Thoughts on Purina feeds?

[lancasterflock]

Good for you NOT TRYING TO BE RUDE but do you know if the Canola or any of the other things are GMO? Just wondering please don't hate me now

Lol, i don’t hate you. I guess I should have mentioned this in my original post. The feed is actually grown from farms around oregon. According to the seller none is gmo. All is grown organically. He told me they just don’t have the label “organic” as they are a small family operation and it costs ALOT of money to do that. Hope this helps!

 

[lancasterflock]

Good for you NOT TRYING TO BE RUDE but do you know if the Canola or any of the other things are GMO? Just wondering please don't hate me now

Oooo I forgot to mention, oats are also in the feed!

 

[lancasterflock]

Good for you NOT TRYING TO BE RUDE but do you know if the Canola or any of the other things are GMO? Just wondering please don't hate me now

For reference here is what the feed looks like that I bought 300lbs of....

 

[azure_]

There's nothing wrong with the most common medicated feed, one that contains amprolium. It is not an antibiotic. If one has problems with coccidiosis it's a lifesaver.

As for what's the best feed for a flock, that's going to vary by owner. I prefer to use a feed that has more protein than the usual layer flock. I feel my birds do better on 20-22%. So I regularly use Blue Seal's gamebird crumbles, Purina's Flock Raiser, and if for some reason I'm in SE MA I'll get Ventura Grain's gamebird grower. I get any of those brands freshly milled - Blue Seal directly from them in Milford NH, Flock Raiser from Erikson's in Acton and Ventura's from their mill in Taunton. Ventura's is the only feed I've found anywhere remotely close that actually includes animal protein (fish meal). All 3 of these feeds have lower calcium than layer which is better for any chicks, molting birds and males that I may have. Oyster shell on the side for layers.

Organic and nonGMO would be nice, but I feel the higher protein is more important for my flock. The cost is half the organic, which is a definite plus when one has 50 birds. Unfortunately if you really want to stick to organic you'll have to continue with Green Mountain, or see which other companies my deliver to you.

yeahim completely fine with green mountain feeds

 

[azure_]

Lol, i don’t hate you. I guess I should have mentioned this in my original post. The feed is actually grown from farms around oregon. According to the seller none is gmo. All is grown organically. He told me they just don’t have the label “organic” as they are a small family operation and it costs ALOT of money to do that. Hope this helps!

Yeah it makes sense that they wouldn't label organic if its expensive

 

[azure_]

There's nothing wrong with the most common medicated feed, one that contains amprolium. It is not an antibiotic. If one has problems with coccidiosis it's a lifesaver.

As for what's the best feed for a flock, that's going to vary by owner. I prefer to use a feed that has more protein than the usual layer flock. I feel my birds do better on 20-22%. So I regularly use Blue Seal's gamebird crumbles, Purina's Flock Raiser, and if for some reason I'm in SE MA I'll get Ventura Grain's gamebird grower. I get any of those brands freshly milled - Blue Seal directly from them in Milford NH, Flock Raiser from Erikson's in Acton and Ventura's from their mill in Taunton. Ventura's is the only feed I've found anywhere remotely close that actually includes animal protein (fish meal). All 3 of these feeds have lower calcium than layer which is better for any chicks, molting birds and males that I may have. Oyster shell on the side for layers.

Organic and nonGMO would be nice, but I feel the higher protein is more important for my flock. The cost is half the organic, which is a definite plus when one has 50 birds. Unfortunately if you really want to stick to organic you'll have to continue with Green Mountain, or see which other companies my deliver to you.

I feel that I don't want to be giving my chickens medications that they don't need.

 

[21hens-incharge]

For reference here is what the feed looks like that I bought 300lbs of....

Curiosity.....how do you store 300# of feed? Do you go through enough that it doesn't start to age and degrade?

 

[azure_]

Curiosity.....how do you store 300# of feed? Do you go through enough that it doesn't start to age and degrade?

Yeah I was wondering that too

 

[lancasterflock]

Curiosity.....how do you store 300# of feed? Do you go through enough that it doesn't start to age and degrade?

According to the farmer the feed will not degrade due to it being very dry. I have confirmed this with another farmer who also buys 3 barrels at a time from them. I asked, does the food get sour? Rotten? Spoiled? They have both confirmed that it does not As they have both been feeding it to their chickens for over a decade. Which is why I went ahead and bought that much. It is stored in a large metal barrel with a seal

 

[Ab1010]

Purina is dusty but if you mix some water into it and make a dryer mash you don't waste your money! I buy a few brands and my chickens usually eat whatever. I also supplement with produce worms and scratch. Some people say they don't like the quality but idk why
.