I feed my girls pellets. I have fed crumbles in the past, but a lot got wasted, and they'd eat so fast that a couple choked and died. Since then I have fed only pellets to my laying birds. They eat slower (and thus don't choke) and they don't waste as much -- if they drop food on the floor they usually pick it up. (What good little girls...
) The brand of feed I am getting now (Poulin Grain) has the chick starter as crumbles; the grower is tiny pellets, and then the birds graduate to the layer pellets.
My girls refuse to eat pellets.. so for me they are wasteful.. so I went back to crumbles and added ground mash and they're happy again. and a happy hen is a laying hen sooo I got to keep my girls happy... .. oh that reminded me need to pick up some cottage cheese in the am... my girls fav goodie of all time.