Feed from a chicken farm

[Chickmama1974]

Is it safe to feed my chicks feed from an actual chicken farm? This is the type of feed from farms where chickens are caught and took for processing

 

[sourland]

With birds coming there from many sources, I'd be concerned about the possibility of exposure to disease.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I want to make sure I understand this. You have the opportunity to get chicken feed for your flock from a farm where baby chicks are trucked in and they are raised to butcher age, then trucked out to the processing plant. That's different from getting the feed from a feed store or a mill. The chicks are probably not coming from many different sources, not like the chickens going to the processing plant. Those are coming from everywhere.

First, is that the right type of feed for your flock. Since it is a broiler farm the feed is probably high in protein. Many people on this forum seem to believe the higher the protein the better for a laying flock. I don't share that view, but my opinion is not what counts. Your opinion is. Are you OK with the nutrient make-up of that feed for your flock?

Then you have the issue of biosecurity. Most broiler farms should have high biosecurity measures in place. They should have several different barns where the chickens are actually kept. I would expect the good ones to handle feed in a way so that if one barn of broilers gets infected with something that the others are kept safe. I don't know how good your specific farm is or what policies or procedures they follow. I'd think it is reasonably safe but the risk is not zero.

 

[Altairsky]

Meat Farm feed is designed to keep chickens alive for just a few weeks and maximize the growth rate. It's not designed to keep chickens healthy long term. Expect short lifespan if you feed your pet chickens food designed for broilers.
Also, chicken feed for intensive farming is as cheap as possible, with the bare minimum quality. Eggs are what a chicken eat so expect Walmart quality eggs.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm going to come at this slightly differently. Though touch on the same points.

One) is the type of chicken farm raising birds for the same general purpose you are? It sounds like they are involved in commercial broiler production, likely Cx). Are you also raising Cx??? CX feed is designed for least cost production of meat for supermarket, with a high fat level. There is NO focus on long term health.

If you are raising layers, that's the wrong feed - Calcium is too low (which you can compensate for by offering oyster shell), protein is too high (which is simply wasteful and economically costly), and its a LOT of fat, particularly if you don't free range your birds.

Two) If their biosecurity is worse than yours, by routinely going there for feed, you are making your biosecurity no better than theirs. If their biosecurity is better than yours, why are they allowing you on premises to buy feed?

Three) If you aren't raising supermarket meat birds, the best thing you can do is have a pleasant conversation with them at the mail box, find out where they are getting their feed. Assuming its not delivered to them under contract from Tyson, ConAgra, Wayne, Purdue, etc then there is likely a local mill producing reasonably priced feed appropriate to the types of birds you ARE raising. If it is delivered to them under contract, and they are selling same, that's not the sort of folk you probably want to associate with.

and you can get your local Mill answer as easily from your local Ag extension office [phone call], or by visiting the local co-op (change your clothes including shoes after, before entering your coop area - you don't know what their biosecurity is like).

Hope that helps?