Mycelium Pigeon Racing Food okay for laying chickens?

[EmmaDonovan]

Ingredients are Canadian Peas, Milo, Pop Corn, Maple Peas, Wheat, Austrian Peas, Oat Groats, Safflower, Barley; Vitamin Pigeon Premix Ingredients Containing Niacin, Riboflavin, Vitamin D-2 (Vegetable Source), Vitamin A, 500k Vegetable Calcium Pantothenate, Choline Bitartrate, B-Carotene 334k/g, Tween 80.

 

[Altairsky]

It's good as a treat or good to mix with other ingredients if you plan on making your homemade recipe

 

[Perris]

Canadian Peas, Milo, Pop Corn, Maple Peas, Wheat, Austrian Peas, Oat Groats, Safflower, Barley

these are things that occur in pigeon mixes I buy for my flock (though peas here are distinguished by colour rather than country name), and fwiw my flock are not keen on maple peas or barley so I tend to choose mixes that do not include them

Vitamin Pigeon Premix

the pigeon feed I buy does not have premix in it. That one will be tailored to pigeons' needs rather than chickens'. I know nothing about pigeon nutrition, so you'll need to research that yourself. But be aware that more is not necessarily better; excess methionine is toxic for example. So potentially there is something to lose by giving something a chicken does not need and will harm them if given to excess.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

these are things that occur in pigeon mixes I buy for my flock (though peas here are distinguished by colour rather than country name), and fwiw my flock are not keen on maple peas or barley so I tend to choose mixes that do not include them

the pigeon feed I buy does not have premix in it. That one will be tailored to pigeons' needs rather than chickens'. I know nothing about pigeon nutrition, so you'll need to research that yourself. But be aware that more is not necessarily better; excess methionine is toxic for example. So potentially there is something to lose by giving something a chicken does not need and will harm them if given to excess.

Which pigeon mixes do you buy?

 

[Perris]

Which pigeon mixes do you buy?

I can't imagine you're asking about the brand, because they surely are not internationally traded (?). So this is the ingredient list of my flock's favourite pigeon mix:

but I change mixes to keep it varied and as diverse as possible, given that chickens evolved with foods seasonally available; they do not need everything all the time, they can gorge and store for later use a lot of nutrients they need. So other sacks I have bought and bothered to photograph the ingredients list are

which I bought for use last winter (notice how simple it is to find and understand the dates on that by the way)

that was a couple of years ago. As will be obvious, I've graduated from a relatively small number of whole grain/pea ingredients mixes to a relatively large number of pseudo-cereals plus peas mixes. The latter are a bit more expensive (I'm paying between about £17 and £25 for a sack of these, depending on what's in it - sometimes it's one particular ingredient pushing the price up) but I think are definitely worth it.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

@Perris, at some point you were writing about creating your own mix, and someone had asked about this specific brand, available in the US: https://dmfnaturecenter.com/product/no-corn-flying-pigeon-mix-16/
(or another mix from Des Moines Feed.) It would be combined with whole grain wheat etc to make a full feed. They have higher protein mixes as well, with and without corn/maize.

I don't remember exactly which one was being discussed - maybe this one - what do you think of these ingredients?

Canadian Field Peas, Milo, Hard Red Winter Wheat, Maple Peas, Oat Groats, White Proso Millet, Flax, Austrian Peas, Buckwheat, Hemp​

800 oz = 50 lbs = ~23kg

 

[Perris]

@Perris, at some point you were writing about creating your own mix, and someone had asked about this specific brand, available in the US: https://dmfnaturecenter.com/product/no-corn-flying-pigeon-mix-16/
(or another mix from Des Moines Feed.) It would be combined with whole grain wheat etc to make a full feed. They have higher protein mixes as well, with and without corn/maize.

I don't remember exactly which one was being discussed - maybe this one - what do you think of these ingredients?

Canadian Field Peas, Milo, Hard Red Winter Wheat, Maple Peas, Oat Groats, White Proso Millet, Flax, Austrian Peas, Buckwheat, Hemp​

800 oz = 50 lbs = ~23kg

View attachment 4083178

That looks like it might work well if fermented with whole wheat (which here costs £8 - £12 for a 25kg sack depending on which supplier I use).

 

[Perris]

I found another mix ingredients photo, one which includes maize/corn, and my flock likes this one too

don't get hung up on some of the terms, which are daft; 'energy corn' is just corn/maize, as 'pigeon wheat' is just wheat.

 

[NatJ]

"Mycelium Pigeon Racing Food okay for laying chickens?"

The answer is different depending on how you want to use it.

Are you asking if you can give small amounts to the chickens as a treat? Yes, that is fine.

Or did you run out of chicken feed and want to use that for a day or two while you get more? Yes, that is also fine.

Or are you wanting to use that as the main food for the chickens, as a regular thing? That will probably not have the right balance of nutrients to keep chickens healthy, if it is their main source of food for a long time. They will probably be healthier, and you will probably save money as well, if you buy an actual chicken food to be their main source of food.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

"Mycelium Pigeon Racing Food okay for laying chickens?"

The answer is different depending on how you want to use it.

Are you asking if you can give small amounts to the chickens as a treat? Yes, that is fine.

Or did you run out of chicken feed and want to use that for a day or two while you get more? Yes, that is also fine.

Or are you wanting to use that as the main food for the chickens, as a regular thing? That will probably not have the right balance of nutrients to keep chickens healthy, if it is their main source of food for a long time. They will probably be healthier, and you will probably save money as well, if you buy an actual chicken food to be their main source of food.

Good questions! I should have specified I'm interested in it as an occasional treat, possibly fermented.