Pellets, crumble or mash? Please weigh in!

[spikennipper]

Mine have a main diet of layers pellets, have been giving wild bird seed lately too to give them a break from egg laying and the extra calcium! the wild bird seed is good quality with lentils black sunflower peanuts and other small seeds as well as the usual corn, they also have whatever fruit or veg I happen to have they love tomatoes especially! and grated carrots and cabbage, apple, they also get left over food inc pasta, bread etc and they free range so pick up all the bugs too.

 

[afveteran88]

That is a great price. Wish I were a little closer. Right now it would be about a 2 1/2 hr drive. Maybe I'll stock up next time I go to the cabin. Thanks

I've fed all three over the years. They're all fine. Feed is feed, regardless of the shape. Just different feeding systems tweaked to prevent waste, that's all.

That said, skyrocketing feed prices the last few years has 100% driven me to locally ground mash feed. It is priced 40% less than fancy, bagged pelletized feed trucked in from far distances. Can simply not pay those prices. I now feed this: $19 a hundred pounds.

 

[Ridgerunner]

There are variations of this, but one common way to make the pellets or crumbles is to grind the different components of the feed to a mash consistency and mix it real well with water to make a paste. Then it is extruded through molds to form that pellet shape and dried. It breaks into the short lengths. To make crumbles you crack the pellets. It is exactly the same stuff, just a different shape to match different feeding systems. The mash does not need to go through the formed-into-paste-then-dried process. If you go to a mill like Fred is talking about, they probably don't have the equipment for the wetting and drying process. You get mash. Since they don't have that equipment to turn it into paste and don't have to go through the time and expense of drying it, mash can be cheaper, especially straight from a mill where they don't have to maybe package it or transport it.

Can be cheaper does not mean it absolutely will be cheaper to you. Small mills may not have the advantage of mass production the big companies do. They may not sell it in small enough quantities to do you any good. They may not be "organic'. Fred has clearly shown the advantages that might be there if you have a local mill that will meet your needs. This does not mean that there is a mill within reasonable driving distance that offers what you need, but if you are spending much for feed, you might want to look into it. Your county extension office, in the phone book under county government, should be able to tell you which mills are in your area. But you need to do the work of contacting them.

I have been feeding Purena Flock raiser and the Layena in the crumbles type till just last week which then i switched to the Pellets. But now I'm having second thoughts b/c the pellets look real huge. }}}Can Ducks & Chickens really eat the pellets?? The pellets look pretty big & the Ducks and Chickens don't have teeth. So this has been a major concern for me. I think i might switch back to the crumbles. ~Julie~

Chickens and ducks don't have teeth but they have a gizzard that does the grinding. Since pellets and crumbles have already been ground to mash consistency, they don't even need grit in their gizzard to grind it up. It has already been ground up. Think about it a moment. If chickens and ducks could not handle the pellets, would there be that many repeat customers buying pellets?

 

[ChickChickChicky]

I started out feeding crumbles and my birds ate it up without too much waste. Then I decided to try pellets. My girls did not like them and basically refused to eat them. I also went from getting 4-5 eggs a day (6 hens) to ONE egg a day!!!! I had to bring the whole bag inside and run thru my blender to make it into a crumble consistency. The girls are happy again and back to their regular level of laying. I won't ever buy pellets again! And yes my girls are picky!

 

[Cetawin]

For me it depends on the age of the bird, feeder type and whether or not standards or bantams. All of my birds get a handmixed grain mix that I mix myself which is included in their food after about 10 - 12 weeks old. But....here is my feed regiment

Chicks hatch to 8 - 10 weeks -starter crumble plain scrambled egg a couple times per week

Juvies 10 - 12 weeks till laying -

standards get a grower finisher pellet with my mixed grains at a 3 to 1 ratio
bantams get a grower finisher crumble or pellet broken up with my grain mix at 3 to 1 ratio

Layers:

standards - layer pellets mixed with grain at 3 to 1 ratio, free choice oyster shell and their shells dried, crushed and added to pellets
bantams - layer mini pellet and grains mixed 3 to 1 with shells dried, crushed and added back to feed, free choice crushed oyster shell

Juvies and layers get treats several times per week of steamed brown rice, scrambled eggs, yogurt, fresh greens, baked chicken or fish

 

[lolita117]

I like feeding my crumbles. I feel that their is minimal waste. I have my feeder hanging and they cant scratch out the feed. I had to get pellets one time because my feed store was out of crumbles, I thought I wasn't going to like that, but my chickens didn't mind the temporary switch at all. I just recently purchase some feed that was a different brand from a different feed mill. It is suppose to be crumbles but the consistency is more of a mash. I don't know if I'm going to like this or not (I purchased 8 bags

). I can see their being a lot of waste with this. I can actually see the little pieces of corn that aren't in a crumble. Hopefully, everything will be alright with this feed. If not I will make sure its crumbles (my definition of crumbles) before I switch feed mills ever again.

 

[mlm Mike]

I feed pellets, it just seems like there is less waist. But they get scratch every afternoon also. And table scraps.

 

[jmagill]

I feed mash. 9.00 per 50 pound . I don't see any waste. Pellets are almost double in price so I could afford a lot of waste anyways. It is all about the feeder. Right feeder no waste.

 

[ThinkingChickens]

Wow, there is a huge price difference! I think I pay $14 for 50 pounds of Layena crumble.