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Farmgate layers pellets

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Has anyone got any experience with farmgate layers pellets, the ones in the blue/green plastic sack?

 

i always avoided them as they are the cheapest! though my hens now are eating twice as much other pellets as normal so i wondered about buying the cheaper farmgate brand.

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I bought some once way back when mine ate pellets and was horrified to see bits of plastic and Lord knows what in the pellets :shock: It was that that made me wonder what was actually in my usual brand of pellets and I looked into changing their diet. They're now on mixed grains and I'd never ever ever go back to pellets!

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what is wrong with farmgate pellets? Mine seem quite well and happy on them. I didn't realise they are the cheapest, just bought them as they are the only ones my local petshop stocks, so convenience was the motivation really!

Edit: also, I think the fact they are in a plastic bag is an advantage, as I had the bottom lot of pellets go mouldy in a paper bag in my shed, presumably absorbed some damp from the floor.

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A change of feeder might help as Quickcluck says, also do check that something else isnt eating the pellets - furry or feathery

 

Also if they are genuinely eating a lot try buying more expensive food, stick with me....

 

Very cheap food has more filler in (I'm not citing any particular brand here)

 

Of course price alone doesnt dictate quality so it might take a few tries but when you do find a good quality food you'll find that the chooks will eat less of it as they dont need as much to get the nutrients (they will however guzzle it down for the first week or so and you have to wait a while to see the effect :lol: )

 

If you are already feeding a premium brand then I would look to the top of my post for the answers

 

Personally I find that feed 'sweats' in plastic bags so wont feed anything that comes in one apart from corn and wheat that I immediately decant in to feed bins

 

Any feed will go mouldy if it gets damp so storage is important

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......... my hens now are eating twice as much other pellets as normal so i wondered about buying the cheaper farmgate brand.

 

Are they eating more because they have come into lay, when their appetites increase massively, or could you possibly have a rat?

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Gosh, I have often used Farmgate, my last lot mostly had it, am using their chick crumb now as it is all our local feed store stock as far as I know (they keep it all out back and just bring it to you). I don't want to pay a fortune for organic either. Infact they always did quite well on it, when they all started having problems with softies, perotonitis etc they were actually all on the special battery hen food as I had exbatts too. So I wonder if it was just co-incidence really...

 

Will have to have a rethink maybe when it comes to growers...'food for thought' :roll: How hard is it to balance grain griffin, and how much storage do you need?

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I bought a sack of Farmgate mash recently and i must say that mine absolutely love the stuff.Its a lot more grainy than the normal Dodson & Horrell mash i usually get and dont have the pleasant smell,but they've always got their faces stuck in the feeder.When they're freeranging the garden,i stick a tupperware tub outside full of it on lawn and they're always comming over for a feed.

 

I really cannot fault it.

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I think they are definitely eating more as they have all come into are lay,

did not want to really buy the cheapest feed, though now i may have no choice

as i have just been to vets with my dog which sprained her leg and it cost me £52 for 5 mins consultation an injection and some medicine not very flush with money as it is and i nearly feinted when the receptionist told me how much it was, she even seemed apologetic!

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Will have to have a rethink maybe when it comes to growers...'food for thought' :roll: How hard is it to balance grain griffin, and how much storage do you need?

It's dead easy with the grain, I measure it with a plastic jug. 4 parts whole wheat, 2 parts rolled barley, 1 part cut maize. After a visit from Mrs Rat and her children all the food is kept in the porch now. You either need three bins or enough space for at least three 20/25kgs sacks of grain.

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I was considering trying the Farmgate layers pellets, just because i wanted to try my girls on something different, not that there is anything wrong with my present brand GLW gold n lay and i do only live just UP THE ROAD from the factory, i fancy something different, but will farmgate give me the golden yolks i get now from my hen?

 

Debb

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I used Farmgate on my last lot of chooks, eggs were always lovely and chooks were really healthy. :D We hatched them ourselves and they started on Farmgate Chick Crumb and moved on to Farmgate growers and then Farmgate Layers Pellets.

 

Can honestly say it suited my lot!! Not used them with current lot as I am still on Omlet stuff.

 

Gonna have to start looking at what to buy them soon though as where I got pellets from before have changed supplier. Will have a look at what they got and ask you lot what you think!! :lol::lol:

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I certainly had very golden yolks, but my girls freeranged 24/7. This lot will all be penned most of the time, so I would interested in knowing what the brands are with the natural yolk colourant, I know I have seen people mention they use it it???

Still considering the grain, but would have to get a metal shed first, we have rats galore here :shock:

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So after long debate on whether to buy this or not i went to my local feed store and they had recently had a promotion with farmgate so had loads of it in and only 2 bags of fancy feeds which i have had before and found good.

 

The farmgate was £2 cheaper so i bought some.

What a fool i was.

 

1. on first opening the pack i spotted a small piece of plastic embedded in one of the pellets. :vom:

 

2. the smell is not nice at all, not saying that layers pellets smell good but there is a smell of staleness, compared to other feeds that do smell notibly fresh when opened, similar to opening a new jar of coffee!

 

3. normally my girls dash straight for the feeder when i put it down. now they move towards it and eventually one by one they will half heartedly peck at it but in no means like they do with other feeds and gobble it.

 

4. they tend to spill a amazing amount of it as if they are taking it out of the feeder on purpose to see if any better food is underneath it.

 

Needless to say i have learned my lesson, i will not be purchasing it EVER AGAIN it sure is false economy :doh:

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What a fool i was.

Me too! Aaagh we went to a County Show and I saw Farmgate and dithered as I wasn't convinced... But I didn't listen to my inner voice (and couldn't get online to research it) and bought a sack, as we were running out of our previous brand.

 

1. on first opening the pack i spotted a small piece of plastic embedded in one of the pellets. :vom:

 

Me too :shock::shock::shock: We've just opened it this afternoon and I cannot believe my eyes - but not only pink, red, green and blue plastic, also what looks like tin/aluminium foil and splinters of wood :shock::shock: Only tiny pieces and probably an infinitesimal amount but this is only what we can see sticking out of the pellets, so what's buried inside???! I'm not happy - WE wouldn't eat it so why give it to our animals? We've spent a good hour picking out the plastic etc and we're only halfway through the bag :evil:

 

3...half heartedly peck at it but in no means like they do with other feeds and gobble it. ... 4. ...spill a amazing amount... as if they are taking it out of the feeder on purpose to see if any better food is underneath it.

 

I'll report back as to how my girls get on. Yes, they had been flicking the previous feed (to search for corn!) but they tucked in in the mornings

 

Needless to say i have learned my lesson, i will not be purchasing it EVER AGAIN it sure is false economy :doh:

 

Couldn't agree more! I'll be getting something else asap. :evil::evil::evil:

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