What's at the bottom of the layena feed?

[ISSOLA]

I have been feeding laying pellets starting 11/2009, when the chickens started laying. These are layena pellets. They have been in my basement since 5/2009. They were meant for a batch of chickens (my second batch of 5) that would have been laying in 6/2009 but they were all killed by raccoons.

Hence, I started anew with this 3rd batch of chickens, and this layena bag was only opened in 11/2009.

My 4 chickens have almost finished with this 50 lb bag when I saw that there is this "caked stuff" at the bottom of the bucket feed. Picture as shown.

What is that? Should I be concerned?

The bag was stored in dry basement. No mice or rats in basement.

 

[pokey]

looks like mold. do you keep your feed in a metal container? if so those sweat and will keep the moisture in, you don't want to feed your birds moldy food.

 

[The Chicken People]

yep its mold!

 

[Plain Old Dee]

The mold in feed contains a number of nasty toxins. If you've been having a problem with mortality or unthriftyness in your birds, the mold is probably the culprit. I would chunk the whole bag (or what's left of it).

 

[A1 Steak Sauce]

Mold, get rid of it immediately, even a tiny little bit can kill them.

 

[ISSOLA]

Oh good heavens! Your answers put me into a tizzy!

Food always stored in plastic bins. The basement (where feed bins are stored) has stable humidity, and temperature. Chickens are thriving.

I drove my husband nuts, rummaging for my second spare feeder this late at night! Opened a fresh bag of blue seal laying pellets, and switched the feeders. It was dark, and the coons are always about on a night like this that is warmer than usual. My husband stood on guard.

Needless to say, my husband was none too excited with my whirlwind activity. He helped put fresh feed into clean plastic buckets for me. He also took a look at that "thing" at the bottom of the layena pellets. He dutifully informs me that the "rock-like thing" is unprocessed food. Not mold.

Oh well.... I still want to thank ya'll for your input. I am happy to be on the safer side.

 

[sjh]

You say it looks like cake. Does it look like it was built in layers? It looks like hopper bin buildup to me. The pellets go into a hopper bin and then bagged. The bins will get buildup in certain spots. A vibrater is some times used on the bin to make the material flow better. I bet that the stuff is just buildup that fell off. I have seen it before in bags.

 

[Casey3043]

I've found a couple of those in Layena before. It is just stuck-together food that didn't go through the "pellet machine". Why it happens, I don't know. Seems like a bit of a quality control issue, but I still like Purina feeds best. I just throw the chunks away, and feed the rest of the pellets as usual. I keep my feed in plastic bins in a heated/air conditioned workshop. My hens are all happy and healthy and laying.

So you can relax!

 

[joletabey]

I have found that in my Purina horse feed occasionally- if it's not smelling moldy, it's probably just compacted feed from the machines. To be safe, I would toss it, though.

 

[Tweeza]

Quote:
Having worked in a feed mill (30 years ago. Boy was that hard to say!) I would have to agree with sjh. I don't know that the grains and other stuff could bypass the pelleting process and end up in a bag.