What do you feed your chickens?

[MysteryChicken]

There will always be a mill date on the bag. Sometimes it is hard to find, sometimes it is obvious. Many companies like Nutrena will print it right on the bottom of the guaranteed feed analysis tag with the day, month, and year clearly understood.
Purina, Dumor and others print it on the seal at either the top or bottom of the bag. It isn't always obvious but it is there.
Some, like ADM use the Julian date which is harder to decipher. That is the day of the year. 001 will be January 1. March 1 will be 60 or 61 depending on if it is a leap year. December 31 is either 365 or 366 for the same reason.
Still others like Fertrell will have a date code with 2 digit, month, 2 digit day and 2 digit year followed by which mill run of the day it was.
If you still can't find it, ask at the feed store. There's a 50:50 chance someone there will know. Otherwise, call the manufacturer and they can guide you.
As was said, if still no luck, buy something else or elsewhere.


I occasionally use that for certain purposes. I know it says 'grower' but a 15% feed is a finisher feed. Dumor used to label it 'finisher' about 8 years or so ago.
Finisher is usually for finishing meat birds but I use it for roosters and maturing cockerels since they don't need as much protein.


It all depends on the productivity of the birds in question.
Birds building 5-7 egg shells a week will likely need more calcium than that in layer. Hence, oyster shell, crushed egg shells or limestone.
Medium production birds will find layer to be sufficient.
For poor producers (0 or 1 egg a week), layer may be too high in calcium
1% calcium is sufficient for all non-layers (chicks, roosters and any mature hens out of production).
Most layer feeds are in the neighborhood of 3.5-4.5% calcium.
Large scale poultry producers have their own mills and are able to customize formulas to meet the needs of their specific birds. For example, for growing pullets, they will begin to feed a pre-lay diet about 2-2.5% calcium at about 16 weeks.
The rest of us are stuck with the selection at the feed store.
Needless to say, one size doesn't fit all. As you noted, in backyard flocks, the needs vary dramatically.
Furthermore, it isn't always about the calcium percentage. Other nutrients like phosphorus and D3 play a great role in calcium utilization. For example, if no D3 is present, they can't uptake calcium at all. There are many other variables as well including acidity level of feed and water.


Energy comes from carbs, starches, sugars and fats.

I know that, but they lose muscle mass during the winter due to the cold because of insufficient protein from their regular feed.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I have not found a date on the feed bag either! Someone posted check the date- haha I don’t see a date.

On Nutrena Naturewise feeds, the day the feed was made is on the analysis tag. Easy to decipher. January 24, 2019.

On Purina Premium feeds the date the feed was made is on the strip at the bottom of the bag. Not as easy to decipher. October 11, 2019.
I had feed go bad 5 months after mill date. GC

 

[ariri30]

This is good. I noticed that when I give some treats or anything other than their feed they won’t eat their feed for days waiting for treats. I stopped any other food source other than their crumbles and oyster shells on the side. Picky eaters

 

[Bigbluefrog]

I went 3 days. They didn’t touch the layer pellets.

So I dumped them.
They don’t smell good or bad.
I just bought Purina layer crumble. no by products.
And I found the date.

I wanted the flock raiser crumble but that bag was older.
Now that I can find the date. They had smaller bags of feed but it was from 2018!
50 pound bags! So looking through all the dates- I noticed really older dates on the bottom. The stock person is not putting the fresh on the bottom but on the top.
Lucky for me - don’t blame them these are back breaking feed.
And the smaller bags have tiny dates on them.

 

[Bigbluefrog]

On Nutrena Naturewise feeds, the day the feed was made is on the analysis tag. Easy to decipher. January 24, 2019.View attachment 1999451
On Purina Premium feeds the date the feed was made is on the strip at the bottom of the bag. Not as easy to decipher. October 11, 2019.
I had feed go bad 5 months after mill date. GC

Thank you!
I went to TRactor Supply and found all the dates. We must of cut off the date on one bag when we dumped it into our storage bin.

 

[Folly's place]

I used to dump the feed into my garbage cans, because 150 lbs. fit that way, and I didn't think to check mill dates. Then I had one chick (out of about 50) that developed neurological problems and I was afraid that Marek's disease had arrived. She got worse, and I had a necropsy done, and it was NOT Marek's disease, but brain lesions caused by a vitamin deficiency.
I was feeding Purina, and contacted them, and couldn't provide mill dates or lot numbers of the feed. They were very nice anyway, and reimbursed some of my costs, in spite of it all. We all decided that while some of the feed might have been old, this one chick also had an exceptional need for that vitamin, a genetic issue.
Since then, I put the feed bags into the garbage cans, which then hold 100 pounds, but if there's ever a problem, the feed is in the bag, so mill date, lot numbers, and so store and shipping information will all be able to be traced.
Long story, but I'd recommend keeping feed in it's original bag, every time.
Mary

 

[21hens-incharge]

I went 3 days. They didn’t touch the layer pellets.

So I dumped them.
They don’t smell good or bad.
I just bought Purina layer crumble. no by products.
And I found the date.

I wanted the flock raiser crumble but that bag was older.
Now that I can find the date. They had smaller bags of feed but it was from 2018!
50 pound bags! So looking through all the dates- I noticed really older dates on the bottom. The stock person is not putting the fresh on the bottom but on the top.
Lucky for me - don’t blame them these are back breaking feed.
And the smaller bags have tiny dates on them.

When you find old feed at the stores please let management know.

I actually got so irritated with old feed at a local (but nationwide) store I contacted Purina directly.
The next day that old feed had been pulled from the shelves.

 

[NOLA farm]

Texas Natural non-soy - non=gmo pellets. When they molt I feed the game bird pellets to move through it quicker. I mean, being as organic as possible is the whole reason we have chickens right? Reading labels will keep ypu away from mainstream feeds produced by companies like Purina. May as well buy eggs at the store.

 

[Folly's place]

"Mainstream' feeds are fine, organic or otherwise. And in no way are home raised birds, or their eggs 'the same' as those from commercial flocks!!! Purina happens to make very good poultry feed, BTW. Local mills may produce wonderful stuff too, but they are local, and so it's necessary to buy what's fresh where you live and shop, and it's not always Texas!
Mary

 

[ValerieJ]

Texas Natural non-soy - non=gmo pellets. When they molt I feed the game bird pellets to move through it quicker. I mean, being as organic as possible is the whole reason we have chickens right? Reading labels will keep ypu away from mainstream feeds produced by companies like Purina. May as well buy eggs at the store.

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