whats the difference?

[goldenchic]

what the difference between layer mash & layer pellets ? what should i be feeding my chickens they are twelve weeks old i have them on chick crumb mixed with wild bird food, trill & grit and also various treats is this enough?

 

[lalaland]

keep them on chick or starter feed til they start laying.

the difference between mash and pellets is just the form of the food - mash tends to be (varies in different parts of the country) the grains/corn/soybeans/etc ground up to a rough mixture, and the pellets are where the basically same stuff is pulverized to flour consistency and made into little pellets.

Some people like the pellets because it is easier to feed. With the mash, which I prefer, you do get the powdery stuff left after the chickens pick out the bigger stuff - think like the powdery stuff at the bottom of a cereal box. You just add something to the powder (water, soured milk/buttermilk/cottage cheese/yougurt etc) and they eat that part up too. I like the mash better because it is less processed, and usually less expensive since it doesn't require a factory with extruders to produce it.

I believe it is also fresher, because, again, it isn't made by a factory somewhere and shipped across the country to be stored in a warehouse and shipped again to a big box store or feed store and stored again, and then sold.

I would watch that bird seed and feed it only as limited treats.

Your chicks are old enough that you don't need to mix the grit in with their feed, just offer it free choice.

What is trill?

 

[goldenchic]

thankyou for all your advice,are they getting everything they need in just chick crumb? dont they need grit all the time to break down the food ? Trill is the type of really small seed given to budgies they seem to really like it,will wild bird food hurt them they like the sunflower seeds,am just a beginner chickens were an unexpected birthday present so am always looking on this site for advice

 

[Beekissed]

The mash I buy looks like coarse ground corn meal, which I consider true mash. It is golden in color and doesn't leave much dust in the feeder.

The mash I get from anywhere but my fave feed store is what I consider crumbles~it's sort of cardboard brown, small pieces with a lot of dusty residue. My birds do not really like this browny/gray stuff but they will eat it if there is nothing else.

The pellets are just compressed crumbles, brownish in color with the dusty stuff in the bottom of the feeder. My birds don't like these much either. They tend to pick these up and drop them all over the floor. Wasted!

They tend to waste more of the pellets and crumbles, but do very well with the golden, good textured mash. Mash was originally supposed to be mixed with water to form an actual mash, but I rarely use it in this manner.

I use the traditional trough feeder wrapped in 2x2 fencing wire that prevents any flicking or scratching in the feed. I have saved much feed since doing this.

 

[bonnylass79]

No, you do not need to feed grit all the time. Those stones will stay in the gizzard to grind up the food. Some may
pass from time to time, but not so frequent that they must always be replaced. My chickens are mostly free range and don't need grit because they pick it up off the ground. If you offer is seperate from the feed, the birds will eat it when they need it.

 

[lalaland]

it isn't so much that wild bird seed will hurt them, its just that they might not get a balanced diet that way if they overeat the seed. depends on how you feel - chickens survived perfectly fine in thousands of farm yards eating what they could pick up during the day plus dinner scraps. the chicken feeds are supposed to optimize the chicken's growth and egg production.

enjoy the chickens!