I thought scratch was scratch

[BBQJOE]

I've been out of the chicken business for over 10 years.
So I bought a bag of scratch last week. It turns out is is nothing more than milo and cracked corn.
I remember the scratch from years ago had so many more things in it.
Has this become the standard, or did I just buy a crappy bag of scratch?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They don't have a guaranteed analysis. It's always made up of what is cheap at the time it is bagged. Milo and corn tend to dominate. I just pulled out a handful from my bag and it appears there are a few other seeds in there but not many.

I usually make my own. In summer it's mostly oat groats with a little millet and sunflower.
In winter, it's wheat, barley and sunflower.
Buying those in 50 # bags, I think the seed quality is better.

 

[BBQJOE]

They don't have a guaranteed analysis. It's always made up of what is cheap at the time it is bagged. Milo and corn tend to dominate. I just pulled out a handful from my bag and it appears there are a few other seeds in there but not many.

I usually make my own. In summer it's mostly oat groats with a little millet and sunflower.
In winter, it's wheat, barley and sunflower.
Buying those in 50 # bags, I think the seed quality is better.

Well I was thinking about sprouting some scratch, but if it's only milo, it doesn't much seem worth it.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I wouldn't bother. And the cracked corn won't sprout.
Sunflower and barley sprout very easily.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I think my birds enjoy wild bird seed more. I have a farm and seed store not far and I can mix my own bird seed. Or sometimes I just buy bagged stuff. Unlike scratch, you can see what's in it and know what your paying for. I don't need 40 pounds of cracked corn in a 50# bag of scratch. I also had some bird seed get wet so I threw it on the ground near the coop (before my birds arrived). They've sprouted nicely and I mow or pull up a bunch on days when they can't free range and toss them in the coop.

 

[Den in Penn]

There are scratch feeds out there with more variety in them, As I mostly mix my own as well I don't usually look at the scratch when I am out buying feed. The last time I bought, it did have a few different seeds in as well as the cracked corn. I would say the quality of the scratch is likely dependent on how the company that mixes it thinks of scratch, as much as how cheap they can get the ingredients.