Purina Layena...Full of Fluff....???

[seminolewind]

What is egglayer and flockmaker?

I used Layena, then Nutrena. Now Layena again, and it seemed like my chickens weren't as shiny or laying as much. But it could be the time of year, or molting or whatever. Now I'm using Nutrena again. They seem to gobble it up, I had stopped using it the first time because the place I bought it from didn't move feed fast enough, and the crumbles were turning into fines. But now I found another place that the grain has a good turnover, so I'm back with Nutrena.

 

[CountryMom]

Don't know about egglayer, but Flockraiser is another Purina feed that is meant for a mixed age flock. Layena is in the blue bag and Flockraiser is the green bag. I have never tried Nutrena chicken feeds, but have the turkey and didn't care for the results (of course that was on our quail.) I purchased chickens a couple years ago from a lady who was turning her flock over (she had an egg business) and she said she got whichever she could..Nutrena or Purina...and the birds did the same on either. So I guess we use what works best for our area.

 

[ivan3]

CountryMom wrote: Since most of my birds are of laying age, I have been feeding Layena for over a year. I had a drop in egg production pretty drastic during the fall. I figured something must be up and wormed and added some oyster shell. Still not much in egg production. It seemed weird since I had good luck with it over the years time. I had a batch of silkie chicks I was going to add in the silkie coop. They were not quite laying age, so I picked up a couple bags of Flockraiser for their coop. Within two days I had silkie eggs coming out my ears. I was shocked. Prompty had one hen go broody too. So I went ahead and switched my entire flock over to Flockraiser and have had a lot better egg production since.

So, all the older hen's production picked up? Wonder if the 4% difference in protein might be partially responsible (Layena 16% Flockraiser 20%)?

We feed both the turks and chooks Purina Gamebird feed (at this time of year we use the Flight conditioner 20% supplemented with some 30% protein Startena - seems to get them through their molt faster and combats the cold).

The Gamebird Startena and Layena still contain animal protein, this seems to have a slight effect on the quality of their feathers (better looking to this writer).

Ours are all going on 5yr's of age so YMMV.​

 

[Lunachick]

I've gone from mash, to crumbles and now they eat the pellets. They've always eaten their food without a problem. But I also always mix in flax seed and black oil sunflower seeds to their food.

 

[gsim]

Mine have always had Dumor. I am still giving them grower-finisher mixed with layer. It is 15% and 16% protein. Certainly not high in any way. I currently mix pellets with crumbles because I have some pellets on hand. I think they do better for storage feed in pellet form than in crumble form. (less likely to oxidize so rapidly?) I keep a lot of feed on hand, usually over 6 months or more worth, just in case of some unforseen problem with supply.

Mine are going gangbusters regards eggs and no artificial light whatsoever.

They get maybe 3 cups a day scratch for 24 chooks 7 mo old. Lots of veggie and fruit scraps too and other assorted table fare.