What brand of layer food is the best?

[Cindy in PA]

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As far as I know Proplan is not the same Purina as Land O Lakes -Layena. They split years ago. Purina (maker of Layena) has their own brand of Dog food at feed store, one is Exclusive brand.

 

[Chris09]

All ways go with a feed that has Animal Protein in it.
Animal protein is much easier and better for poultry to digest than Plant protein.
As Purina uses all plant protein in there feeds I can not see where it would be a ideal feed for poultry.

I like Kent feed gamebird feed it has both animal and plant protein in it and I can say that I have never had or herd of anyone having a problem with there feed.

Chris

 

[shchinchillas]

I use Blue Seal layer mash,. They get a 10lb feeder filled up at night, and usually lasts about 4-5 days, also a small dish of oyster shell on the side. The birds free-range all day long, so they eat all the bugs and plant they want. They also tend to steal the oats and corn off the goats... So they eat very little of the actual chicken food.


We use blue-seal for all the "farm" animals. Horses, goats, ducks, peafowl. I love the quality, and the look of my animals while on it.

 

[HeritageHens]

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I agree with this. I give my girls extra protein above and beyond their complete rations from sources that I control. They love yogurt and also get occasional worms from the soil. I'm trying to get them to eat scrambled or boiled eggs but haven't had much luck so far. As they mature, I'm going to, as JoeByrant said, "Anything you can feed a dinosaur, you can feed a chicken." There weren't any processing plants with someone sweeping the floor and putting it in the chicken feed back in the dinosaur age.

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29, I mentioned Ziva's story in this and this post. She was showing symptoms for about a day or so before I gave her the vitamin B therapy. She was getting worse by the hour. It was heart breaking to watch an otherwise perfectly normal 3 week old who was not able stand up, just like she was drunk. I gave her the first dose of B vitamins, waited about 6 hours and gave her the second dose. Within hours of the second dose, she was able to stand up again, abet wobbly. By the second day, she had recovered. Unfortunately, her litter mate died when she was about a week old (DiNozzo, a beautiful Light Brahma). I chalked it up to failure to thrive but it may have also been related to food.

I'm still giving her group the Rooster Booster Vitamin and Electrolyte supplementation because one of the flock is a runt, which might also be from the low-quality Nutrena food. Ziva is now about 7 weeks old and, seemingly, the boss - but Ziva may be Zivo.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
The B complex vitamins are water soluble and not stored to any significant extent in the body. They act in a broad range of metabolic pathways. Simple deficiency is now rare as diets are usually well supplemented. However, because a continuous supply is required, damage to the intestine or increased demand for some reason may have an effect. Most will reduce productivity, including growth in the young animal, and egg production in the layer. The embryo is particularly dependent on having adequate supplies of vitamins deposited in the egg. Vitamin deficiencies are especially prone to cause problems of hatchability. See the separate discussion under Chondrodystrophy and Fatty Liver and Kidney Syndrome.

Signs of Vitamin B Deficiencies -
* Perosis
* Curled Toe Paralysis
* Paralysis/'Stargazing'
* Dermatitis/Scaly Skin
* Mouth Lesions
* Conjunctivitis
* Anaemia
* Fatty Liver and Kidney Syndrome
* Poor Feathering
* Loose feathers
* Hatchability problems
* Embryo with clubbed down

Chris

 

[montana girl]

Wow, what a great bunch of comments here. really gives me some information to go on.

One of the reasons that I asked about this is the problem I have had with Nutrena. 1st, was molded food in the bottom of a bag. 2nd was several bags that smelled strongly of alcohol (fermented). I called the representative and he was very kind. He mentioned that if there was moisture on the packing date, then the grains could ferment.
In talking to the purina rep, he said that the fermented smell comes from companies purchasing the spent grain product from breweries. Neither explanation made me happy.

I am sorry if I offended anyone with dislike of Purina dog food. I have done much research on what dogs need to thrive and while some will do great with corn, it is not good for most. I feed my dogs Natures Balance now and they are doing excellent.

I am going to look into the Azure. They do deliver here, and infact I am on the e-mail list so that I can place orders when I would like to. Thank you for letting me know that they carry chicken food.

My girls are in a molt right now and all of them look awful. I know that molting never looks pretty, but they seem to just be lacking something.

A friend of mine who entered his chickens in the county fair and was feeding nutrena free choice, had the comment from the judges that his flock was too thin. I am just concerned about the quality because I believe that proper nutrition is not only good for the birds, good for us (eggs), but it saves money in the long run on health complications.

Thank you all again for your lovely information!

Darlene

 

[HeritageHens]

Quote:
Darlene, I was reading about foods in my City Chicks (great book!) and the Chicken Health Handbook after posting last night. One thing I read is that they need extra protein during a molt because feathers are like 95% protein (and especially during a hard molt). IIRC, the suggestion was a handful of cat food. Related to that, the guy who built my chicken coop told me that a show judge told him that one reason chickens don't lay very well in the winter is because of the need for extra protein (obviously light plays a role too). I feed my ferrets Evo (Natura) cat food (but very annoyed that the company was recently sold to Procter and Gamble so I may switch) and will give the chickens a handful of this every couple days when the time arrives.

 

[cochinfan]

Purina is the company that makes dog and cat food. Purina Mills owned by Land o Lakes makes all the livestock feed and also dog and cat food but the bags are labeled PM. The split occured years and years ago.

 

[animalover]

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Which one do you use? There are several listed on the Kent website.

 

[Chris09]

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Which one do you use? There are several listed on the Kent website.

High Flyer 28 it there gamebird feed.
I mix the High Flyer 28 with 1/2 and 1/2 with a grain mix that I mix. When I mix it all together my feed ends up being around 18% protien..

Chris