Producer's Pride layer feed from Tractor Supply

[Some Old Guy]

I'm following your example. My local feed store is kinda inconvenient, because it's outside my normal travel lanes. Tractor Supply is less than 1/4 mile from my doctor's office, right on the way to the doctor. It doesn't cost time or gas to stop at TS. The farmer's Coop is in my own home town, and I drive right past it any time I travel through town. There's an old Mom & Pop feed store about 9 miles out of town, going west. (Actually, it's Daughter & Daughter today, Mom & Pop have passed away.) So, it costs time and gas to go to the local feed store.

BUT - I stopped there several days ago, got a bag of "Hen Scratch" and a bag of whole oats. The two bags cost about 2/3 what I would have paid at either TS or the Coop. And, the poultry is gobbling that feed up! The Hen Scratch has a lot better variety of grains in it, and a lot of it is whole grain. When I ferment it, I get a lot of sprouts in the mix, which is really healthy food for the birds!

I'm almost out of the layer feed I bought at the coop, so I'll be making another run for that, more Hen Scratch, and oats. If I'm going out of my way to get the feed, I may as well make it worth the trip!

 

[TOR]

I picked up a bag of feed (starter) for my "kids". I found the start of feed with mold at bottom of bag. Purchased at TS.
I'm going to Purchase from my local feed store from now on. Yup... I do believe these bags can and do sit in warehouses for months.

Feed store defintley gonna be fresh. I looked for date I but from Farm Fleet found date, not sure experation or production date, but was 3 weeks before I bought it.Smelled fine.
Guess I will have to look for julian date.
I believe farm fleet feed is made by nutrena which is owned by cargill, not 100 percent.
I grind corn, with roasted soybeans, than mix 10 to 20 percent rye seed. that mix will be mixed 100 percent chicken feed.
Winter time if really cold I give some extra corn as side dish. Corn is energy.
I guess companies to let the feed sit in storage to long or improper storage conditions

 

[Lavanopiq]

50 pound bags of Producer Pride mini pallets do not contain L-Lysine.

 

[Huntmaster]

50 pound bags of Producer Pride mini pallets do not contain L-Lysine.

This is what I found for Producers Pride Layer mini pellets.

Crude Protein (Min) .......................................................16.00 %
Lysine (Min) .....................................................................0.60 %
Methionine (Min) .............................................................0.30 %
Crude Fat (Min) ................................................................2.50 %
Crude Fiber (Max) .........................................................10.00 %
Ash (Max) .......................................................................15.00 %
Calcium (Ca) (Min) ..........................................................3.50 %
Calcium (Ca) (Max) ..........................................................4.50 %
Phosphorus (P) (Min) ......................................................0.40 %
Salt (NaCl) (Min) ..............................................................0.15 %
Salt (NaCl) (Max) .............................................................0.65 %
Sodium (Na) (Max) ..........................................................0.55 %
Vitamin A (Min) .........................................................3000 IU/LB
Vitamin E (Min) ....................................

 

[Lavanopiq]

This is what I found for Producers Pride Layer mini pellets.

Crude Protein (Min) .......................................................16.00 %
Lysine (Min) .....................................................................0.60 %
Methionine (Min) .............................................................0.30 %
Crude Fat (Min) ................................................................2.50 %
Crude Fiber (Max) .........................................................10.00 %
Ash (Max) .......................................................................15.00 %
Calcium (Ca) (Min) ..........................................................3.50 %
Calcium (Ca) (Max) ..........................................................4.50 %
Phosphorus (P) (Min) ......................................................0.40 %
Salt (NaCl) (Min) ..............................................................0.15 %
Salt (NaCl) (Max) .............................................................0.65 %
Sodium (Na) (Max) ..........................................................0.55 %
Vitamin A (Min) .........................................................3000 IU/LB
Vitamin E (Min) ....................................

That’s what is says under Guaranted Analysis.But it’s not found in Ingredients.

 

[TOR]

That’s what is says under Guaranted Analysis.But it’s not found in Ingredients.

Lysine can be bought as ingredient,Lysine is also in other grains like soybeans.
Dehulled soybean meal is often referred to as high-protein soybean meal and contains approximately 48% crude protein and 3% lysine content, whereas hulled soybean meal contains approximately 44% crude protein and 2.8% lysine content and is referred to as low-protein soybean meal.

Crop	Protein Content (%)	Lysine in protein (%)
Wheat	11.0-14.0	2.50-3.20
Rice	7.0-9.0	3.50-4.00
Barley	8.0-11.0	2.90-3.20
Oats	12.0-14.0	3.80-4.00

each grain has its own amino acid profile

L Lysine can goto amazon and buy it

 

[PoppasGrill]

We used to use PP from TSC until we got a bag that was clumped up and had bugs in it. When we called the store and complained we were told that it’s fine and “ chicken eat bugs”.
Started getting local feed and even picked up some local feed from where I work for several months, in Okeechobee until I got transferred . The hens like it better, but am now feeding them Nutrena Harvest Blend, and Nutrena Layer feed from Rural King Farm Store. More for convenience on my part than a need to change . The flock are eating it and egg production hasn’t varied much from the locally sourced feed.

 

[kyraiser02]

OK, I've read a number of articles, and watched several videos on Youtube, complaining about Tractor Supply layer feed. I basically just filed all of that under "interesting junk information". I think that I'm about to upgrade all of that to "informative".

The situation is, I have 5 laying Mallard ducks. The day the first duck layed an egg, I excitedly ran out and purchased a bag of layer pellets, from Tractor Supply. I don't recall now whether I got Dumor or Producer's Pride, but I bought it at TS. The ducks gobbled it up. When that sack ran out, I had my wife to purchase a new sack, but she went to the farmer's Coop, and bought their brand. Same thing, they gobbled the feed up. So, that second sack of feed ran out, and I went back to TS, purchased a bag of Producer's Pride. No one is eating it. The feed bowl sat overnight, with no sign that anyone had eaten a bit of it. Second day, they had eaten a little. Third day, I got a scoop of scratch feed, and put it over top of the layer pellets. Ducks ate some, but left most of the layer pellets.

Not wanting feed to go to waste, I experimented a little. I put the duck's feed bowl out where the chickens could get to it. (None of my chickens are old enough to lay yet.) The banties picked over it, removing most of the scratch feed. The Australorps did likewise. The Guineas didn't exactly gobble it up, but they did consume noticeably more of the layer pellets.

I guess I should note here that all of my poultry free ranges during the day, so the ducks weren't starved during those couple days when they didn't eat their feed.

I will also note that the Producer's Pride pellets are smaller, and apparently more compacted than either of the first two bags of pellets.

Obviously, I won't be buying the PP pellets anymore. I don't know if PP is simply poor quality, or I just happened to get a bad batch, but either way, I won't spend my money on it again. Possibly, the feed is actually a good batch, and good quality, but my birds just don't like it. I find that a little difficult to believe, since none of my various birds are gobbling it down. Seriously, if you put a bowl of feed down, and 40 birds of 3 different species don't like it, there's probably something wrong with it.

Sitting here thinking. Is there a "best used by" date on the bag? I need to check, but probably not. Is it common for feed to sit in a warehouse for months and months after processing? I know that processed feed deteriorates over time. How old is too old? Poultry are pretty smart after all, they generally won't eat something that is bad for them.

I'm wondering if I should even keep the feed. I could spread it out in the garden, or put it on the mulch pile. Since it's opened, and I've used some of it, I doubt TS would willingly refund my money. On the other hand, maybe I really should take it back, and make a formal complaint. But, I'm not sure there is anything wrong with the feed. I could also just keep the feed, and toss a handful into bowls of feed when I feed at night. It might take six months, but eventually the feed will be used up.

I would welcome thoughts and ideas here.

Oh. One last note. My silly Speckle dog eats the pellets. I'm watching her right now, working to clean up the duck's bowl. Silly dog is always snatching bites of whichever feed I'm working with - I'm wondering about her geneology.

i use producer pride layers feed and their scratch grains. my chickens eat them both no problem but dumor definitly seems like a higher quality feed but i cant afford to pay 18 dollars a bag