Is layer mash meant to have little bits of wheat or corn in it?

[OwO]

I use Heygates layer meal and my chickens prefer it to pellets but I am wondering if that's because it has little bits of wheat in it. They seem to pick a lot of the wheat out and leave a lot of the rest or just knock it onto the floor... some don't lay eggs regularly at all and I was wondering if maybe this is the reason why?

 

[Folly's place]

That's why I prefer a feed that's either pelleted or crumbled, so the birds don't pick out the yummy stuff and leave the rest. Find something that's within three or four weeks of milling, and switch gradually, because they will also be offended by any change. Mary

 

[RodNTN]

I use crumbles. But I do use mash also, but that's only because I feed my girls only in the evening, and they are good girls and gobble every bit up.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I use Heygates layer meal and my chickens prefer it to pellets but I am wondering if that's because it has little bits of wheat in it. They seem to pick a lot of the wheat out and leave a lot of the rest or just knock it onto the floor... some don't lay eggs regularly at all and I was wondering if maybe this is the reason why?

This is just more evidence that chickens usually don't eat things that are bad for them , but just because your birds eat something with relish does not mean that what they eat is good for them, especially in large quantities.

Your hens are gobbling up all the 8% protein chicken food and leaving the high protein components of the food laying on the ground.

I dare say that the reason that your "girls" prefer meal style laying feed to pellet style feed is because the hens can sort through the laying "meal" feed and pick out all the yummy bits.

 

[rosemarythyme]

You can also try fermenting it, most mashes do well as ferment since it makes everything stick together so the birds are more likely to consume it all without picking out pieces they don't want.

 

[Dawnclucks22]

Yes. Our mash comes with bits of corn and oyster shell.