layena

I too switched from Dumor to Layena, and my hens are doing great. Egg production went up significantly.

 

I'm interested in the response to this thread as I will be having to switch off the chick starter soon, moving to another brand or staying with Dumour, going organic, or what.

daoustaj, could it be the switching of the feed that got the hens all out of kilter? Maybe slowly mix them and wean them off??? I am so new at this I don't know. Is Layena supposed to be better than Dumour?

 

TSC contracts with Purina to make DuMor in most, but not all, of the country. The difference between the two is insignificant in our experience.

 

Both Dumor & Layena are plant based.

 

We use Layena crumbles and love it. -chickens are thriving on this plus grass/greens from lawn, fruit, scratch, and oyster shell. -tried an organic feed initially, but they picked through it and left most of it unconsumed. It was very, very dusty. I would prefer organic feed, but haven't found any in our area that isn't powdery/dusty. -gals are laying an egg every day on the Layena (even the OEGB and Japanese bantam).

 

I have tried both Dumor and Layena and I found a decrease in egg production when the girls ate either feed. I stopped using both Dumor AND Layen and put them on Flockraiser pellets. My eye production spiked almost immediately. I tried doing this on 2 separate occasions to make sure that it wasn't a fluke. I switched them back to Dumor and one time and then to Layena. Again, their egg production decreased. I then switched back to Flockraiser pellets and eye production spiked yet again. I'm done with both Dumor and Layena. I use Flockraiser for my laying hens and will never switch back to either. I did this experiment over a time span of about 6 months.

All new chicks start on Flockraiser crumble and then they graduate to Flockraiser pellets. I love the Flockraiser because all ages can eat it.

 

I had never given any thought to putting my hens on flockraiser. My roos get it and when chicks come of starter go to flockraiser. I use Hubbard laying pellets which have worked great but the last couple weeks they seem to pick around them. I may just add another bag of flockraiser to my formula and exclude the laying pellets to see how they do. It took me a few months but I finally got a formula that everyone seems to eat well.

 

HMMM I just switched from Flockraiser to Bar ale all purpose poultry pellets-- it is also 20% protein, has slightly more calcium than the Flockraiser(but less than the laying formulas), and I wanted pellets for less waste.... Also Bar ale is a locally made (CA) brand it is also plant based (which I did not seek out but most major brands appear to be going that way)... I will see how my hens do (I have a young Jersey Giant roo who is eating with his hens)... and get back to you guys--

OOH I did not know that Flockraiser came pelleted I guess that makes sense, anyway, I wanted to go local, as I am thinking it is more dependably fresher that way,etc...