Purina layer chicken feed- I wouldn't recommend

[Crazy Maizie]

Where did you buy it from? I'm wondering if it got wet at one point and the clumps were mold?
I bought a bag of birdseed from tsc and when I called, they stated that since they were a new store the pallets got delivered with no place to put them - they weren't finished building. The seed got wet and they refunded all the seed sold.
It seems there was a lot of poor planning going on.
If the feed you fed was moldy, it could definitely cause diarrhea. Or sometimes if the 2 feeds aren't similar enough it could cause a digestive upset if you switched one for another without mixing the 2 prior to a full switch.

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

Would you mind specifying which formula of Purina you're talking about? I'm a huge fan of Purina's Flock Raiser and their chick starter, but I do not care for any of the others. I tried their layer formula a few years ago, and everything was fine for several months; then they started adding way more molasses, and my birds wouldn't eat it. If that's still the case, it's possible your birds have a sensitivity to molasses, or at least the amount Purina uses. If you still have the feed sack, you might consider reaching out to Purina about it.

I don't remember the formula, only that it was layer feed. I wasn't originally going to make a post about it so I didn't pay much attention, but later on I figured I'd make a post to see if other people had the same problem. Interesting about the molasses though, I'll have to keep that in mind

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

Where did you buy it from? I'm wondering if it got wet at one point and the clumps were mold?
I bought a bag of birdseed from tsc and when I called, they stated that since they were a new store the pallets got delivered with no place to put them - they weren't finished building. The seed got wet and they refunded all the seed sold.
It seems there was a lot of poor planning going on.
If the feed you fed was moldy, it could definitely cause diarrhea. Or sometimes if the 2 feeds aren't similar enough it could cause a digestive upset if you switched one for another without mixing the 2 prior to a full switch.

I don't think it was mold. The clumps were perfectly cylindrical so I think it was manufactured that way for it to be crumbled up somewhere in the line. I guess some pieces didn't get crumbled like they were supposed to. Which, like I said, not that big of a deal but with the other things going on with this feed it was worth mentioning.

Not integrating the feed could definitely have been the problem. I know to do that with dog food but I didn't think about it with chicken feed. Don't know why not, that's common sense lol. With the other feeds I didn't integrate and they didn't have a problem, so I figured that since the feed was so dusty and bad that it was just poor quality feed. But since other people have this problem with other brands now and then too and not specifically Purina, it sounds like I just happened to have gotten the occasional bad bag, and like you said maybe it was a lot different than the regular feed I use so it was a shock to their system. Just really bad luck maybe

 

[Brooks_]

I've been perfectly happy with Purina products for both my cats and birds.

Edit: Even more so for the cat.

 

[Inkisevidence]

So we got Purina feed. Never gave it to them before, but sometimes we get to a store and pick up what they have if the chickens need feed. We got this at a new farm and home store in my town. This stuff was... not great, to say the least.

I open the bag and there is just a TON of dust. I've never seen so much dust in a bag of chicken feed. But I gave it to them, and then I noticed they began to have diarrhea. At night when they're on the roost there's always a healthy mix of solids and more liquid poops. After using this chicken feed, there was not a solid poop to be found in there. They didn't act any different, and I gave them a couple days to adjust, thinking maybe it was just a different feed their body wasn't used to. But it didn't clear up.

So, I sifted out the dust. The dust made up a little over 1/3 OF THE BAG. Almost HALF. While I was sifting I also found 2 big blocks of not-yet-crumbled feed, which isn't that big of a deal I guess but it would clog up their feeder, and the fact that there was a bunch of dust and then I find that just added onto the fact that this feed was really low quality. Anyway, I figured maybe it was the dust. But nope, they still had diarrhea even without the dust. I gave them their usual feed and now their poops are fine.

So I don't know if anyone else has had this experience, but I just wanted to give a review of it. I mean, how do you mess up THAT badly??

This is exactly what happened to me. I slowly transitioned my chickens to Purina Layena layer crumbles over the course of 10 days. I only did it because during the pandemic, the feed I had been using for years was suddenly not available. after a couple of weeks, it dawned on me that all of my chickens had chronic diarrhea that smelled absolutely rank. Every single chicken was having really stinky really bad poops. I wondered if it was just because of the change in feed, but after about two months I couldn’t take it anymore and switched to another feed that had become available. The problem immediately resolved itself. I will never feed a Purina food to my chickens again.

 

[GardenState38]

Any of you have other pets? You never abruptly change feed.
I’ve changed my hens away from and back to Purina Layena (Free Range) and never had any issues.
I also don’t give my birds a ton of treats, grubs or supplements…
Diarrhea can be caused by increased water consumption during hot weather, and it can also result from increased protein (too many high-protein treats during molt, for example.)
That being said, I have had issues with dusty and grain-mite infested bags, but I largely blame storage at the big-box feed store and myself, for not being diligent about cleaning the bin between bags.
Says right on the bag to not feed and contact/return if not up to standards.

 

[Folly's place]

And ALWAYS check the mill date on each bag! It's best to store it in the original feed bag, in that metal container at home, so if there are any issues, it can be returned, and traced.
I like the Purina Flock Raiser and have fed that for decades. Recently one bag was pretty much like mash, not crumbles, and I also think it happened to be at the bottom of the hopper that day. It was fine though.
Mary

 

[Brooks_]

And ALWAYS check the mill date on each bag!

Yeah, today was easy...only one bag. I didn't really need it, but it was milled Sept. 1. I went ahead and bought it.

 

[Hensintexas]

Our chickens seem to prefer Lone Star Feed All Mash crumbles. It isn’t as dusty as some of the others, and we’ve had no diarrhea with it.
It may be that there are variances from one batch to another, or perhaps the way it is stored before purchase. That is why I like our small, local feed store. Everything is always clean, and the feed is fresh.

 

[Jean K]

So we got Purina feed. Never gave it to them before, but sometimes we get to a store and pick up what they have if the chickens need feed. We got this at a new farm and home store in my town. This stuff was... not great, to say the least.

I open the bag and there is just a TON of dust. I've never seen so much dust in a bag of chicken feed. But I gave it to them, and then I noticed they began to have diarrhea. At night when they're on the roost there's always a healthy mix of solids and more liquid poops. After using this chicken feed, there was not a solid poop to be found in there. They didn't act any different, and I gave them a couple days to adjust, thinking maybe it was just a different feed their body wasn't used to. But it didn't clear up.

So, I sifted out the dust. The dust made up a little over 1/3 OF THE BAG. Almost HALF. While I was sifting I also found 2 big blocks of not-yet-crumbled feed, which isn't that big of a deal I guess but it would clog up their feeder, and the fact that there was a bunch of dust and then I find that just added onto the fact that this feed was really low quality. Anyway, I figured maybe it was the dust. But nope, they still had diarrhea even without the dust. I gave them their usual feed and now their poops are fine.

So I don't know if anyone else has had this experience, but I just wanted to give a review of it. I mean, how do you mess up THAT badly??