sour bread smell from feed? Is it bad?

[click cluck]

I just got a bag of feed from my local feed barn, It called "kruse's perfection brand" ITs a grower feed. When I opened it it smelled kind of sour, like sour bread. I've never had grower is this normal? Or has it gone bad? Please let me know how to tell if its bad. Thanks!

 

[CannedMonster]

So it smells kind of yeasty or fermented?
My feed smells faintly like that but it’s not strong at all.

 

[click cluck]

So it smells kind of yeasty or fermented?
My feed smells faintly like that but it’s not strong at all.

smells just like sour dough. I didn't know feed could ferment? (My fist batch of chickens, so I'm still a greenhorn lol) Is it bad? Ill keep an eye on my chickens. thanks

 

[Dayrel]

I presume it is a processed crumble/pellet feed? If so, then that smell means that it has gotten wet at some point. I'd return it. Crumble/pellet feed should be dry and have minimal smell.

It is possible to ferment commercial feed (I do it), but that is something that you intentionally decide to do. It isn't done in the feed bag.

 

[CannedMonster]

I’m fairly new too but I do read a lot.
Yes many people ferment their chickens feed. On purpose lol.
There are threads here on BYC on how to do it. It’s really good for them and there’s less waste too.
I’m pretty sure bagged food isn’t supposed to be fermented but if it got a bit wet/warm somehow I guess it would smell like that.
The main thing you want to watch out for is mold. Mold is always bad for chickens and birds in general.
I think it’s probably okay but beware of anything that smells moldy or musty.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I haven't read in the OP's posts what the mill date is on the bag of feed. It is always important to read when the feed was made and the guaranteed analysis.
I try to get feed that isn't more than a month old.
Depending on the brand, the date stamp could be on the guaranteed analysis tag or the seal strip at the end of the bag but it is on there somewhere. Sometimes they even use the Julian date.
A TSC about a half hour from my house apparently had a hole in the roof because there was often bags of feed that had gotten wet.

 

[lazy gardener]

Definitely take that back. Always inspect your feed before using it. It should smell fresh, there should not be any off color pellets or crumbles , or clumping in the bag. There should not be any white or dark colored patches on the inside of the bag, and the mill date should be recent. I try to use up all of my feed by it's 6 week mill date. I do ferment my feed, but that is a far different issue than opening a bag and having it smell yeasty.

 

[Cindy in PA]

I probably wouldn't trust it. I have to say though that every conventional feed I have ever fed has smelled sort of like beer when I open it, so maybe that is the smell. I was told it may be the binder used to make the pellets.

 

[Grace11]

I always thought that smell was from the molassass thats generally part of the feed. It always seems to be a good smell to me. If I ever smelled "off" it would be taken back to the feed store.

 

[Zinjifrah]

I had some feed that smelled like that, sort of. It smelled like hops to me, which I hate, and after eating it for a week, my chicks smelled like oyster. That fishy, salty smell. It was disgusting (I don't like oysters). It seemed to be a decent feed, but I found the smell repulsive, and it was my Serama chicks - who at two weeks old, already fly out of their brooder demanding to be held. So I switched back to the first feed I used, and after one day, the stink has already gone away.