New Country Organics decline in quality

[Loona]

I too have noticed a decline in quality of NCO. Lots of powder. So you are not alone.
I am in PA and to find any non gmo feed locally is impossible.
I am going to Tractor Supply and ask them if they know when they will be getting the soy free NB in. My luck, never. Lol

It's so hard to find. I meant to call Nature's Best sales dept but I forgot and will do so on Monday morning. I really hope to hear some good news on that. Otherwise will just stick to the other one. I'll keep looking though.

So far my flock is a bit "po'd" with me, they are snubbing dry pellets but I have caught them eating some up. What they like best is when it's in a mash, but I have to feed it twice a day. Olga laid a really pretty blue egg today. So smooth and colorful and her poops have no 'splats' (she's my house chicken) and my sick hen is on the mend. Crop is all clear but she too is not digging the pellets, but will eat the mash. She's always been a picky one. Her crop is better but she's still in sick bay keeping Olga company.

Thank you for your comment on noticing the decline as well. I really don't think I'm imagining it, esp with the ills/deaths I've had in recent months. I have read another person or two say the same thing about decline in quality. One had lost a hen and had a sick one, too. Keep an eye on your hens crops in the morning before you feed. The ones saved were caught earlier.

 

[Folly's place]

I'm glad that your hens are recovering!
Chickens get into enough trouble without having issues with their feed!
Mary

 

[Loona]

As I said before, Nature's Best no soy is supposed to be only available by special order thru Southern States dealers right now. I haven't even had luck with that, but haven't contacted them since April. I inquired by email again to NB last week and haven't heard back. After a year of going back & forth with them, I am beginning to think they are never going to get it out there. Depending on where you are in PA, there are no soy pellets avaliable from Organic Unlimited in Atglen Chester County. NB no soy layer is 15.5% & the main ingredient is canola.

My Southern States does not sell Nature's Best. Only have found it in Tractor Supply. Yes, I noticed that, Canola, which is the weed Rapeseed. Thank you for the info.

 

[tigger19687]

I had bought the NCO when I first got my hens, thought it was good having whole grains.
I noticed off the bat the the peas had the skins all over the place, a lot.
A lot of dust and even tried to FF it. Did ok but they went off it.
Doing it FF or Wet was the only way to get the Vit/Min into them.
It isn't like chickens Lick the bowl lol
I tried a few feeds. Some they went off, some I thought they went off because of them free ranging and being 'skinny'. turned out they weren't.

I am currently feeding the natures Best from the Green bag. They are Pellet but a SMALL PELLET which my girls eat.
I would buy the Soy-free in a heart beat. I emailed them to see if/when it would be available here.

GL

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Hi,
A few years ago I thought I found the holy grail of chicken feed, NCO. But starting last year I've noticed a decline in quality.... I the past few months I've had to deal with sour crop three times. Two of them died... Now I have another one with sour crop and I really have to wonder if it's the feed.... I welcome all suggestions....

Un-roasted peas or other legumes are bad for chickens. The fact that more of the "yellow" peas are now cracked may be a step in the right direction but my feelings are that this is a substitution of a good ingredient, namely GMO soybean meal for an inferior ingredient, namely whole "yellow" peas what ever that means. You can't force my chickens to eat raw peas of any kind if you held a gun on them.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

... If chickens pick out what they don't like and only eat the good stuff, is it possible they developed vitamin deficiencies and that caused the sour crops - rather than the food? In which case, switching to a pellet or crumble could help?...

A more likely situation is that these hens are starving and in a futile attempt to get enough calories or other nutrients your chickens are consuming way to much roughage or fiber and this is contributing to the sour crop the OP mentioned.

 

[Folly's place]

I wonder what university nutritionists make of some of these diets, and are they really balanced as fed? Or as actually eaten? Inquiring minds want to know...
Mary

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I wonder what university nutritionists make of some of these diets, and are they really balanced as fed? Or as actually eaten? Inquiring minds want to know... Mary

Mary, chicken feed milled with the back yard hobbiedest in mind is produced and marketed to humans and none of it is intended to impress a chicken. Just like for a new fishing lure to catch fish it first must hook the fisherman.

 

[Folly's place]

That's what I'm wondering; managing nutrition is tricky, and there are so many companies out there now, with 'magic formulas', competing for market share, for people with no background in actual poultry husbandry.
Mary

 

[Loona]

I had bought the NCO when I first got my hens, thought it was good having whole grains.
I noticed off the bat the the peas had the skins all over the place, a lot.
A lot of dust and even tried to FF it. Did ok but they went off it.
Doing it FF or Wet was the only way to get the Vit/Min into them.
It isn't like chickens Lick the bowl lol
I tried a few feeds. Some they went off, some I thought they went off because of them free ranging and being 'skinny'. turned out they weren't.

I am currently feeding the natures Best from the Green bag. They are Pellet but a SMALL PELLET which my girls eat.
I would buy the Soy-free in a heart beat. I emailed them to see if/when it would be available here.

GL

Agree w/everything you said. Those pea shells are obnoxious. All the inconsistencies have led me years later to the pellet. I'm using the same as you. Nature's Best. Fill up the feeder, they can eat all they want, then twice a day I bring them a plate of pellets soaked in mash. They love it. Sometimes they eat every last drop and sometimes they don't. Me too, I'm going to call Nature's Best tomorrow and really push to see if I can get them to somehow sell me soy-free. I like their pellet because there's no fish meal too. I'm also looking at H & H soy-free mini-pellet. Kinda pricey though. Shipping costs are added in so that's why.

Thank you for your input!