What is chicken mash and its purpose?

[vesaversa]

it is Chicken feed. but i use it to feed my red worms beds .

 

[Critter Crue]

FWIW, the mash that our local outfit sells is like cracked corn and bits of grain with a lot of coarse and fine powdery stuff.

If I could figure out a way of feeding it without so darn much waste, and without most of the powder ending up lost in the bedding (I suspect it contains most of the protein and mineral supplements...), I would certainly use it. However I haven't figured out how to do that yet, short of just giving them a measured am't of feed twice a day and I don't really want to do that. It *is* significantly cheaper than crumbles (which is what I feed) or pellets.

Pat

We are ridiculously new to the chicken world but feel we have found the solution. The Hubs and I are using the 5 gallon bucket with a plastic flower pot saucer screwed to the base. Found the directions for the feeder and watering system here on BYC. We have it hanging 6-8 inches off the ground for our girls and it prevents scratching in it and keeps the crumbs collected in the saucer. Granted we did just switch to the mash (which matches the description of your mash) from pellets as I didn't realize mash was different than crumbles and the local feed store only had pellets and mash. The previous owners of our newly adopted flock said the girls preferred the crumbles over the pellets. So we shall see how they do on the mash. I may find myself mixing some of the powdery portion into yogurt to ensure they get a balance. Still on the early bird learning curve here

 

[1hotchickchick]

lalaland I would like to know what the recipe is that your Pine County mill makes. I have been trying to find one that is not so powdery and not a processed pellet. I like to be able to have real food for myself and my animals.
To be able to pick out specifics is wonderful. The last batch we got seemed to be a gray powdery mess. I wonder if I am really getting what I am told and what I need.
Thanks.

 

[BLT79]

I have never seen mash at tsc. Can't you just crush up crumble to a powder?

 

[KansasChickenMama]

definitely not trying to argue here - maybe mash comes in different forms in different parts of the country. The mash I buy from the local mill has whole oats with the hulls on, corn kernals, some soybeans, etc and some of it is ground up.- you can pick up a handful and see the oats, corns, etc. There is also a nutrient mix added... the only pellets I've seen are uniform color (kind of tan) and if you crush them with a spoon, you get powder.

With pellets, the ingredients are pulverized to flour consistency, and formulated in a machine - "baked" to make the pellets.

My banties eat the mash same as my other chickens. I did buy a bag of pellets by mistake one day, and the chickens won't eat them indoors. Sometimes if I throw some on the ground, they will pick up some of them to eat. But they leave most of them.

I've been trying to use up the 50 pounds by throwing a handful in the feeder when I fill it, but they mostly pick them out and leave them.

Some folks feed only pellets, and some folks don't have access to anything else - pellets are more likely to be carried at the big stores. So if you live in an urban area, you are likely to use pellets.

Have to say, chickens will do fine on mash or pellets, or whatever.

I've made the same observation about mash and pellet food. I actually feed them both types of layer formula in separate feeders and they all seem to like them both, with some favoritism depending on the hen. I started the mash later after using the pellet formula for 6 or so months to add some diversity and fun to their feeding day...

 

[Bawkbok]

Ours feed on crumbles but get mash a couple times a week with egg or something extra in addition to their feed. They devour it. I simply scoop out the powdery stuff at the bottom of the feeder each day or as needed to have a ready supply on hand.