiser and it is different looking from what I have been feeding for 3 years. The color is darker. Date on bag is Feb 6, so it's barely over a month old. And my chickens and chicks are not loving it as they have loved previous batches. This is what I just wrote to Purina:
"My chickens have loved Purina flock raiser crumbles for years. I have bragged about it to everyone, how they never waste any, how they eat every crumble. However, the most recent bag, opened yesterday, is different. 8FEB06STJ1 is the # on the bag, so it is fresh. The feed looks darker. It smells fine to me, but my chickens don't like it so much. Yes, they are eating it, but I'd say they are only eating half what they did previously. This is a BIG change and I am very concerned. What has changed in this feed???? I may have to go with something else.
I have 15 chickens, 9 adults, and 5 chicks, and all have been eating Purina Flock raiser, and both age groups have balked at this new batch."
The chicks are still in a brooder, separate from the hens/rooster. I always give them all some of it dry and also moisten some to ferment over night. It seems the moistened new batch of feed has a completely different texture, it's sticky and dissolves almost. It gets even darker. I'd call the original flock raiser a golden color, and this new, a liver color.
Has anyone else noticed a change in this feed? Can you recommend a different brand?
View attachment 1292417

I know this is an old post, but I'm curious if you ever received a reply from Purina.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I know this is an old post, but I'm curious if you ever received a reply from Purina.

I’m curious too now.

 

[drangle]

I had the same thing happen this summer. Got a bag of dark feed that smelled a little different too. Chicks ate it and every seemed fine. Next bag was gold again. Idk.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

If Purina's customer service is like everyone else's, they recieved a generic apologetic sounding response with a vague mention of feed formulations, and a coupon to buy more.

Every Feed Maker is contantly adjusting their recipes to hit a desired nutritional target - its not like baking a cake, where you add X eggs, x flour, x leavener, x sugar, x flavor and bake for set time and temp.

When the corn comes in a little low in protein, something gets increased to compensate. If the soy meal is higher ptotein than normal, or the field peas, maybe they cut a bit out. Then you have regional mills altering composition (still looking at the end goal, a specified nutritonal label) based on local pricing. and since cracked corn isn't cracked corn, or at least, not identical cracked corn - depending on the field harvested, the rain/dry weather pattern etc, just as other ingredients vary with first cut, second cut... etc you should expect your feed to look different all the time.

Which is quite different from feed companies flat out reformulating different mixes to alter the guaranteed nutritional output - which appears on the tag, but likely nowhere else. I have seen evidence that a number of manufacturers (if not most of the majors) have altered the targets over the last few years, due to reduced availability and increased pricing of certain key ingredients, in order to protect a price point. That is, the "Flock Raiser" you bought this year may be milled to a different target nutrition than the "Flock Raiser" you bought three years ago. Methionine is one of the first things that looks like it wass cut, Lysine the second - leaving the total crude protein number (the thing most people who get past "layer" "grower" and "starter" stop at) - while the actual nutritional values have declined. We may also be seeing increased willingness to use things like oats, barley, higher tannin content peas, etc whose antinutritional factors are harder to characterize and are nowhere displayed on the label, reducing the ability to make use of the rest of the content by some tiny amount.

These are all the sorts of changes that would escape the notice of most, and likely be attributed to other sources - the new hatchling chicks being just a tiny bit smaller on average, a week later to start laying, the Cx not hitting desired weight as quickly. They are also things which likely would have no noticeable change in adult birds, physically.

That's my impression, anyways, still gathering data points.

 

[Brooks_]

If Purina's customer service is like everyone else's, they recieved a generic apologetic sounding response with a vague mention of feed formulations, and a coupon to buy more.

Every Feed Maker is contantly adjusting their recipes to hit a desired nutritional target - its not like baking a cake, where you add X eggs, x flour, x leavener, x sugar, x flavor and bake for set time and temp.

When the corn comes in a little low in protein, something gets increased to compensate. If the soy meal is higher ptotein than normal, or the field peas, maybe they cut a bit out. Then you have regional mills altering composition (still looking at the end goal, a specified nutritonal label) based on local pricing. and since cracked corn isn't cracked corn, or at least, not identical cracked corn - depending on the field harvested, the rain/dry weather pattern etc, just as other ingredients vary with first cut, second cut... etc you should expect your feed to look different all the time.

Which is quite different from feed companies flat out reformulating different mixes to alter the guaranteed nutritional output - which appears on the tag, but likely nowhere else. I have seen evidence that a number of manufacturers (if not most of the majors) have altered the targets over the last few years, due to reduced availability and increased pricing of certain key ingredients, in order to protect a price point. That is, the "Flock Raiser" you bought this year may be milled to a different target nutrition than the "Flock Raiser" you bought three years ago. Methionine is one of the first things that looks like it wass cut, Lysine the second - leaving the total crude protein number (the thing most people who get past "layer" "grower" and "starter" stop at) - while the actual nutritional values have declined. We may also be seeing increased willingness to use things like oats, barley, higher tannin content peas, etc whose antinutritional factors are harder to characterize and are nowhere displayed on the label, reducing the ability to make use of the rest of the content by some tiny amount.

These are all the sorts of changes that would escape the notice of most, and likely be attributed to other sources - the new hatchling chicks being just a tiny bit smaller on average, a week later to start laying, the Cx not hitting desired weight as quickly. They are also things which likely would have no noticeable change in adult birds, physically.

That's my impression, anyways, still gathering data points.

Those are good points. I think I will start saving the tags. Not every one, but one every few months just to see what may have changed nutritionally.

 

[SueT]

I know this is an old post, but I'm curious if you ever received a reply from Purina.

Yes I did receive a reply and I’m no longer suspicious about them. They said they have several mills and each sources their own ingredients. If we buy the Flock Raiser from TSC, it comes from a mill in St. Joe. If we buy it from a different feed store called Race Bros, it comes from a mill in Springfield. The 2 always look different. The St. Joe mill’s feed is darker with bigger pieces, less dust. My chickens like them both, but I prefer to buy from Race when I can because it’s only $21, compared to $27. BTW, as of last year, Purina dates their bags using the Julian calendar, which numbers the days from 001 to 365.
The 1st 2 digits refer to the year, the next 3 are the day. (So it’s Jan 3, 2023). The SGF is the mill, in this case Springfield.
This one, the year is ’22, and the date is 276th day of year or Oct 4. The STJ shows it was milled in St. Joe.
I started this thread 5 years ago, and realize it was much ado about nothing. There’s a lot of suspicion being aimed at feed companies on BYC lately, and I don’t want to contribute to it, which I realize this thread originally did…..sorry

 

[Perris]

BTW, as of last year, Purina dates their bags using the Julian calendar, which numbers the days from 001 to 365.

why? it isn't exactly transparent is it? why not state the date of milling on the bag in a form that everyone can understand at a glance?

 

[NevadaEmma]

I do not usually buy Dunmor but I picked up a bag a TSC and noticed that it was darker that the Layena from Purina that I had been feeding them. I did not notice that they ate less of it.

I also bought some unmedicated Chick Starter from TSC, Purina. I had what looked like big hunks (2" diameter approx.) in the bag. I have not dealt with it yet as the chicks are not due for a few days and TSC is about an hour away.

BTW, I am incubating 20 Salmon Faverolles chicks for an early start on laying hens.

 

[aart]

why? it isn't exactly transparent is it? why not state the date of milling on the bag in a form that everyone can understand at a glance?

The Julian system is better than what some companies use, which can be totally undecipherable.
What do they use in your country?