Poulin Grain Egg Production Plus

[crazyhatlady]

Does anyone else feed this to their flock?

If so can you tell me how you like it?

I've been feeding it for a month now to my flock. They love it and my yolks are very orange which I like. But I've noticed an off smell in the eggs. Kind of fishy but not over powering and only when cooking.
There is flaxseed in it but at what quantity I'm not sure. And they get some free ranging when the hawk stays away. So not sure if its something their finding in the yard when the snow melts or if its the feed. They eggs don't taste bad. But I do have a really sensitive nose lately.

Thank you.

 

[lazy gardener]

I"ve used poulin product, not sure if it's the same formulation. Liked it just fine. I ferment all of my feed. I buy what ever product I have a discount coupon for from either Blue Seal or TSC (Poulin is not local to me) and notice that it smells different in the ferment bucket (TSC has a much stronger odor) but the birds scoff down what ever I feed them. The big criteria for me is this: "What is the mill date?" If it's more than 2 or 3 weeks past mill date, I'll walk out of the store before buying it.

 

[crazyhatlady]

Ty

I"ve used poulin product, not sure if it's the same formulation.  Liked it just fine.  I ferment all of my feed.  I buy what ever product I have a discount coupon for from either Blue Seal or TSC (Poulin is not local to me) and notice that it smells different in the ferment bucket (TSC has a much stronger odor) but the birds scoff down what ever I feed them.  The big criteria for me is this:  "What is the mill date?"  If it's more than 2 or 3 weeks past mill date, I'll walk out of the store before buying it.  

 

[GC-Raptor]

Does anyone else feed this to their flock?

If so can you tell me how you like it?

I've been feeding it for a month now to my flock. They love it and my yolks are very orange which I like. But I've noticed an off smell in the eggs. Kind of fishy but not over powering and only when cooking.
There is flaxseed in it but at what quantity I'm not sure. And they get some free ranging when the hawk stays away. So not sure if its something their finding in the yard when the snow melts or if its the feed. They eggs don't taste bad. But I do have a really sensitive nose lately.

Thank you.

I suspect the flaxseed. Nutrena Naturewise hearty hen has added flax 3/4 of 1%. Purina Omega 3 is 1% added flax. Supposedly to increase Omega 3 in the yolk. Too much can affect the taste, from what I've read.
I have not fed either one. So I don't know from experience. GC

 

[crazyhatlady]

I suspect the flaxseed. Nutrena Naturewise hearty hen has added flax 3/4 of 1%. Purina Omega 3 is 1% added flax. Supposedly to increase Omega 3 in the yolk. Too much can affect the taste, from what I've read.
I have not fed either one. So I don't know from experience. GC

Just called Poulin and was told it was 5%. So I'm thinking it's the feed. When I'm done using these bags up I'm going back to their layer which doesn't have flaxseed.

 

[odysseychicken]

I know this is an older thread but I thought I would comment. I switched to the Poulin Egg Production Plus from Green Mountain Organics to save money. I don't really care so much about the organic but I do want a feed without soy. 2-3 eggs out of every dozen are so fishy I may as well be cooking salmon. My wife does a lot of baking and she has to crack the eggs one by one in a separate bowl to avoid spoiling the entire recipe. And my coop and run smell like a fish market. It is very disappointing because other than the fishy smell and taste I really like this feed. Not sure what I will be switching to once I finish the current bag. I can't afford to go back to the Green Mountain (which I loved) but there doesn't seem to be many soy free options on the market that are not overly priced specialty feeds.

 

[Cindy in PA]

It's the canola meal. This happens to some brown egg layer hen breeds or individual hens. That is the downfall of using mainly canola meal.

 

[GC-Raptor]

Try this, it's soy free. . It's available at TSC and other places. GC

 

[GreenMountainEric]

Try this, it's soy free. View attachment 1714766. It's available at TSC and other places. GC

Cindy in PA hit the nail on the head.

This product is likely to have the same issue. The issue has to do with the levels of canola (and flax) used to replace the soy in the feed.

It is an issue with a small portion of brown layer breeds (certain heritage breeds).

I think the reason that I don’t see many issues with my soyfree layer product, is that we use fishmeal to cover a large portion of the amino acid requirements in the formula. That allows us to use a much lower percentage of canola and flax in the ration. The downside, is that using that animal protein is not cheap....... (on top of it already being pricey because it is organic).

@odysseychicken - You might be stuck using a conventional feed with soy in it for now. Going forward- as you get new chickens, stick to the more popular commercial breeds. They have had that gene bred out of them. You will be able to switch back to one of those conventional soy-free feeds, without having any issue.

 

[odysseychicken]

I know it sounds counter intuitive, but would it help to switch back to a feed that uses fish meal as the protein source? I never had this problem when using Green Mountain Organics or New Country Organics. I believe they both use fish meal. Now that I use a feed that uses canola and flax instead of fish meal I have fishy eggs.