Starter Feed

[SunnySideUp]

Hi everyone! Thanks for all of the great information you've posted to this site. We're first timers so this forum has been essential!

My question is about starter feed. We brought our chicks home on Saturday (so their in their first week) and the feed store sold small bags of CHS "Payback" chicken feed as the starter. Does anyone know anything about this food? I've been to their website and looked for nutritional info, but cannot find a thing. Any insight is very welcome, be it positive or negative. Also, if anyone has a favorite food to suggest we would be all ears. As a side note, we have organic feed on its way, but don't know that this is an adequate starter. I'm in the process of getting more info on it.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[robin416]

I've never heard of it. Can you call the feed store and ask them about what is in it? Organic is fine if it has enough protein and the vitamins & minerals the peeps need.

I recently switched my birds again to a feed that contains animals protein, I just was not happy with the way the looked on soy protein. Its made a huge difference in their feathers and some of the birds that were thin have filled out very nicely. This adequate feed thing is one of the most trying you will encounter with these guys.

 

[allen wranch]

Robin,
What brand was your feed with the animal protein ?

 

[montverdechick]

I use the Purina Sunfresh starter. It comes medicated and non-medicated. The chicks prefer it's consistency and it has 18% digestible protein. They are 3 weeks old tomorrow and they are thriving on it.

 

[robin416]

Carla, its Dumor from Tractor Supply. I had my guys on just about every feed offered in this area including the Purina. The purina turned my light colored birds yellow and the shine slowly left the feathers on my dark birds.

My gripe with the Dumor is too much fines. I've actually got a wire sifter out in the coop to strain the fines out before I fill the feeders. I'm going to carry them back in when I buy another bag and hand it over and ask them to refund the money for the waste. LOL Just kidding.

 

[allen wranch]

Sunnysideup,
I have never heard of CHS Payback either. Ask the feed store to show you the 50# bag of the starter. It should have a tag on it with the nutritional information.

Robin,
I stopped feeding Laylena also. I still use Purina for my babies, but it is the Turkey starter. I had a bad bunch of feather pickers with the Start & Grow. I think the chicks need a higher level of protein.

Didn't know Dumore had animal protein in it.

 

[Llysse]

Has anyone used Nutrena "Nature Wise" brands? My goats love the Nutrena goat feed; they also like TizWhiz. However they absolutely refused to touch the Dumor, and it didn't seem to be as high a quality as the others, with no whole grains and lots of dust. I kind of steered away from it when I was chicken feed shopping, and got the Nutrena instead. Does anyone have any experience with it here?

 

[Llysse]

The Nutrena is 20% protein, BTW.

 

[allen wranch]

I used the Nutrena Nature Wise 20% until the feed store went out of business. I liked it. I now use Livengood Feeds 20% layer.

 

[robin416]

I fed the Nutrena for about six months, again I didn't like how the birds responded to it. It uses soy only as the source of protein. I've got Silkies, they can be very sensitive when their nutritional needs are not being met without using supplements. So far with the Dumor they seem to be thriving. Actually I was using Nutrena last year when my birds really suffered from nutritional deficiencies.

Its not the amount of protein but the type of protein. There is more and more discussion that plant protein is not working as the sole source of protein. Yes, I could boil eggs, chop them up and put it in all those seperate dishes for all the different pens but that is an added work load I'm not wild about having to add.

Carla, my gripe about the Dumor is that the chick starter doesn't appear to have Amprollium in it. But they have the small pellets that Silkies can eat easily.

Mine refused to eat it a year or so ago too. I don't know what changed but they aren't fussing about it now.