Mycelium Pigeon Racing Food okay for laying chickens?

[NatJ]

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

As an occasional treat, fermented or not, it should be fine.

 

[Perris]

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.

Curious as to why you think this. I found from experience that my flock is healthier on 20% pigeon feeds like these plus 80% wheat as a main feed than they ever were on stuff sold as chicken food. Their ages and continued fecundity are evidence of it are they not?

 

[NatJ]

Curious as to why you think this. I found from experience that my flock is healthier on 20% pigeon feeds like these plus 80% wheat as a main feed than they ever were on stuff sold as chicken food. Their ages and continued fecundity are evidence of it are they not?

I was less sure there, which is part of why I said "probably" in that part instead of a definite "no." (I said a definite "yes" to the other uses I asked about.)

And I said that applied to this as the "main" source of food. (As in, give the chickens that and almost nothing else is where it is "probably" not as good.)

Your own example includes 80% wheat. I would consider that very different than dumping the pigeon feed in a dish and providing no other food.

Reasons I said this include:
--OP is in the USA, as am I. Chicken feeds here seem to do pretty well at keeping chickens healthy, as long as the person selects a suitable one. As a general rule of thumb, a feed designed for one species will be better for that species than a feed designed for a species with distinctly different needs (obvious difference: OP said laying chickens, that says it's for racing pigeons, who will be getting a lot more exercise and laying a lot less eggs.) There are always exceptions to this, but it was my basic starting point, and then I looked for reasons that this food might be an exception to my general idea.

--I googled for this mix, looked for nutritional information on it, and it doesn't have as complete a listing as most chicken feeds do. This is not proof of anything being lacking, but it is a reason to say I do not know.

--The feed is a mix of various whole grains and other things, instead of all ground up together. With that style of feed, chickens will often pick out favorite parts and leave the rest. Picking out certain parts may be fine if the chickens have other food choices as well so they can find the rest of what they need. But I was specifically talking about cases where this might be the "main" food so the chickens would not have much else available.

--I also saw the price of this stuff. At least on the site I found it, 5 pounds of it was nearly the same price as 50 pounds of some chicken foods. That is why I included a mention of price.

--I did not address cases where this might be used as one of several main parts in the chickens' diet, because that is much more complicated. I wasn't going to spend the time on that unless I knew the OP was actually asking about that use.

Basically, I was trying to set up for the possibility that it might not be a good main feed, but without spending the time to go into it in much detail, until I knew more of what the OP was actually trying to figure out.

 

[Altairsky]

There are several schools of thought on this subject. Some thinks chickens can only survive on industrial, scientifically balanced, chicken feed, other thinks they can do perfectly fine on scratch, and everything in between.
I personally feed them 30% pigeon mix and 70% wheat + free range and animal protein twice a week, and I confirm that I see huge improvements compared to the time I fed them layer crumbles.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

…
--The feed is a mix of various whole grains and other things, instead of all ground up together. With that style of feed, chickens will often pick out favorite parts and leave the rest. Picking out certain parts may be fine if the chickens have other food choices as well so they can find the rest of what they need. But I was specifically talking about cases where this might be the "main" food so the chickens would not have much else available…

I use Kalmbach Chickhouse Reserve, which is that “mix of whole grains and other things“ you mention, and indeed, when I served it dry they picked around in it, making an unholy mess. They did eat almost all over the course of the day, but not the small bits of vitamins, minerals and so on. So I started fermenting, and they get as close to clearing their plates as chickens get.

I would keep using this feed and the Henhouse Reserve when they start laying, except I’m not wild about all the corn in there. (Modern corn has become a bit of an “empty calories” product.) So I might begin buying whole wheat if I can find manageable sizes plus a pea mix like this - basically grains for energy and legumes for protein. <- And those are the basis of commercial chicken feeds, whether crumbles, pellets, or mash/whole grain.

I don’t think anyone has proposed feeding solely the pigeon mix to chickens.* It’s just a handy way of buying a good variety of legume proteins in one bag for an 80%/20% or 70%/30% mix with wheat or a grain mix.

*Edit to add: after re-reading the initial post, maybe OP was looking at this for a complete feed after all. My bad! I’ve had the question of a custom feed mix in the back of my brain for a good while now, and so the pigeon mix fit right in.

 

[NatJ]

I don’t think anyone has proposed feeding solely the pigeon mix to chickens.* It’s just a handy way of buying a good variety of legume proteins in one bag for an 80%/20% or 70%/30% mix with wheat or a grain mix.

*Edit to add: after re-reading the initial post, maybe OP was looking at this for a complete feed after all. My bad! I’ve had the question of a custom feed mix in the back of my brain for a good while now, and so the pigeon mix fit right in.

OP did not specify at first.

So my first response was to ask how they wanted to use it, and give three different answers: fine as a treat, fine as a substitute feed for a few days in a pinch, probably not fine as a complete feed.

After that, OP clarified that they intended to use it as a treat. I think we all agree it is okay as a treat.

But then we (thread collectively) digressed into why I had said it would probably not be fine as a complete feed-- and it looks like we all agree there too. As the sole feed for chickens, it would not be a good choice. In combination with the right other things, it can be a good choice (yes, I agree with that position too. It just wasn't one of the things I mentioned when first asking how OP intended to use it.)

 

[Perris]

it doesn't have as complete a listing as most chicken feeds do. This is not proof of anything being lacking, but it is a reason to say I do not know.

Indeed these feeds do not offer 'average nutritional profile' type info, but it might be worth logging here that the info is available on Feedipedia (amongst other places) for those who wish to know it. Thus one discovers that, e.g., buckwheat is better than wheat in some regards, dari/ milo/ sorghum (3 names for the same thing) can constitute the major or even only grain in a poultry diet, groats have a higher ME than wheat, and that mung beans are a high value resource for poultry feeds where they are available. https://www.feedipedia.org/

chickens will often pick out favorite parts

I think this description of the behaviour is misleading. They pick out what their appetites tell them they need. If they apparently favour something very noticeably over everything else, to me what that says is that something in the favoured food has been deficient in their diet recently. If they keep on preferring the same food in this way, their normal diet is missing something that they know they need, and which they know they can find in the favoured food.

I also saw the price of this stuff. At least on the site I found it, 5 pounds of it was nearly the same price as 50 pounds of food some chicken foods

Pet food and treats have massive profit margins (as is obvious from the amount of advertising and shelf space dedicated to them these days). Pigeon feed sold in 20kg / 50lb sacks doesn't. 20kg of peas and pseudo-cereals costs me about £17 (about $22). How much is a sack of chicken feed there now?

Basically, I was trying to set up for the possibility that it might not be a good main feed, but without spending the time to go into it in much detail, until I knew more of what the OP was actually trying to figure out.

Very wise.

 

[NatJ]

Pigeon feed sold in 20kg / 50lb sacks doesn't. 20kg of peas and pseudo-cereals costs me about £17 (about $22). How much is a sack of chicken feed there now?

I would say about $20 to $25 for 50 pounds of chicken feed, varied according to who lives where and shops at what store.

I can easily find organic fees with prices as high as $30 for 40 pounds of feed (makes about $37 for 50 pounds). I can find layer feed as low as about $16 on the website of Tractor Supply, and even lower prices might exist from other suppliers or in other places. Layer feed is usually the cheapest, with chick starter or flock raiser usually costing several dollars more per bag.

The picture in the first post shows the pigeon feed in a 5 pound bag, which of course goes with an inflated per-pound price.