Kruse or Kelleys?

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Which food is better? I just found a place that sells the Kelleys and it is SO much cheaper!

I've been reading so much about the different foods my head is starting to spin!

Yes/ No on Soy
Yes / No on animal products
Yes/ No on organic


Ugh... getting confusder by the minute!

 

[GardeNerd]

I have not used Kelley feeds. I do use Kruse and have been happy with it.

I buy the organic crumbles.
As long as soy is organic, I don't worry about it much in the chickens' food.
My chickens eat bugs, so I guess they get animal products that way. There aren't any animal products listed in the ingredients on the bag I buy.

Look at the nutritional content on the tag or bag. Does it have enough protein and other nutrients or are they pretty similar? If so, and if money is an issue, I would go with the less expensive feed.

My chickens are pets, part of my garden hobby, and I am sort of one of those organic wackos, so I get the organic chicken feed. Even when I figure in maintenance costs with the food costs, I still come out way ahead over organic eggs prices in the stores by me.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I think the Kruse's organic layer has more protein 17%, whereas the Kelley's is NOT organic and only 16%... however the Kruse's is $24 for a 50# bag and the Kelley's is only $14. The food looks quite a bit different too... where do I find the manufactured date to make sure it's fresh?

 

[GardeNerd]

The Kruse bags usually have a paper tag (kind of like a mattress or pillow tag) stitched on the bottom of the bag. I would be suspicious it was old if it wasn't there.

Looks like this:

The date is in bold 08-20-09 is the packaged date, not the expiration date. (This was a photo I took last summer, not a bag I still have.)

Here is what the bag I buy looks like.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Is it just their standard organic layer crumbles? I like the fact that it has 18% protein...

Does Kruse offer the organic layer in mash or pellets also? Is the food all consistent? I got Kelley's mash, and there were like big chunks, little chunks, cracked corn... I thought it would have been a little more consistent...

I think that is what I am going to get from now on, I just have to get the place to order it for me.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Haha I just looked on my tag for the Kelleys bag I have and the date part is totally missing. LOL

 

[GardeNerd]

The crumbles are relatively consistent. There are some mash size pieces my hens pick around that settle to the bottom of the feeder. As far as I know, Kruse doesn't make it in a pellet anymore, but it could just be my feed store doesn't carry the Kruse in the pellet. The feed store carries Organic Pride brand in pellets for layers, but my girls didn't like it, even when I put it in a blender to make it more crumble like.