my time for bad luck on feed as come

[jk47]

Well my chicks are due to be at my post in the morning so on my way home from school I stopped by the feed store got a bag of 20% chick start got home opened it moldy took it back second bag had bugs in being to late in the day to exchange it a third time I had to go to the feed store near my house and of course they only had a choice of nutrena or Purina so being in a rush I had to buy it so I walked out with a 18% start/grow and spent $21 on it
So I now have to feed a 18% because thats whst the chicks are going to be on when they get here and I have to take the buggy feed back tommarow. Out of all the feed I buy why does all the feed problems have to happen the day before the chicks get here

 

[ringolta]

That sucks. I'm lucky to have a Rural King and Tractor Supply near me.

 

[lazy gardener]

Did all the feed come from the same store? That's the last time I'd be doing business with them.

 

[jk47]

Yeah all the same store gonna get a refund tommarow and going to the feed store I like to be at

 

[CrazyTalk]

Did all the feed come from the same store? That's the last time I'd be doing business with them.

Agree - it sounds like their feed either isn't being stored properly, or is sitting around forever (or they're getting it from a crappy mill).

Also, there's nothing wrong with Purina.

 

[speckledhen]

Tractor Supply seems to have a problem in some locations. My friend, Cetawin on BYC, lost birds due to their moldy feeds. Bag after bag, too. Apparently, it was the way they were storing it. I've lost birds once to moldy feed (couldn't see it till it was almost gone), but it was a glitch after the co-op had a flood and they did dump about 1500 lbs of bags of feed, however, since this bag was one of those plasticized ones, they couldn't tell water had seeped up through the bottom seam. They gave me two fresh bags and an apology and I still shop there; things happen, unfortunately, but if a place makes a habit of moldy and/or buggy feed, I do not shop there. That's why I no longer shop at the feed store I originally started with in town (in addition to some changes that make it treacherous to even go in there, sick birds "free ranging" among the customers).

 

[rancher hicks]

Here's my story.

I got feed from the nearby Country max. The guy said he only had three bags. I had called and asked them to hold four. One bag he gave me was cut open, so he could check it, cuz the fourth bag was moldy. He showed me where to find the dates, which I didn't know. However one bag had a code for the date. I went on line and checked it. It was over a year old.

Now I had gotten Scratch grains with mold before.

So I took the bag back to another Country Max and vowed never to go to the nearby Country Max again. Their feed was that months lot, so it had to be fresh.

Now I do have a TSC just down the road from the Country Max and I do buy their Dumor Chick/starter grower and have never noticed a problem.

My point being check the date on the bag. See when it was made and chose from that.

I do repackage feed for easy transport since I have a bad back. I keep whole bags up off the floor. Scratch grains are put in a metal garbage can and I mix in some DE to ward off moths and it does keep it dry. I do the same with BOSS. My older brother who had pigeons said not to use plastic cans as they sweat.



These are on a 2x4 up off the floor of the run.

 

[CrazyTalk]

Tractor Supply is like every other chain - they're exactly as good as the local store manager is, and they're going to be better in areas that the local manager thinks are important. If hes got chickens, the chicken feed will probably be stored well. If he's a horse guy, the horse supplies will be stored well, and kept rotated, etc.


There's one to the north of me that is fantastic and one to the south that is terrible. On a similar note, the Southern States near me never seems to have anything I want in stock (unless I special order it), while the one 30 minutes away has pretty much everything.

 

[ringolta]

I haven't bought anything from Tractor Supply, only Rural King and I haven't had any problems there.

 

[chicbaby]

i only buy organic feed and i have never had a problem. i dont like to buy anything that says grain products on it. its too vague. it can have wood shavings in it, and they frequently do. plus all the health problems with gmo feed and the the fact the bees and butterflies are disappearing. i dont want to contribute to that.

you could also try making your own formulation and buy grains and lentils and oats in bulk and mix them. there are alot of sources online as well as the grocery store to buy grains from as well.