Wanted Please - Harrogate / York / Leeds area

[AmberSky]

A repair man came the other day and he noticed my girls and said he had 11 ex bats and he fed his on mash which he said increased production of eggs!

 

I have always fed layers pellets originally smallholder range and more recently fancy feeds.

 

i did try a brand in a bluey green plastic sack which i forget the name but the pellets were noticeably larger and my girls did not eat as much.

 

So do you feed pellets or mash, what's the difference in your opinion and which brand do you swear by?

Or do you not really care which brand and just go for the cheapest?

[sjp]

pellets are just mash thats been made in to pellets. the quality will very between brands

ex batts will have only eaten mash as its fed to them on a convayor belt or a machanical feed system.mash takes longer to eat compared with pellets it can also be wastefull if you got picky chickens as they can sort through it to find the nicer bits

I've swapped from a well know brand to a cheaper brand partly because I'd got one girl laying to many softies and doubles and the bags were alway close to the expiry date and were going over it before I'd used them. then I swapped from the cheap brand to Garvo because the cheap brand was getting eaten in half the time as the first one

Garvo is bigger pellets so seems to be lasting longer egg quality is very good and the yolk colour is really good. I've only used pellets

[Gelbel]

I've used 3 different brands for the 3 bags I have used since I 've had my girls. I've not noticed any changes in productions at all.

 

I buy whatever the suppliers I have used have in stock (each has had the different brand I brought).

 

I an say that my girls seem to prefer Smallholders - and I must admit it smells and looks nicest of the ones I used to me.

 

I've discovered a new pet shop very close to home - I gave them a call and she says she always has a sack or two of pellets in stock. So we may be on the 4th brand shortly!

[AmberSky]

The reason i started using fancy feeds pellets was that it came in a nice pack and said on the side may contain promotional material which intrigued me!

 

And then the 3 consequent sacks each had a 50p off voucher in them.

I'm spoilt a bit as there is a animal feeds warehouse near me but it seems some of the new ish pet food supplier superstores are cashing in a bit on the backyard chicken keepers buy selling feed more expensively, smallholder range costs on average £1.50 extra from there for example!

[Dappy Chick]

In the past I have always been a mash fan when Garvo is concerned as it is more like a museli rather than a powder. I like the fact that it keeps them occupied a lot longer and it looks good enough to eat yourself!

 

However, when the freezing cold weather came I did start mixing some pellets into the mash because I wanted them to get fuller quicker to keep warm (I used the 2mm pellets rather than the bigger ones so the bantams could cope with them too).

 

Recently I have changed my views on pellets (after seeing other chook keepers setups). If I had loads and loads of pens I would more than likely feed pellets as they do tend to make a little more mess with the mash. My setup is perfect for mash as all the chooks run in together so I have 4 or 5 large feeding areas on concrete so now I have pellets and mash in different containers so the girls can choose themselves.

 

I am 100% a Garvo brand fan.

[Space Chick]

I use pellets (although my ex batts had mash when they first arrived ), I have tried 3 types Countrywide pellets (and mash). They loved the mash but not the pellets However, I prefer the look, feel and quality of the Allen and Page Smallholders and Ex Batt Pellets, so I tend to alternate between them. My girls love both

[abwsco]

AmberSky, seeing as you've got quite a few chickens why don't you mix up your own feed. Mine have been on it since August last year and are thriving on it. I use 4 x poultry wheat, 2 x rolled barley and 1 x cut maize. It also works out slightly cheaper for me although I know for some people it's loads cheaper. Depends on where you live as to the costs.

[Redwing]

I'm another Garvo fan

 

I havent noticed a change in egg production between other brands that I tried before but would say:

 

Brand does have an effect on the condition of the bird

A bird will eat less quantity of food if the feed is of high quality

Brand can have an effect on egg shell quality

 

IMHO the thing that has most effect on egg production is your worming regime

[AmberSky]

abwsco mixing my own feed??? now that sounds interesting tell me more.

 

i thought that you had to feed layers pellets, if you feed what you suggest will the hens miss out on ingredients found only in layers pellets?

 

And how does it compare price wise?

[abwsco]

AmberSky, I read about it on practical poultry and the more I read the more it made sense. It costs me around £7 less than buying the equivalent amounts in pellets but the feed lasts longer so it's even more economical.

 

At first mine ate as if they had never eaten before but they quickly regulated themselves. I also had an egg drop for a short time whilst they got used to it. They have access to grit at all times, I add cod liver oil to the mix once a week and they also have dark greens everday plus turf when I can buy it as we have no grass left Feathers are all still really glossy and even those who have moulted didn't seem to be as under the weather as those who did last year.

 

There's a link here to an update thread I did when I'd been mixing my own after 10 days. I still haven't got around to sprouting beans though

 

Hope that helps

[Lewis]

I did think for a long time about mixing our own, but with then just the 2 chickens I didn't think we'd get through it quickly enough, as we'd have to buy big bags of everything.

 

We've always used Smallholder layers, and did the same with chick crumb. We got our growers from Countrywide because they were cheaper and you got 5kg more ... they seemed to like it but I haven't used their pellets

 

Will have a look at the costs of mixing our own up next time, haven't seen Garvo but will ask how much they can get it on for

[AmberSky]

Cant get my head round mixing my own feed, although i love my girls i dont think i wanna go down that route but went to buy some more layers pellets today and was chatting to the staff and they seem to think that fancy feeds smaller pellets is best suited for bantoms due to its smaller grains so i paid the xtra £1 and got some small holder range pellets, i remember my girls liked this brand originally so i will see how they get on!