Purina

[Bertie-Merle]

Oh thank you so much for your feedback. Your story is similar to mine. That's why when I heard about Purina I didn't know if BYC knew about it either. I just wish that more of the thread replies on this post would have been more open instead of condemning me for even bringing it up. It all comes down to us taking care of our chickens and anytime there's something going on good or bad we need to be informed and make the decision for our girls. Thank you again for being so open, honest and fair.

Hey Lady ... that's what it's all about, right?

First off, I must tell you that I have more than a healthy dose of cynicism about what is going on these days and the influences of parties who don't have our best interests at mind .... and that's putting it mildly.

That said, it is important for me to be as precise as possible in describing the situations and conditions with my little homestead to the best of my ability, as I'm in learning mode and need to communicate the situation and then listen to those with the knowledge and wisdom .... and then sort the best I can from the feedback I get.

I figured the best approach would be to prioritize getting my girls back to a known feed source ... to a stable known situation ... and wait a bit to see how this plays out by listening here to those with more experience than I. Thankfully, my known "stable" feed became available again, which took a lot of the stress off of the issue for me .... I just had to wait for it to work it's way back through their systems.

The conundrum now is that the timing of going back to the "known" feed is correlating with the passing of the Winter Solstice of Dec. 22nd being just a few weeks passed here in Texas, so that more than just muddies the waters .... especially since I keep it natural with the girls on only the real sun for lighting .. yet, it's been actually very sunny and mostly beautiful spring like weather here since the "famous" freeze back in mid-December.

Oh well, I'm just hoping that my experiences help by being shared. I feel much less worry about my own girls because they're back on the laying feed they came up on and that has worked so well to keep them healthy prior to this.

I hope your flock resumes their best health possible and all goes well.

Hopefully we will get some clarity on this concern in the near future from trustworthy sources. I've suggested to some folks at Texas A&M that they might study this ... I don't know if that will actually happen, but it would be nice to see a scientific analysis from a source that I personally trust very much.

Take care and the best to you and yours.

 

[RoyalChick]

I think it tells more with some results than others.

If you switch foods and the chickens start laying, I agree about all the other things that could affect it.

But if you switch back and they KEEP laying, I think that would be pretty strong evidence that the feed is NOT the problem.

If you switch back and they stop again, I agree it's not conclusive proof, but I think it is a good reason to look into the feed in more detail.

And the more people do the same kind of switching test, the stronger the evidence becomes. Either it shows something consistent (all hens keep laying when switched back, or all hens quit), or it shows something inconsistent (which means there is some other important factor, whether that be batches of feed or daylength or something else.)


Lab tests are good too. They can even be happening at the same time. There's no reason to choose just one method or the other, when it's easy to do both.

This is exactly what I was suggesting ^^

 

[U_Stormcrow]

If the only thing that comes of this is that a lot of Back Yard CHicken owners (mostly not on BYC.com) stop feeding their chickens the lowest cost, minimally nutritient "Lay Formulation" which they further stretch with corn, oats, and "scratch" and instead invest in a more nutritious feed as a baseline, there will be a lot more happier, healthier chickens.

...and if a number of "least price possible" owners kill off their flock by "improving" their minimal feed with lots of corn, oats, etc and then can't afford (or choose not to) replace given the shortages we are expecting this year and the price points being advertised, well, at least future generations are saved similarly borderline existences.

and that's as close to optimism as I will ever likely get.

Have a good evening all, I'm calling it a night. Long day

 

[Yard Farmer]

There's a lot of talk that the Purina chicken food has been tainted since September, which is why chickens are not laying anybody having issues. Mine have not laid since September. I'm changing food this week

You and me are in the same boat.. Mine haven't layed in 3 weeks. Went from 8 eggs a day, to a flat out. 0

 

[Bertie-Merle]

Hi. My girls eat TSC feeds (Dumor, Purina, and others - whatever is available). They never stopped laying. They slowed down when they molted, but they never stopped. I have 11 layers, and I get between 7 and 9 eggs a day.

If anyone has the "bad" feed, I would greatly appreciate it if you could send me 2-3 cups, a pic of the lot number and mill dates. I'm still waiting for some of the suspect feed so I can send it off to be Analyzed for guaranteed analysis as well as mineral content and for mold/toxins.

I really would appreciate folks taking you up on this ... I was trying to get some Texas A&M grads I know to get their labs to do the same because I trust TAMU. Unfortunately, I don't have any of my feed left, and mine was Purina branded layer .... that said ... YES! This would be a very positive action!

 

[junior67]

I feed Purina. I was down to 8-12 eggs a week from 14 that were of age to lay. In the last 1.5-2 weeks that number has gone up to 27-35 eggs a week. I went from 2-3 laying and now 8 are.

I haven't changed a single thing about their diet. Daylight hours getting longer is the only change. I expect over the next 1-3 weeks more of my girls will start to lay.

Just stating what my opinion is.

 

[one chick]

I just want to be clear. I understand what you said. You fed Purina and you were down or you fed Purina and you went up?

 

[fancywyandottes23]

I feed Purina. I was down to 8-12 eggs a week from 14 that were of age to lay. In the last 1.5-2 weeks that number has gone up to 27-35 eggs a week. I went from 2-3 laying and now 8 are.

I haven't changed a single thing about their diet. Daylight hours getting longer is the only change. I expect over the next 1-3 weeks more of my girls will start to lay.

Just stating what my opinion is.

I just want to be clear. I understand what you said. You fed Purina and you were down or you fed Purina and you went up?

Looks like they feed Purina. Like myself, feed Purina and have had zero issues with egg production. There's too many variables for egg production to label it one factor, especially "a feed conspiracy." Not everything has to be a conspiracy these days.

 

[NatJ]

I just want to be clear. I understand what you said. You fed Purina and you were down or you fed Purina and you went up?

It looks like both:
feeding Purina the whole time, egg production went down and then went back up.

 

[junior67]

It looks like both:
feeding Purina the whole time, egg production went down and then went back up.

Yes this. I have fed Purina the whole time. Production went down then back up. My girls hatched in April 2021 and April 2022 so 2 different ages. Both ages stopped and started back up.