Official BYC Poll: Crumbles, Mash, or Pellets?

[Egg Snatcher]

Choosing which feed to buy for your birds can be a complex process with many variables, and today we would like to hear your opinion on one of these. Which feed texture/size do you prefer? Vote in the poll above, and reply below if you wish with the reasoning behind your choice.

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(Check out more Official BYC Polls HERE!)

Layer crumbles for my bantams. They some times get scratch.

 

[mviera101]

I'm giving pellets a try, the last bag of crumbles I bought was more like dust. The gals seem to like em

 

[Grandmas Coop]

My chickens do so well on this feed- I love the Pellets. There is less waist. The food is balanced/ consistent in the pellet.

 

[clickchicks]

I switched mine over to a brand called Milestone from Muenster. I order my dog food from them online so I figured I'd make life easy and get the chicken food there too.

It's like a halfway point between a crumble and a pellet. Pieces are roughly the size of a crumble but they are made to be this size (not just a crushed pellet), so there is functionally no dust and all of the pieces are consistent.

I call it their chicken kibble

 

[PastaChickenBoo]

My chickens used to eat crumbles but since chickens are messy eaters a lot of it was wasted by getting thrown out of the feeder. Pellets stop them from getting their feed everywhere when they eat, lol

 

[casportpony]

The majority of me flock get pellets, and they get pellets because I get less wastage. My average to large size chicks, peachicks, poults, and ducklings get crumbles, and the smaller banties get mash. I also like to make a special treat for the waterfowl, and peafowl, they occasionally get a mix of rolled corn, scratch, TMC Gamebird, and 20% pellets.

 

[RShayne]

All 3, depending on life stage, dry crumble until out of the brooder, mash until two weeks before they start laying, layers pellets for rest of life. I also give fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, and sprouted corn and sunflower.

 

[AgnesGray]

My ducklings get low protein mash which I strongly dislike. It gets wasted and once it hits the ground starts to ferment and stink, draws flies... they won't eat it if it's wetted. Ick.

Chicks and guinea keets get crumbles until they're old enough to eat with the flock.

The flock has until recently gotten pellets which are the cleanest, neatest food format we've tried so far. It's balanced, not powdery, and if one falls to the ground, someone will snatch it up before it has a chance to turn into fly bait.

We're trying out New Country Organics whole grain layer feed right now. I'm experimenting with soaking and lightly fermenting it and the chickens love it. Ducks hate it surprisingly... it's full of peas which they usually love.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

My ducklings get low protein mash which I strongly dislike. It gets wasted and once it hits the ground starts to ferment and stink, draws flies... they won't eat it if it's wetted. Ick.

Chicks and guinea keets get crumbles until they're old enough to eat with the flock.

The flock has until recently gotten pellets which are the cleanest, neatest food format we've tried so far. It's balanced, not powdery, and if one falls to the ground, someone will snatch it up before it has a chance to turn into fly bait.

We're trying out New Country Organics whole grain layer feed right now. I'm experimenting with soaking and lightly fermenting it and the chickens love it. Ducks hate it surprisingly... it's full of peas which they usually love.

what’s fermenting mean?

 

[AgnesGray]

what’s fermenting mean?

The grains are soaked overnight and then for a day or so. Doing this is supposed to save money on feed as they tend to eat less and also make the nutrients in the food more readily available and better absorbed by the chicken. Some youtube videos got me started on this.