Purina Feed?

[Silexian]

I have used Purina feed for years. Purchased from either my local Purina store or TSC. I feed Purina to all of my livestock. Over the winter my egg laying flock had a sharper decline in production than they have in the past. Oddly my ornamental breeds that normally taper off or cease production. Barely slowed down at all. All of chickens are fed Flock Raiser. So I don’t think I had a feed issue. I am sure you can find some way to get Purina delivered. With shipping cost being what they are. You may be ahead to go with a different brand. Going to a feed store in a more rural area and getting enough feed for a couple of months. May be a viable option also. That is what I did. When I kept chickens in a suburban setting.

 

[nuthatched]

Yikes- excuse me!!

I apologize, friend, I should have thrown a smiley on there so you wouldn't think I was being mean. I didn't intend to come across as 'passionate', mean or anything else, I'm sorry.

 

[ChknMama50]

I think when people talk about daylight they are talking about day length not about whether the coop gets a lot of light or just a little bit of light.
Longer days means the chickens start laying again versus shorter days in winter they lay less.

I understand what you're saying, but obviously actual LIGHT matters too- thus the whole controversial topic of using artificial lighting to push them to lay more into the shorter winter days....
I just pointed that out as they were in a very dark "box" though a nice coop otherwise- yeah we could have cut out "windows" but everything was copacetic so...?! Didn't worry about it. Couldn't have laid any more and like I said, they were all so healthy. Yes I also realize they were at their peak time healthwise- esp for those cross bred to increase egg yield. For us it's really not an issue- this is just what my husband got for me to finally pull a trigger we'd discussed and had a coop with our new house we'd bought a year prior.

I've truly been trying to get the bottom of our issues.... and I think it is negligent to not at least consider their nutrition as well- of course!!

Thanks though for "piping up" with any help!!

 

[FunClucks]

I understand what you're saying, but obviously actual LIGHT matters too- thus the whole controversial topic of using artificial lighting to push them to lay more into the shorter winter days....
I just pointed that out as they were in a very dark "box" though a nice coop otherwise- yeah we could have cut out "windows" but everything was copacetic so...?! Didn't worry about it. Couldn't have laid any more and like I said, they were all so healthy. Yes I also realize they were at their peak time healthwise- esp for those cross bred to increase egg yield. For us it's really not an issue- this is just what my husband got for me to finally pull a trigger we'd discussed and had a coop with our new house we'd bought a year prior.

I've truly been trying to get the bottom of our issues.... and I think it is negligent to not at least consider their nutrition as well- of course!!

Thanks though for "piping up" with any help!!

You mentioned they're in a new coop now, have you changed out their feeders? Are there any predators hanging about (just hanging about can stress them, even if the predators can't get to the chickens). We have a neighbors cat that sometimes hangs around - I see smaller eggs when the cat's been around a while. Also my chickens don't like my feeder so much, so when I put down a dog bowl full of regular food each morning, they eat more than when they just have access to their feeders. I get larger eggs as a result.

Have your chickens been stressed in any way? Loud noises in the yard due to constructing the new coop? Cause that can also impact egg laying. I was cutting holes in the recently built shed with an angle grinder, and after that it took a number of hens a week or so to let me around them again. Also saw smaller eggs. They did not like me doing that at all!

 

[Sally PB]

Have your chickens been stressed in any way?

I have noticed when we have wild weather, like high winds, heavy blowing snow, or torrential rain, the chickens get "out of synch" with their laying. I'd guess it's the noise, or maybe the shaking of the coop that bothers them? It's not something we get too often, so it's out of the ordinary for them, and we know how they don't like things like that.

 

[FunClucks]

I have noticed when we have wild weather, like high winds, heavy blowing snow, or torrential rain, the chickens get "out of synch" with their laying. I'd guess it's the noise, or maybe the shaking of the coop that bothers them? It's not something we get too often, so it's out of the ordinary for them, and we know how they don't like things like that.

Chickens can be funny sometimes. Mine definitely respond to sunlight - if it's cloudy for a few days they lay less eggs, and then it get sunny for a while and my slow layers speed back up and we get the regular amount of eggs.

When we have weather that's really cold for a while and stays that way, they're fine, or if it's hot and stays that way they're not super happy but can cope, but when it does several days of super cold, several days of warm and then back and forth a few times, I see smaller eggs and a few of my less frequent layers slow down more, so I get a few less eggs also.

 

[ChknMama50]

I apologize, friend, I should have thrown a smiley on there so you wouldn't think I was being mean. I didn't intend to come across as 'passionate', mean or anything else, I'm sorry.

I really do appreciate your response!! YES, it can be easy to misinterpret tone or intent when writing comments online/via texts, emails etc. I too apologize if my response sounded too harsh myself as I just re-read it all.... the readers' mood/experiences factor in when they're reading too! And yeah- I do use emojees for this reason! kinda hard to misinterpret when you add pictures to match (as well as possible) to what you are feeling!

I just had been SO hesitant to post any questions re: all the issues I've been having and have instead tried to follow all the directions sent when I signed up....

SO, to FINALLY post something and immediately have someone seem to accuse me of not reading prior comments/posts and "reviving an old thread"...?? Was perplexed as most things I look up are so old that to me just the 15th of This month didn't seem old.... Truly didn't think it was an OLD thread that I was somehow reviving. (wouldn't even know how?! lol) I do not do any social media and haven't for a couple yrs now so haven't heard/read anything other than what I saw here!
I DID read your comment also on the 15th, but did not yet go read the three links you posted as it seems once I leave the page I'm on it's like going down a rabbit hole and I get nothing truly resolved or finished!

Anyway, you can imagine how many hours I've spent reading hundreds of threads/posts... getting some good info but it's gonna eventually matter about the individual details if the normal tips/treatments don't work. (and they haven't thus far...)

Just happened to be considering this feed as one of the possible causes as it was changed over from a different brand of crumbles (DUST) around the time we started to have many of these issues....
Yes there were many other factors- including their first full seasonal molt, and of course the stress of us building the new coop/run and the eventual move.....but they were VERY curious during the daggone 6 month time frame and in and out all over as we built.

I'll be sure to start a new thread/question IF I ever manage to write something that answers ALL the info that is requested for anything posted in "emergencies/illnesses" forum yet not such a long post that no one ends up reading it thru- I'm obviously wordy to begin with and each time I've started I've just copied and pasted it and backed out again- of course I was so stressed at the moment that it was overwhelming- we ended up losing the one I was initially looking for help with! But in hindsight I think she was such a special case that no amount of immediate answers would have even changed the outcome...(questioned birth 'defects' from the get go.... but otherwise appeared super healthy until she suddenly wasn't...it was an awful experience in the end I wouldn't wish on ANY animal/pet lover! I'm still trying to convince myself I did all I could... that even a vet wouldn't have mattered from what I've read here and on countless other sites...

yeah- sleep is not the priority lately it seems!! Oye...

Thanks again.

 

[FunClucks]

I really do appreciate your response!! YES, it can be easy to misinterpret tone or intent when writing comments online/via texts, emails etc. I too apologize if my response sounded too harsh myself as I just re-read it all.... the readers' mood/experiences factor in when they're reading too! And yeah- I do use emojees for this reason! kinda hard to misinterpret when you add pictures to match (as well as possible) to what you are feeling!

I just had been SO hesitant to post any questions re: all the issues I've been having and have instead tried to follow all the directions sent when I signed up....

SO, to FINALLY post something and immediately have someone seem to accuse me of not reading prior comments/posts and "reviving an old thread"...?? Was perplexed as most things I look up are so old that to me just the 15th of This month didn't seem old.... Truly didn't think it was an OLD thread that I was somehow reviving. (wouldn't even know how?! lol) I do not do any social media and haven't for a couple yrs now so haven't heard/read anything other than what I saw here!
I DID read your comment also on the 15th, but did not yet go read the three links you posted as it seems once I leave the page I'm on it's like going down a rabbit hole and I get nothing truly resolved or finished!

Anyway, you can imagine how many hours I've spent reading hundreds of threads/posts... getting some good info but it's gonna eventually matter about the individual details if the normal tips/treatments don't work. (and they haven't thus far...)

Just happened to be considering this feed as one of the possible causes as it was changed over from a different brand of crumbles (DUST) around the time we started to have many of these issues....
Yes there were many other factors- including their first full seasonal molt, and of course the stress of us building the new coop/run and the eventual move.....but they were VERY curious during the daggone 6 month time frame and in and out all over as we built.

I'll be sure to start a new thread/question IF I ever manage to write something that answers ALL the info that is requested for anything posted in "emergencies/illnesses" forum yet not such a long post that no one ends up reading it thru- I'm obviously wordy to begin with and each time I've started I've just copied and pasted it and backed out again- of course I was so stressed at the moment that it was overwhelming- we ended up losing the one I was initially looking for help with! But in hindsight I think she was such a special case that no amount of immediate answers would have even changed the outcome...(questioned birth 'defects' from the get go.... but otherwise appeared super healthy until she suddenly wasn't...it was an awful experience in the end I wouldn't wish on ANY animal/pet lover! I'm still trying to convince myself I did all I could... that even a vet wouldn't have mattered from what I've read here and on countless other sites...

yeah- sleep is not the priority lately it seems!! Oye...

Thanks again.

It's hard to lose an animal that you care about. And yes, it's hard sometimes to find answers on this site, even when you know they must be on here somewhere.

You gave your chicken the best life you could, there's nothing to feel bad about in that. Sending you supportive thoughts.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Think we ALL spent many hours on this site READING & trying to absorb as much information we can. I know I have spent and still do, reading. Problem is posting sometimes lacks the emotion so we misinterpret the emotion behind a post ...

We tend to "blame" the feed but as it's been said in several posts, I'm thinking the weather or probably a combination of things has caused our hens to "slow down". I have a hen that has laid everyday since she started last Aug ... This past week she took a 2 day break, was concerned & monitored her activities but she's entitled to rest. I also had another that would take a day off that took 2 days off, I do have one that takes a day off every week and she did ... I only have 3 "hens" they just made a year old.

I feed FR crumbles but the other month only pellet form was available, notice it was yellow and contained more corn than the crumbles did. Just picked up a bag of crumbles, so as much as it's FR the color & ingredients differ. From what I've learned, it's due to what grain is available to make up the Nutritional Value of the feed. I've also learned that sometimes (for whatever reasons) the feed is Made For instead of Made By ... Now I read labels but when we have no choice (HI) between Pellets (Made By) vs Crumbles (sometimes Made For) we take what we get.

Guess what I'm wanting to say is, can't always blame the feed ... Some chickens are "sensitive" to weather conditions (I know when we got alot of rain on the way) and surrounding (neighbor kid got some Roos, decided to house them along our fence line). my girls want to take a break, I'm ok as long as it's not a health issue.

 

[ChknMama50]

Don't worry, you're ok. This topic got hashed about for a few weeks, and got very contentious. Some people got made and left BYC over it.

Read the threads if you like; there was some interesting information in with all the hubbub.

I agree that the "my chickens aren't laying, is it the feed" was pretty much disproven. Could some people have gotten bad feed? Sure.

My criteria for chicken feed is 20% protein, like an all flock or flock maker, and how fresh it is. If a Purina feed checks those boxes, I'd say it's fine.

Forgot to address your mention of your feed criteria- much appreciated btw!
I have only added in like 1/4 of a higher protein feed (usually try to get in same brand/line hoping it's similar in composition- can read ingredients but specifics are anyone's guess- when they had their first "seasonal" molt and also in the past when they've had some stress related "mini" molts or bald spots regardless of reason to help grown back the feathers.

We have been using "Layer" feeds since we switched over from their chick feed at whatever age that was- my brain is fried - and all the ones I've seen are 16%. I have seen maybe one that was 18% so when I did supplement with the above higher protein feed I would use 'grower' feed or sometimes I guess maybe an "all flock" like you mentioned. Maybe I should look into higher protein "all flock" feed period. (would LOVE to eventually get some ducks too so...haha I've been so stressed out with these 5 I've got left that I plan on NO new changes any time soon. We had planned to add another 4-6 chickens late this spring based on when we moved them to the new coop, time to adjust etc... BUT had so many issues including losing one of our beloved girls in Feb. so that may even be on HOLD for now too!!
ANYway - sorry- off topic!

Just wanted to comment that no- they are not getting 20% protein food... Everyone I talked to and read said to give them "Layer" feed at around 16% unless they needed more at times like we've mentioned.... thanks for the info- will look into it!! They are at a point of "needing a boost" anyway!! (so been fermenting their feed mixed with the Grubblies mix and they've gotten little servings of Greek plain yogurt so I can get in more protein and hide the extra calcium powder for one that's laid several soft eggs not to mention it's a favorite treat- along with scrambled or chopped eggs!!