Rural King feed - Country Road

[Roo Boy]

I can not find much on here about this feed. Anyone try it. The price sure looks good.

http://www.ruralking.com/agricultur...feed/layer-pellet-feed-16-50-value-46249.html

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I've never used it. As I recall, it didn't look like a very nutritious feed to me, and the 16% protein content is a bit low. I tried to refresh my memory as to what I objected to, but the link didn't say what's in the feed or the nutrient levels, so there's no way to evaluate it. Sorry.

I see you're in Ohio--are there any Buckley Brothers stores near you? Their BB Layer Mini-Pellets are 18% protein, full of good stuff, and only $13/50 lbs--$3.50 cheaper a bag than Layena, and Layena has a lower protein content. Once I found the BB feeds, I haven't gone back. Since my flock is out to pasture and eats so much green food, I like their layer pellet to have enough protein to compensate.

 

[Roo Boy]

I've never used it. As I recall, it didn't look like a very nutritious feed to me, and the 16% protein content is a bit low. I tried to refresh my memory as to what I objected to, but the link didn't say what's in the feed or the nutrient levels, so there's no way to evaluate it. Sorry.

I see you're in Ohio--are there any Buckley Brothers stores near you? Their BB Layer Mini-Pellets are 18% protein, full of good stuff, and only $13/50 lbs--$3.50 cheaper a bag than Layena, and Layena has a lower protein content. Once I found the BB feeds, I haven't gone back. Since my flock is out to pasture and eats so much green food, I like their layer pellet to have enough protein to compensate.

Never heard of Buckley Bros. I will look into them. What do you look for when buying feed? We were using Flock Raiser, but the price is getting too much. We now use Gerber and Sons feed from Baltic Ohio.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Never heard of Buckley Bros. I will look into them. What do you look for when buying feed? We were using Flock Raiser, but the price is getting too much. We now use Gerber and Sons feed from Baltic Ohio.

Hey, my dad buys cattle feed from Gerber's!

I look for a higher protein percentage, and if I wasn't selling eggs I'd want a feed with animal protein in it. I think chickens do better with animal protein, but my customers flip out about "meat by products" so I use a vegetarian feed. I wish I had a few feed tags here, as I did a bunch of research into different feeds a year ago, but settled on Buckley Brothers (they're out of Wilmington, but have drive thrus around central Ohio). I remember that BB had a higher protein level and carried a few trace minerals, etc. that was missing from the Faler's Feed Mill feed I'd been using, and the price was $2 cheaper a bag, so that was an easy decision for me.

I'm leery of anything that Rural King sells. It's the WalMart of chicken feeds, and I'd never feed my dog Old Roy. How much is Gerber's selling their own feed for? What's the protein percentage? Have you compared it to the national brand to see what the differences are? Gerbers might even give you a couple of feed tags so you can decide at home--that's what BB did for me when I was comparing. You might even have Gerbers mix up some feed to your specs. We have a local mill that would mix up batches as small as 300lbs for us, but they can't pelletize and we need pellets--wetting mash is too much of a pain in the butt to me, and you have to worry about spoilage so much.

 

[Roo Boy]

Hey, my dad buys cattle feed from Gerber's!

I look for a higher protein percentage, and if I wasn't selling eggs I'd want a feed with animal protein in it. I think chickens do better with animal protein, but my customers flip out about "meat by products" so I use a vegetarian feed. I wish I had a few feed tags here, as I did a bunch of research into different feeds a year ago, but settled on Buckley Brothers (they're out of Wilmington, but have drive thrus around central Ohio). I remember that BB had a higher protein level and carried a few trace minerals, etc. that was missing from the Faler's Feed Mill feed I'd been using, and the price was $2 cheaper a bag, so that was an easy decision for me.

I'm leery of anything that Rural King sells. It's the WalMart of chicken feeds, and I'd never feed my dog Old Roy. How much is Gerber's selling their own feed for? What's the protein percentage? Have you compared it to the national brand to see what the differences are? Gerbers might even give you a couple of feed tags so you can decide at home--that's what BB did for me when I was comparing. You might even have Gerbers mix up some feed to your specs. We have a local mill that would mix up batches as small as 300lbs for us, but they can't pelletize and we need pellets--wetting mash is too much of a pain in the butt to me, and you have to worry about spoilage so much.

http://www.gerberandsons.com/products/tags/poultry/16_layer_tag.html

What's your thoughts on this? I can get 50lbs for 12.50

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

http://www.gerberandsons.com/products/tags/poultry/16_layer_tag.html

What's your thoughts on this? I can get 50lbs for 12.50

I think the price is a bit high for the protein levels, although they do have good levels of lysine and methionine. I'd ask them what they mean by "protein products," "roughage products" etc. I don't like it when they hide what's in the feed that way.

Here's the Buckley Brothers. Note the higher protein and the fish meal--it's not meat protein, but the fish is a good substitute that doesn't freak my customers out. Unfortunately, I don't think they have any stores near you. http://www.buckleybrosinc.com/images/E0221901/BB_OPTI_LAY_MINI_Pellet.pdf

I'm with you on finding a cheaper source of feed. Purina products are over $16 a bag near me.

 

[Roo Boy]

Thanks for the insight. I think Gerber is a good feed. My girls are on it now. I do think it contains a lot of corn though as a filler.

 

[FerdinandsFlock]

Buckley Bros. is great, if you ask me. Our birds are doing great on it. Nice hard shells and gorgeous dark yolks...and (not sure if it has anything to do with the feed) but they've still been laying pretty consistently even in this freezing cold. Of course, we're just outside wilmington, so it's easy for us to get- but they are great people in there and I love being able to support a local place that really knows what is good for the animals and has quality product (and really good prices). I strongly recommend them

 

[Lville poultry]

I use country roads as a chick starter/grower, scratch, and layer. I haven't had any problems with egg production or chicken happiness.

 

[Roo Boy]

I just switched to Nutrena and really like it. Egg production is great and poo poo is much less.