Pellets vs Crumbles

[BrendaJ]

I have used both crumbles & pellets. My girls will eat both but the bag of crumbles seem to last longer than the pellets do. I also feed lots of greens/veggie & some fruit scraps.

 

[HappyPlace]

I started my chickens with crumbles and found that they were making a HUGE mess of it. No matter what I tried, there was more on the ground than in them. After a rain, it was just a muddy, gooey mess and then they would REFUSE to eat it.

I had considered getting pellets instead, but I was worried that since they were Bantams, they might choke on it. When my mom accidently got pellets, I figured I might as well see. They hated it, but it was all they had, so they ate it. Now, even if there are pellets everywhere, it actually gets eaten. If it rains, my birds are out there picking up every last bit of pellet they can find. They usually eat the little bits first, but I find it's incredibly more efficient, a lot cleaner, and my birds actually eat more.

I don't mix anything with it other than crushed egg shells and a Poultry Conditioner on occasion. They do get food scraps/leftovers once in a while.

 

[theoldchick]

When I introduced the Red Wattle gang from grower crumbles to layer pellets, you'd have thought I was trying to poison them. They were soooooo upset. They'd look at the pellets then gather around my feet as if my toes would magically sprout crumbles. Oh, the horror! They always gathered at my feet when I introduced something new to them. And as always, I knelt down, and ran my finger through the new food and tossed it around, pinched the pellet between my fingers. Finally one brave chicken grabbed a pellet and ran with it. Of course all the others had to follow as a morsel in the beak is worth two morsels in the hand.

Once the chickens figured out the pellets were food, they eventually decided to eat it. They weren't excited about it, and I had to keep the treats to a minimum. Oddly, once they converted to pellets, they didn't really like the crumbles. And they can tell the difference between my horse pellets and laying pellets even though the pellets look the same to me. The horse feed pellets smell different though. Interesting. Makes me wonder how sensitive their sense of smell is.

Anyway, slowly add the pellets to the diet while while decreasing the crumbles. Limit the treats until the the conversion is firmly in those tiny little brains. After a few weeks of eating a pellet only diet, you can add your usual treats.

Bless their little hearts. We want the best for them, but they just don't like change.

 

[WillsC]

My birds were not crazy about the pellets either but not all pellets are equal. While they were not crazy about the Nutrena and Southern States pellets they very much liked the ADM PenPals pellet. The penpals egg maker is a significantly smaller pellet than most use.

 

[justinschkz]

Sort of similar question... my son got scratch instead of crumbles .they ate it 2 days before i got the crumbles.
.What they didnt eat was what was the most % in the bag, those little brown round things. Is it milo???Have had that in wild bird seed too and they wouldnt eat it either

.Is scratch all composed of different ingredients or all the same ,different % ?Or the same % of the mix? Any recommended brands?that wasnt worth the cheap price.

Yes its milo. my chickens wont touch it either. they pick everything but that.

 

[gg706]

My chickens will eat either pellets or crumbles. They LOVE scratch! However they don't really want to eat scraps from the kitchen. I can throw a watermelon rind out in the pen and they prefer to leave the pen and free range. They will only eat the scraps if I don't let them out for most of the day. Chickens are WEIRD!!!

 

[arienwolf]

My chickens were on the crumbles until they were almost 21 wks. (if I remember correctly) When that last bag of crumbles went they were switched to pellets. (I also read on the site that they waste less) They too thought I was trying to poison them or something until one realized if they flipped the pellet long ways they could slide it straight down.

Once one got it, the rest learned really quick. The really long pellets go down this way now, the shorter ones they've learn go down just fine. (I think they were afraid to eat something big at first because they were used to the crumbles but this is just a theory) I have noticed Very Little Waste with the pellets. What they manage to spill out of the food dish they pick off of the ground easily. Or they scratch around and make a big deal out of trying to hide them so that they can unearth them and feel they found a nice little pellet treat.

Suppose it depends. Goodluck.

 

[Maries64]

Like cchardwick, I recently accidently got pellets instead of crumbles at the feed store. I mix mine with hen scratch and the crumbles piled up as they picked thru them. I'm glad it's not just my problem.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Yes its milo. my chickens wont touch it either. they pick everything but that.

I have a mixed breed flock and I have a couple that like the milo, the rest leave the milo until after it gets wet and begins to sprout , once someone finds a sprouted milo its on,, everyone scratches like mad to find more. I have started taking some stratch and covering it with a bit of water and a paper towel and sitting it on top my dryer and letting it sprout. Of course the corn wont sprout but he milo does nicely and quickly.

 

[questions543]

you can mix your scratch and pellets 50 50?? I thought that was bad because scratch doesnt have enough nutritional value... This is what I do. Im converting to a deep litter method with sand in the run so I dont have to give them grit. I have crushed up oyster shell that I give them in a tuna can and I mix grower crumbles and pellets 50 50. This works great for me. I will look into feeding them 50/50 scratch and pellets though