gavclojak Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I have a few questions....surprise surprise... 1, my girls are on small holder ex batts crumb, my vet said get them on pellets ASAP, does anyone else keep there girls on crumb. 2 if it ain't broken don't fix it is my motto? Any thoughts 3 if i keep them on crumb I am struggling as my farm shop doesn't do the smallholder range, is one crumb much like the rest and do I need to make a slow transition between the two or just swap them over? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lulabellx1 Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Ours are fed on crumb. Have always done so, like you I thought they were used to it and they have always laid well so I didn't think there was any point in switching to pellets... and confusing things. From what I understand it is the same stuff really, just differently formed. I think you do get more wastage with crumb though as it can get spilt all over the place and trodden in to mud etc. Whereas if the pellets get spilled out they probably still get picked up by the hens I wouldn't worry too much about brand names personally, chicken feed is chicken feed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted August 10, 2013 Author Share Posted August 10, 2013 Thanks that's a great help, think I will stick to crumb, they have thrived on it x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 all pellets are is mash/crumb that has been extruded into pellets. pellets are supposed to be less wasteful as the chucks aren't temped to sort all the nice bits of corn out of the feed like they can with mash. and some brands of mash contain a lot of 'dust' sized particles because it milled to fine mine get pellets but I've put them on mash a couple of times when my supplier's run out of pellets or I felt like giving them a change from pellets but I know my mob aren't fickle eaters so I can get away with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 I started off using ex batt crumb when I got my first lot of ex batts nearly 4 years ago. After a while, I switched to layers mash as they were used to the texture of crumb but didn't need the ex batt feed any longer. I find mash keeps the hens occupied better as it takes them longer to eat (imagine eating a plateful of peas, one at a time, with chopsticks ) however the downside is that it can be messier - as others have said the hens do have a tendency to flick it about as the look for the nice bits. What it boils down to is what you prefer to feed. I find the small amount of mess generated by mash is cancelled out by the fact that the hens are occupied for longer with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted August 11, 2013 Author Share Posted August 11, 2013 Thank you, funny enough I got some mash yesterday and they seem to be happy enough eating it. Your right it is very messy but they like picking it off the floor too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
