What brand of feed do you feed chicks? (w/ my label for comparison.)

[amarook]

The reason I ask this is because we were a at a local feed store yesterday. I was buying my dog food from there because it's actually a bit cheaper than buying it at the pet store.

I asked the man there about their chick starter.
He went into a whole lecture about Dumor. He said that food is a lot of filler, you don't know what's in it. He swears by his stuff, says they have been making it for years. He says that Dumor is garbage, and you have to feed the birds twice as much because it is mostly filler. He started talking about all sorts of other feeds too.

Here's a scan of their label. It cost $14 for a 50 lb bag.

What do you experienced people think of this? Has anyone heard of it before?

Thanks!

 

[JessaLynn]

I buy it for my chicks and layers.It seems to be fine to me.No complaints honestly

 

[LynneP]

We use ACA Co-op

layer pellers and we used their starter crumbles and grower.

All their poultry ration contains grit and the layer also contains ground oyster shell.

Very pleased

Foodmaster is local and a poultryman, very experienced and helpful and batches are made here so are very fresh.

 

[amarook]

The guy at the feed store mentioned that sometimes commercial places just sweep stuff up off the floor and sell it as feed. That kinda concerned me.

Then when we left, my DBF said he worked at a mill as QA in Texas, and he saw them shovel stuff into feed bags right off the floor. He was new, so he asked what it was for. They told him horse feed. He said he couldn't believe it because they weren't even picking trash out of this stuff.

 

[CovenantCreek]

Here's what's in the Countryside Natural starter feed I use:

Crude protein, minimum..............................................19.00%
Crude fat, minimum.......................................................2.00%
Crude fiber, maximum...................................................6.00%

INGREDIENTS
Organic Field Peas, Organic Wheat, Organic Corn, Fish Meal, Organic Oats, Organic Flaxseed, Organic Alfalfa Meal, Calcium Carbonate, Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicate, Dried Organic Kelp, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, d-Pantothenic Acid, Niacin, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Biotin, Folic Acid, Iron Polysaccharide Complex, Manganese Polysaccharide Complex, Zinc Polysaccharide Complex, Copper Polysaccharide Complex, Cobalt
Polysaccharide Complex, Yeast Culture, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Bacillus Licheniformis, Bacillus Subtilis, Lactobacillus Lactis, Enterococcus Faecium, (Dried Aspergillis Oryzae Fermentation Extract)

Certified organic by
Global Organic Alliance, Inc.

I have no complaints from the chicks.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

I feed Purina Lay Crumbles because that is all I can get

It's not bad, less dust than what I was getting at my other mill (though I'm told Purina and Land-O-Lakes are the same?) and it's cheaper LOL, plus I buy the Purina Hi Fat Hi Fibre for Luna so going to the same place to get both is convenient.

 

[desertgirl]

I compared yours (and others posted) with the stuff I bought with my new chicks (Onate Pullet Start and Grow), and it looks like mine only has 16% protein. That seems pretty low...

Thoughts?

 

[b.hromada]

Quote:
I have no complaints from the chicks.

That is the brand our feed store is now selling. they said its better than layena, and costs less. I think I paid around $15.00 for 50lbs.

 

[MoodyChicken]

There's filler in all chicken feed, but what's important are the numbers. Crude protein for chicks should be around 18-22% (choose the higher percentage for games and meats). If that number is adequate, than you should be fine. Depending on the ingredients, you can determine whether the protein is high quality (meat protein, best gain), or low quality (can't remember what's the lowest...). Seeing as there is a lot of Soybean meal in your feed, the man at the feed store could be correct. Poor quality soy contains a poison that interferes with protein digestion (I think the poison is called trypsinogen? I can't remember). High quality soy contains low levels of this toxin. So even though that feed contains a lot of animal byproducts (high quality protein), the soy toxin will prevent the chicks from gaining as much as they should.

I feed MannaPro chick starter (18% protein). It's expensive but it's the only thing that my itty bitty bantams can eat the first few days. I'd rather spend more money and guarantee that they're eating enough. And when they're mature I feed Swanson Feed, it's cheap but wonderful. It has animal fats in it and puts a real shine on their feathers. And it's predominantly made of corn goods.