Nutrena All Flock Crumbles -- anyone able to find these?

[BuddingGardener]

I'm looking to switch to Nutrena All Flock from a layer feed because I have one hen who has stopped laying for a year, and I don't want to overburden her with the extra calcium. I'm also going to be adding chicks next year and figure switching over now won't hurt. However, my chickens are spoiled and far prefer a crumble texture to a pelleted texture, and seem to eat more when we offer crumbles. When I went to order some more feed, though, I can't seem to find the All Flock crumbles anywhere except on Nutrena's website. We order from Chewy and Chewy is no longer offering the crumble option.

Are they discontinuing the crumbles? Does anyone know?

 

[thecatumbrella]

I've looked for the crumbles since 2023. Your only shot is to find someone that carries it locally. Kalmbach and Purina make an all flock, and those crumbles/pellets seem to be more widely available. The Kalmbach is available from Chewy.

I can also tell you the Kalmbach holds up better than Nutrena in humidity. I'm not sure if it's less dusty or has larger pieces, but we've switched over.

 

[BuddingGardener]

I've looked for the crumbles since 2023. Your only shot is to find someone that carries it locally. Kalmbach and Purina make an all flock, and those crumbles/pellets seem to be more widely available. The Kalmbach is available from Chewy.

I can also tell you the Kalmbach holds up better than Nutrena in humidity. I'm not sure if it's less dusty or has larger pieces, but we've switched over.

I've seen some fearmongering that Kalmbach feeds are nutritionally inadequate. I'm not sure if there's any truth to it but it definitely scared me, because I used to feed (and love) Kalmbach layer crumbles and one of my hens started having chronic soft-shells while on it. I'm deworming my flock right now for confirmed tapeworm and roundworm, and though my hen's eggs have improved with poultry cell and D supplementation, there are still occasional shell quality issues.

Do you have any insight into this? I know Henhouse Reserve could result in deficiencies if chickens only pick out their favorite bits, so I have always stuck with crumble consistency.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I've seen some fearmongering that Kalmbach feeds are nutritionally inadequate. I'm not sure if there's any truth to it but it definitely scared me, because I used to feed (and love) Kalmbach layer crumbles and one of my hens started having chronic soft-shells while on it. I'm deworming my flock right now for confirmed tapeworm and roundworm, and though my hen's eggs have improved with poultry cell and D supplementation, there are still occasional shell quality issues.

Do you have any insight into this? I know Henhouse Reserve could result in deficiencies if chickens only pick out their favorite bits, so I have always stuck with crumble consistency.

I know there's some Nutrena fans on here (myself included), but I've also heard people say they feel their birds do better on Kalmbach or Purina (get through molts faster, etc.) Because all flock feeds are lower calcium for all ages, you do need to offer oyster shell on the side for supplementation. One of mine laid soft shell eggs because she was not taking enough. But the oyster shell is potent and all that's needed for solid shells. In fact, if they eat too much, the eggs can be hard to crack!

Try out some "flaked" oyster shell, specifically. It's a little more money, but my chickens vastly prefer it for whatever reason. I wouldn't worry about the Kalmbach. My new layers are all doing great on that + flaked oyster shell.

 

[BuddingGardener]

I know there's some Nutrena fans on here (myself included), but I've also heard people say they feel their birds do better on Kalmbach or Purina (get through molts faster, etc.) Because all flock feeds are lower calcium for all ages, you do need to offer oyster shell on the side for supplementation. One of mine laid soft shell eggs because she was not taking enough. But the oyster shell is potent and all that's needed for solid shells. In fact, if they eat too much, the eggs can be hard to crack!

Try out some "flaked" oyster shell, specifically. It's a little more money, but my chickens vastly prefer it for whatever reason. I wouldn't worry about the Kalmbach. My new layers are all doing great on that + flaked oyster shell.

I have the flaked oyster shell from Scratch n' Peck and the girls LOVE that stuff. I have more issues with them eating the weird pebbly consistency 'oyster shell' than the flaked shells. For my soft shell layer, calcium was never an issue for her specifically -- she seems to have a hard time with vitamin D. She had blood tests done and fecals done and in the spring (when her issue was more pronounced) she had no parasites and a high blood calcium; a couple of weeks ago we found the tapeworm in a fecal test.

I've been trying to resolve a presumed Vitamin D issue in her, basically. She does produce better shells when she gets supplemented with Poultry Cell, but I'm trying not to overmineralize her by supplementing too often and I'd rather get to a place where she doesn't need it. The internet is a mixed bag of advice about it, from switching to all flock (because of the higher protein?) to trying to do a hard reset with 1 full week of supplement then taper. The latter didn't hold forever, so I'm going back to trying new nutrition strategies.

I'm kind of hoping she just molts soon so she can reset, along with her deworming!

 

[thecatumbrella]

I have the flaked oyster shell from Scratch n' Peck and the girls LOVE that stuff. I have more issues with them eating the weird pebbly consistency 'oyster shell' than the flaked shells. For my soft shell layer, calcium was never an issue for her specifically -- she seems to have a hard time with vitamin D. She had blood tests done and fecals done and in the spring (when her issue was more pronounced) she had no parasites and a high blood calcium; a couple of weeks ago we found the tapeworm in a fecal test.

I've been trying to resolve a presumed Vitamin D issue in her, basically. She does produce better shells when she gets supplemented with Poultry Cell, but I'm trying not to overmineralize her by supplementing too often and I'd rather get to a place where she doesn't need it. The internet is a mixed bag of advice about it, from switching to all flock (because of the higher protein?) to trying to do a hard reset with 1 full week of supplement then taper. The latter didn't hold forever, so I'm going back to trying new nutrition strategies.

I'm kind of hoping she just molts soon so she can reset, along with her deworming!

Ha, I use the same oyster shell! Are you giving her human-grade vitamin D + Poultry Cell? I have to take D myself, and it's pretty hard to overdose on. I get being cautious with all the other vitamins in Poultry Cell. It might be worth making a post about this in the medical forum (if you haven't already). Some of our members have a wealth of knowledge on these things.

 

[BuddingGardener]

Ha, I use the same oyster shell! Are you giving her human-grade vitamin D + Poultry Cell? I have to take D myself, and it's pretty hard to overdose on. I get being cautious with all the other vitamins in Poultry Cell. It might be worth making a post about this in the medical forum (if you haven't already). Some of our members have a wealth of knowledge on these things.

No human grade Vitamin D! Just the Poultry Cell, which definitely works, but again, the other vitamins are probably not needed. I'll have to give it a shot on the medical forum. Thanks for your input!