what color is Flock Raiser

[my1stchicks]

I bought a bag yesterday and it's a darker color then I remember? Has a molasses smell. Is it bad?

 

[zazouse]

Mine varies, sometimes i get some with a yellow tint sometimes its just a khaki color, the smell is most likely the vitamins they put in it.

I have some horse vitamins called red cell it smells like what you described, i call it Geritol

 

[katharinad]

They are drying the grain, perhaps it got dried to long or hotter and changed in color. Barley is high in sugar content and will get a molasses color and smell when dried nice and hot. They used that technology to make artificial coffee in war times. It became quite popular in Europe. There is a product called Peru in the coffee isle at Walmart that is such a coffee replacement. They don't call it replacement coffee, because it does not taste like it. Ok it kind of resembles it. In Germany we call it children coffee, and it is caffeine free. I personally like it in milk.

 

[my1stchicks]

Thanks all!

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

About a couple of months ago, there were differences in the Flock Raiser I bought. It was in a plastic bag, not paper, it looked different, a bit darker, smelled different, not spoiled, absorbed water different and the poultry reacted to it different. they ate it, but acted like it was - different than what they were used to. I asked the owner of the feed store about it and was told that Purina sold to Land of Lakes. So, Purina Flock Raiser is not made by Purina now. I have continued to feed it as that feed store is the closest by about 20 miles. The poultry is doing ok and eat it just fine now.

The changes have now shown up in the Layena also.

If I can get a dependable vehicle to go the extra distance I will change to another feeding program.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
OMG Land of Lakes bought Purina Mills in 2001 and you are starting to see a difference now? It is still Purina, do you think Land of Lakes is going to ruin a BRAND that they paid big money for? BTW the huge Nestles International bought out the Purina pet food division (cat and dog food) too. The change if it is real is most likely due to formulation changes, Corn and Soy prices are way up because they are being deverted to gasohol and Biodesiel fuel production....

 

[Baybrio]

Maybe they are using different base grain. All the purina tags I read start with something like "Grain Products". By not naming a specific grain (corn for example) they can use whatever grain is cheapest. This practice is extremely common in livestock feed and does not indicate the feed is low quality, but it may explain the color difference.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

I have only had poultry since 2006 so my knowledge of Purina only goes back that far. This is the first I have noticed a difference in the Flock Raiser. What is interesting is that the store owner used the ownership change as the reason. But bagged feed is only a minor part of his business.

 

[FenDruadin]

Really?? That is very interesting and could possibly explain something I've been pondering over--why it is that one of my buyers experienced niacin deficiencies in his ducklings when raising them on Flock Raiser, which is recommended by Dave Holderread. I have not found Holderread to be wrong very often, so it struck me as strange.

Now I'm wondering if the recent change in ownership led to a change in formula that led to the insufficient niacin... I wish the companies would list the percentage or dosage of nutrients on the labeling.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
That's what I'd think. I notice a variance in the color of my Flock Raiser as well, and 16% Purina Layena is a lighter color than Purina-milled Dumor 15% feed. All of them are different than the local Co-Op brand gamebird feed that I sometimes buy. None of the lables are any more specific than "grain products"