Lets talk about layer feed...

[ChickenCanoe]

I don't believe in hearsay. Anecdotal evidence can have value, or it can be hogwash.

There has been so much more research into chicken and turkey nutrition than pretty much any other animal. There really isn't a need for hearsay.

 

[GreenMountainEric]

To all that feel it is fine to feed layer feed to Roos, younger birds, etc....-

We manufacture and sell about 3000 bags of layer feed daily, so, we have a fairly large sample size. I can tell you with absolute certainty, feeding layer feed to birds that aren’t laying, is not good for them. Hypercalcimia can have your chickens suffering through things that you can’t see. It can cause gout, rickets, kidney issues, etc.. Feeding layer diets won’t always kill your birds, but it certainly can. Most times they will survive just fine, but they will probably suffer through health issues that you don’t know about. (Young birds are much more likely to die on a layer diet, than an adult)

Your chicken may seem fine, but you can’t ask your chicken if they have sore bones, or kidney pain. You can’t ask them if they are constipated, or if they are depressed, chronically tired, or confused.

We have seen the issues time after time. We have also seen necropsy results on numerous birds that have been fed layer feed while not producing eggs. It is most certainly NOT good for them.

 

[GreenMountainEric]

When it was time to convert my hens over to layer feed I researched and asked the same question on this forum, since I had 2 roos. I was having trouble with thin shells and shell-less eggs, and I was worried that grower feed with oyster shells on the side wasn't cutting it. Someone recommended ground up eggshells with the oyster shell. I heat them in 200 deg oven until dry, and then crunch them up. Since I started doing that they have been more enthusiastic about eating their daily ration of calcium. The hens come in for the night and load up on the shells before they hit the food and water, my remaining roo ignores the shells and just eats his pelleted food. The fact that the roos don't bother with it says it all, IMO. I'm much more comfortable with this arrangement, and the egg production is much better now.

I wanted organic grower pellets, which are almost impossible to find. I did find Green Mountain feed makes it, and it is sold in the same store as my Poulin horse feed. I thought they were actually the same company, since I did see something on the internet that said that, but I am not sure. Maybe they just share the same truck in shipping since they both come from VT? Perhaps your store could order it for you if they carry Poulin feed. My birds were wasting tons of crumble, this they clean up quite well. It is quite expensive, but the fact that there is less waste is justifying that so far. And they free range most of the day anyway. The closest store to me does mark it up 10$ a bag more than others though.....hoping to find another dealer soon.

Hello Blessedthistle!

We are a different company than Poulin Grain. However, we know the Poulin family well, and they are a major distributor of our products. They inventory our products at their mills, and distribute them with their products for their dealers.

Our products are available at any Poulin dealer.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

To all that feel it is fine to feed layer feed to Roos, younger birds, etc....-

We manufacture and sell about 3000 bags of layer feed daily, so, we have a fairly large sample size. I can tell you with absolute certainty, feeding layer feed to birds that aren’t laying, is not good for them. Hypercalcimia can have your chickens suffering through things that you can’t see. It can cause gout, rickets, kidney issues, etc.. Feeding layer diets won’t always kill your birds, but it certainly can. Most times they will survive just fine, but they will probably suffer through health issues that you don’t know about. (Young birds are much more likely to die on a layer diet, than an adult)

Your chicken may seem fine, but you can’t ask your chicken if they have sore bones, or kidney pain. You can’t ask them if they are constipated, or if they are depressed, chronically tired, or confused.

We have seen the issues time after time. We have also seen necropsy results on numerous birds that have been fed layer feed while not producing eggs. It is most certainly NOT good for them.

Sometimes I feel like I'm just wasting my time and energy posting responses here. I try to answer questions as accurately and clearly as possible. People don't want to believe. I then cite the science and because they did it and didn't experience a problem or someone told them it was OK, I must be wrong.

I equate it with the difference between occupational injury and occupational disease. If they fall off a ladder at work or get caught in a machine and break a leg and a few ribs, they say, "yeah I got hurt at work".
However, if they inhale MEKs, asbestos or get strafed by PCB oil from a transformer and they didn't die - yet - they don't believe they were harmed. Eventually, their injuries will be worse and longer lived than in the fall from the ladder. And death will be just as sure.

 

[RoosterML]

@GreenMountainEric
I currently use Poulin feed. After looking at your product line along with Poulin it looks like GM is more into the whole organic "marketing" side of things. To each his own. You can only speak for GM I guess but why does your company not have any product for poultry listed as an "all flock" type? Poulin also does not have such a labeled product. Could you advise as to which one of your products for Poultry/Fowl would be suitable as an all flock? Is it a matter of having to add additional SKUs and additional packaging for not doing so?

 

[GreenMountainEric]

@RoosterML Yes, we only manufacture Organic, and non-GMO feeds.

A lot of companies have stopped making an “All Flock” type product. There are product liability reasons (labeling a product for “all”, when it isn’t the best diet for all), as well as avoiding redundancy in the product line.

Dietary requirements for roosters, or hens that aren’t laying, align with the nutrient requirements in grower feed. All flock feeds follow the exact same nutrient profile as grower, and are commonly the same product.

Our Poultry Grower Pellets is what we recommend for non-production adult birds. I’m guessing Poulin does the same. I believe their Poultry Grower/Finisher crumble is the product to use.

 

[Shadrach]

To all that feel it is fine to feed layer feed to Roos, younger birds, etc....-

We manufacture and sell about 3000 bags of layer feed daily, so, we have a fairly large sample size. I can tell you with absolute certainty, feeding layer feed to birds that aren’t laying, is not good for them. Hypercalcimia can have your chickens suffering through things that you can’t see. It can cause gout, rickets, kidney issues, etc.. Feeding layer diets won’t always kill your birds, but it certainly can. Most times they will survive just fine, but they will probably suffer through health issues that you don’t know about. (Young birds are much more likely to die on a layer diet, than an adult)

Your chicken may seem fine, but you can’t ask your chicken if they have sore bones, or kidney pain. You can’t ask them if they are constipated, or if they are depressed, chronically tired, or confused.

We have seen the issues time after time. We have also seen necropsy results on numerous birds that have been fed layer feed while not producing eggs. It is most certainly NOT good for them.

Thanks for posting.

 

[RoosterML]

@RoosterML Yes, we only manufacture Organic, and non-GMO feeds.

A lot of companies have stopped making an “All Flock” type product. There are product liability reasons (labeling a product for “all”, when it isn’t the best diet for all), as well as avoiding redundancy in the product line.

Dietary requirements for roosters, or hens that aren’t laying, align with the nutrient requirements in grower feed. All flock feeds follow the exact same nutrient profile as grower, and are commonly the same product.

Our Poultry Grower Pellets is what we recommend for non-production adult birds. I’m guessing Poulin does the same. I believe their Poultry Grower/Finisher crumble is the product to use.

Thank you for your response, I'll have to take a look at your product when I head back to the feed store. While it may not currently be your company I like being able to support a fairly local producer.

 

[Cindy in PA]

@RoosterML Yes, we only manufacture Organic, and non-GMO feeds.

A lot of companies have stopped making an “All Flock” type product. There are product liability reasons (labeling a product for “all”, when it isn’t the best diet for all), as well as avoiding redundancy in the product line.

Dietary requirements for roosters, or hens that aren’t laying, align with the nutrient requirements in grower feed. All flock feeds follow the exact same nutrient profile as grower, and are commonly the same product.

Our Poultry Grower Pellets is what we recommend for non-production adult birds. I’m guessing Poulin does the same. I believe their Poultry Grower/Finisher crumble is the product to use.

Good post. Your poultry grower is 17% & pellets. Poulin grain's poultry grower is only 15% and crumbles, which I would not use. The problem is many like to feed a higher protein for molting birds, as I am sure you are aware. I would have bought your grower if it was in stock, but most feed stores only stock your layer pellets. I did pick up Poulin Turkey/Gamebird finisher pellets the last time I was there to supplement the birds that are molting. I hope to order your higher protein feed, but have been running around taking care of my 92 yo father & everything else has been an afterthought. I love your feed! I want to be sure the feed store that carries GM & Poulin keep doing so!

 

[GreenMountainEric]

@Cindy in PA

Hi Cindy!
If you are after a higher protein, you could also use the broiler grower crumbles. You may find that your store stocks those (More often stocked than poultry grower). It is essentially the same feed as the poultry grower, except that it is higher in protein, and is a cut pellet (style of Crumble).

That said, I don’t find that many customers feed higher protein levels to molting birds. Even the commercial farmers feed a lower protein diet with much higher fiber levels. We typically custom formulate molting diets for commercial farms, and they are usually only 13-14% protein, and 6-8% fiber.

I don’t have a lot of personal experience researching dietary requirements of molting birds, so I won’t pretend that I know better than anyone else on molting diets. My expertise is centered more around production diets, and meat bird diets.

I do know that you won’t hurt anything by feeding higher protein to molting birds, but it is possible that it isn’t necessary. However, that is only based on the diets provided for larger producers. The suggested protein level for small/backyard flocks that are in molt (Or for general maintenance diets), is 15-19%. It is a broad acceptable range.