TSC Nature's Best, New Country Organics, or some other brand starter crumble?

[HogFoo]

Hi all! Getting ready for our first chicks in a couple of weeks. We'd like to feed them organic (unless people here tell me I'm making a mistake!) and have limited options locally. I keep reading different things about all the different brands and am now thoroughly confused. Varying quality, calcium levels, medicated, etc. Any thoughts on TSC Nature's Best vs. New Country Organics?

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...c-chick-starter-grower-crumbles-40-lb-1084195https://www.newcountryorganics.com/starter-feed-10-pounds.html
Or is there some other really wonderful feed would should be ordering? Total newbies here so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Lmatt]

Same situation here, but mine don’t hatch until the 29th. I don’t have a local feed store. So I want to source an online supplier. I was looking at NCO as well. The shipping to me is outrageous, but the feed is cheap enough that it is still comparable in price to other feeds that should be cheaper since they are GMO and most have soy, corn, etc. I ended up ordering 100 lbs. of the medicated Manna Pro to be sure I’d have feed when the chicks showed up. But I am still looking for a feed source that i can start feeding after I get through the Manna Pro.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Nature's Best, out of PA is a very good feed & one of the most reasonable organic feeds you will find.

 

[Folly's place]

Check with your local feed stores for brands available, and the mill dates on the bags of feed in the store. There will be a mill date somewhere on each bag, and it's best within one month, and fed within another month. Don't buy old feed!
Either start with an amprolium medicated chick starter, or an unmedicated chick starter, or an all-flock feed, and crumbles, not pellets for the babies.
Organic feeds will cost more, and it's fine to do that, but then it doesn't count if you will feed them anything not organic, or have them exposed to weed killers, or other such stuff at home.
I don't feed organic, because we don't eat only organic food here ourselves, so decided that having the chickens eating organic feed exclusively didn't make sense for us.
Mary

 

[Lmatt]

Check with your local feed stores for brands available, and the mill dates on the bags of feed in the store. There will be a mill date somewhere on each bag, and it's best within one month, and fed within another month. Don't buy old feed!
Either start with an amprolium medicated chick starter, or an unmedicated chick starter, or an all-flock feed, and crumbles, not pellets for the babies.
Organic feeds will cost more, and it's fine to do that, but then it doesn't count if you will feed them anything not organic, or have them exposed to weed killers, or other such stuff at home.
I don't feed organic, because we don't eat only organic food here ourselves, so decided that having the chickens eating organic feed exclusively didn't make sense for us.
Mary

To each their own of course. But just because I know that I eat unhealthy food doesn’t mean I am going to give up on eating healthy. Mainly because our kids eat what we stock and I want them to be as healthy as possible. We all have to live within our means/budgets though.

 

[Folly's place]

It will also depend on what's available fresh at your stores, and buying anything old isn't healthy for the chicks. Ordering online doesn't give you the opportunity to check for freshness, not the best plan aside from the extra cost.
Mary

 

[Lmatt]

It will also depend on what's available fresh at your stores, and buying anything old isn't healthy for the chicks. Ordering online doesn't give you the opportunity to check for freshness, not the best plan aside from the extra cost.
Mary

Good point on checking freshness. I always check dates when shopping for the family, but have never checked the date on a bag of dog food I think most smaller stores order in bulk and don’t order again until they start running short. So if I’m going to buy in larger quantities to cut down on special trips to the feed store I had better try to buy when they receive their shipments. Or figure out a good place online that rotates its inventory. I am going to have to call some surrounding stores to see what they stock as the local store we had shut it’s doors.

 

[Folly's place]

Pet food is labeled with a 'sell by' or 'use by' date, while livestock feed is labeled by it's mill date. Some feeds have 'open dating', so it's obvious when milled, while others seem to like a coded date, and you have to ask to see what the code means at the feed store. I don't want to bother, so don't buy those brands.
I've seen chicken feed over a year old at feed stores sometimes!!!
Mary