Natures Best organic feeds

[CCsGarden]

Does any use nature's best organic feed?
I would like to know how you liked it? I tried This one from TSC and it seemed okay. I did look for a date on the bag and didn't find it. I know it should be on the sewed paper on the very bottom of the bag....but I don't think so.

Let me know how you like it.

CC

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The date will be on there somewhere. I'm sure it is a requirement. It could be printed as a Julian date. That is the day of the year. There are 3 or 4 manufacturers the use that format. It will just be a 3 digit number. For instance, December 1st would be displayed as 336. The 336th day of the year.

 

[CCsGarden]

I'll have to look for that!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Yeah, if you can't find a month, year or some sequence of numbers that is some type of date format, look for a 3 digit number between 001 and 365.
It should also be a logical number, meaning hopefully it is within the last 2 or 3 months.
That is the advantage animals in commercial agriculture have. Most get feed milled within a day of eating it.
All big poultry and swine producers have their own mills and are centrally located around all the farms they control. They run 24 hours a day except on weekend nights when they do maintenance. If the mill shuts down for a day, they are starving chickens.
Each night by 4 am large grain type trucks line up at the mill waiting in line for the elevator to load them up with freshly milled feed. Some trucks will be loaded with different feeds custom milled specifically for the age of poultry they are going to be fed to.Then they venture on a route all over the countryside to all the poultry farms under contract with the commercial producer. This is true for virtually all of them like Tyson, Producer's Pride, Eggland, RoseAcre, Georges Turkeys, etc..
Another advantage they have is that they can change the feed formula going to birds or pigs within a day or two when diet needs to be tweaked for the age of the animal Whether that be a starter feed, grower, finisher, pre-lay or layer. I use these terms because that is what we see on the bags we buy at the feed store. You never see pre-lay at the store but that is what egg farms feed their pullets as lighting is gradually increased in the blackout housing where their metabolism is controlled for maximum output. Pre-lay has slightly more calcium than grower but less than layer. This allows the pullets to build up some calcium stores in their medullary bone without overwhelming the kidneys. The protein may be upped a bit also to assist the onset of ovulation spurred by the increasing day length.

 

[StacyT]

I tried using natures organic from TSC. I wasn’t all that impressed compared to feed I can get from the local mill. I had lots of runny poop and pasty butt in chicks until I switched to a different feed.

 

[AntiqueB]

I use Nature's Best all flock. The nutrient analysis is comparable to Purina organic starter/grower, but has higher protein. My girls seem to like it more than the Purina (they were in two different feeders at one point), and I haven't had any health issues.

 

[CCsGarden]

I use Nature's Best all flock. The nutrient analysis is comparable to Purina organic starter/grower, but has higher protein. My girls seem to like it more than the Purina (they were in two different feeders at one point), and I haven't had any health issues.

Thank you for the reply!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I use Nature's Best all flock. The nutrient analysis is comparable to Purina organic starter/grower, but has higher protein. My girls seem to like it more than the Purina (they were in two different feeders at one point), and I haven't had any health issues.

I think that is the key point. What is the guaranteed analysis and the age of the feed.
Another thing to consider are the nutrient levels of micronutrients that aren't required to be on that analysis tag.
The only things required to be on the guaranteed analysis tag are :

Crude Protein (min).....................................................
Lysine (min)..................................................................... Methionine (min).........................................................
Crude fat (min)...............................................................
Crude fiber (max)...........................................................
Calcium (min)................................................................
Calcium (max)................................................................. Phosphorus (min)...........................................................
Salt (min).....................................................................
Salt (max).....................................................................

Other nutrients are known by the manufacturer from the assay done with each production run. They just don't have to report them. In my experience if you want to know the level of any other nutrient, a phone call to the producer will yield the answer.
IMO, if other nutrients are listed, like vitamins A, D or E or a mineral like selenium, the producer is advertising that information out of the kindness of their heart, and it tells me they are proud and confident of their feed.