This is the second time I heard about Kalmbach on this site. Someone mentioned it in a different thread. Can you tell me why you or the hens like it so much? I used to feed purina all flock and they used to love it but I can’t find it anywhere near me. I had to switched to nutrena all flick and they hate it and are losing weight and not laying as much. I do supply OS on the side. ThankI use Purina Flock Raiser because I can get it consistently with fresh mill dates in my location for about $18/50# bag.
Purina actually own Nature Wise and makes the feed for Dumor.. in addition to many other brands I probably know nothing about. They are a multi conglomerate who I have zero brand loyalty to and if available might choose something made by Kalmbach instead.. that feed smelled SO good! But it is a regional feed I found on Amazon once and not available to me on a regular basis. Have you already checked out or seen the feed comparisons brought by @Kiki? If you don't see the one you're using, consider sending her the info.. The offerings I get with satisfactory turnover to keep mill dates fresh are very limited really. Back when I started my hunt and spent hours upon hours in feed store after feed store this wealth of information hadn't yet been so diligently brought together in one location..
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/➡-feed-comparison-spreadsheet.1275920/#post-20524932
I wonder if she's got them set up for other countries than the US?
I avoid Purina dog food like Benefuls and other as I don't find them to be acceptable...
No matter the company name.. they all make cruddy cheaper products, that serve the purpose of some folks well enough, and I have been one of them. Now at this point in my life, I'm a label reader.. ingredients, nutritional analysis, etc. Even then... I'm buying what is a happy medium for my current budget, my animal needs, current location availability, etc. and not my dream perfection. While I don't buy ALL the hype about non gmo OR organic, I do find some validity in the cleanest most chemical free life possible, and figuring out what the natives knew.. recognizing that I'm not keeping a natural amount of birds in my space.. what some folks are calling self sustaining is really just self propagating and when crud hits the fan and feed isn't available (like for some during Covid), watch our flock sizes and types and consumption change.. you don't see fat fluffy birds in regions that are less developed and truly relying on their land a bit more. Not judging, just saying.
I have seen them online up to 22% protein (shown in some studies to give the best hatch rates) and still 4%+ calcium.. the added calcium is what makes it "layer" feed. I have not YET seen layer feed above 16% available at any of the feed stores in MY location.
But you are correct.. "layer" is just a term indicating who it is meant for and not indicative of the actual nutritional analysis. If one wants to know they must read the labels.
I'm sure I've said it before but not all protein is created equal.
@Jackiebjackie once your getting eggs, will try and remember to report back whether you find any fishy taste.. thinking fish was an ingredient in your feed and that had been one drawback mentioned.. as a possibility.
My birds are mixed ages some 1.5years to 9 months old. Australorp and BR and EE. I don’t like the smell of the feed myself. Thanks for the replyThe Kalmbach feed that I got was at a good price and it smelled so good, maybe like fresh bread baking.. it's possible it was wheat based instead of (yellow) corn based. (I can't remember as it's been a very long time). which could diminish yellow pigment in the yolk for laying hens despite having no relevance to end nutrient formulation, IF that were the case. But ya, it smelled so good I could have poured myself a bowl.I'm SURE not all of their formulations are created equal, but if you find one you like, give it a try. I have tried some feeds that you could really smell the soy content.. which isn't one of my personal favorite things to eat.
Hating that feed might be a separate issue from losing weight and not laying as much.. could be age or light related.. as both effect reproduction rate and day light is currently diminishing in the northern hemisphere. Hard to say without details, but highly suspect as to POSSIBLE reasons.
@eggsighted4life.415725
