Have you ever wondered why commercial chicken food comes in three different forms? In this post I’ll explain my experience with crumbles, pellets and mash, and hopefully it will help you decide what’s best for your flock.
Growing up, I did not live in a farming community. At the time, there was only one place near our home to buy chicken food, and I use the term “near” loosely as this place was about 30 minutes away. This was also the only place I knew of at the time to get chickens. Each spring the feed store would get in a few dozen chicks and some ducks and those were my choices if I wanted to expand my flock. Sort of a one stop shop for all things poultry. If the feed store didn’t have it, it didn’t exist. Oh how times have changed…
At the time, I was unaware that commercial chicken food came in 3 forms (more or less); crumbles, pellets and mash. When I picked up my first chicks, they came with a one sided “Care Sheet” and a small bag of starter food. When the starter food ran out, we went back to the co-op and told them we needed more food. They asked how old our chicks were, got us the proper food and loaded it into the back of my dad’s truck. We fed it without question because I figured they knew more than me (which they did) and figured that that was the story of chicken food. Plain and simple.
Since then, mostly through accident, I have learned that chicken food comes in many different forms, shapes, sizes, ingredients, brands and more interestingly, opinions as to which is best. Here is a bit about my experience with each type of food and how I felt my flock did with each variety. A note about feeding chickens: If you intentionally decide to change feed for your chickens, you should do it gradually by slowly mixing in the new food with the old food over a period of time to make the switch easier on their systems.
At the time, the feed store only sold crumbles. Layer, grower and chick food in the spring. Then a Tractor Supply opened only few “small towns” over, and I was introduced to pellets. We accidentally bought a bag because the store had stocked the bags of pellets in the usual crumble section. We brought it home, opened the bag and did a double take. I re-checked the bag to make sure it wasn’t rabbit food. We compared the ingredients and things looked pretty similar to our crumbles so we fed it to the chickens. Later, we had to grind up a portion to offer to our bantams, as the pieces seemed so large for the little chickens to swallow. In fact, at times, even the larger chickens would take a step back from the feeder to make sure things went down ok. The chickens did fine on the pellets, and the food lasted longer, but given the choice, our birds preferred crumbles so we switched them back.
My experience with mash as a chicken food stemmed from a goat food dilemma. The farm that we bought our first Angora goats from mixed their own feed. Angoras require slightly different feed ratios than other breeds of goat because they produce so much mohair. We eventually found a local grain elevator that would mix a goat feed to our specifications, and were really pleased with the results. Because we were buying our goat feed from this elevator, we decided to try their chicken food as well so we wouldn’t have to shop at two different stores. The varieties of animal feed, seeds and flours that the store provided were listed on a chalk board by the registers, so we asked for their “Layer”, paid and pulled the car around the side of the barn.
The mesh bags were loaded into the back of our Jeep and off we went. When we got home, before we even opened it, the bag seemed very dense and heavy and the food was concentrated at the bottom like sand. When we opened it, it was this strange powdery food with larger bits mixed in. I had heard about mash in an old farming book, and guessed that this is what we had on our hands. We thought we’d give it a try.
Without knowing, we simply poured the mash into the feeder. Because it was so dense, the whole 50 lb bag fit. The chickens were weary of this new feed. They sort of picked at it half heartedly, and seemed to swish it around, looking for a substantial bite. The next day, all the feed was gone. Most of it was wasted and scattered on the floor of the chicken coop. Needless to say, we went back to crumbles shortly afterward. It was later that I learned we should have mixed the mash with warm water to make like a porridge consistency, this would have cut back on the waste… live and learn.
Here are some advantages and disadvantages of using each type of food.
Crumbles
Crumbles are our favorite version of chicken food. They are a manageable size for all the chickens to eat, bantams and chicks included, and they are readily available at most chain stores. And according to Raising Chickens For Dummies, “Research has shown that chickens grow and lay better on crumbles”. So you’re probably asking, why would you want to mess around with any other food? And I would agree, our flock does best on crumbles, but each flock is different, and it’s good that chicken keepers have options.
Pellets
Pellets reduce waste. If you have a large flock, feeding chickens can get expensive and with a lot of birds gathered around a feeder there can be a lot of food tossed around and and wasted. Because of the size of the pellets, they tend to stay put in the feeder a bit better than mash and even crumbles. When chickens eat pellets they tend to take a little more time with each bite. I also feel like they get full faster. I’m guessing that this might have to do with the compressed nature of a pellet. If you get a pellet wet, it breaks apart and expands. I imagine it does the same in a chicken’s digestive system.
Mash
While mash is my least favorite feed, I can’t say that we gave it a fair go. As described above, I haven’t done the water mixing method, but I can imagine that it would be somewhat time consumingwith the amount of feed we use. You also have to remove any uneaten food each day so that it doesn’t get moldy.
On the other hand, in favor of mash, chickens might really enjoy a nice meal mixed with warm water on a cold winter morning. You can provide this with a mash mix. You can also add things like whey or vegetable stock as a healthy treat in lieu of water. (for more on feeding whey to chickens, read my post Wheying in on What to Feed Our Chickens) Still, in my opinion, I would rather feed a mix like this as a treat, than a routine meal. (for more on warm weather treats for your flock, read Jennifer Burke’s post This Cooking is for the Birds)
Another advantage to feeding mash would be that a lot of smaller (mom and pop type) feed stores offer their own version of mash, and are willing to change up this mixture to please customers. If you have a particular mix you want for your chickens, for example the addition of Diatomaceous Earth, or extra protein, chances are, they can do that for you in a mash mix. For us, the attempt to feed mash also meant supporting local business, which is important to us at Iron Oak Farm.
I’d love to hear your favorite feed choices and why. Or do you mix your own? Share your preferences and recipes with the community by leaving a comment below, on the Community Chicken’s Facebook Page or visit us at Iron Oak Farm.
21 Comments
Raising chickens with feed pellets is convenient with less waste. If one need large quantity of feed pellets, he can make them with
feed pellet mill
Since I have close ties with a local brewery we are experimenting with feeding dried brewing grains
ps
100 lbs for $14.00
i’m a rural chicken grower and I feed my chickens a mixture of wheat, cracked corn and rye grains, basically what ever is the least expensive at my local grainery, with a side of oyster shells. my chickens roam freely all over the place during the day I have 18 hens and one rooster who is a Banny the hens are standard size. The rooster is a charming fellow and my eggs are fertilized not all of them but most of them. The egg shells are really hard so I’m wondering why would I have to mash all of their grains and ferment them if all goes well they even lay during the winter (sparsely)and their coop isn’t draft free I suppose them running freely makes a difference. I really get paranoid about my girls when I read all of the suggestions and rules of chicken raising what to do I guess if it’s not broken don’t fix it
maybe rural is different than backyard?
they really love the hanging cabbage and hard vegetables during the winter it’s hysterical to watch them, egg yolks are really orange and very tasty
kt
Well put, Dan. That makes me feel even better about my first three years of huitnng, and last year, too. I had four successful years in between and…
ring die pellet mill i find in text,that is a nice post
I agree!
Raising chickens with feed pellets is convenient with less waste. If one need large quantity of feed pellets, he can make them with feed pellet mill.
woodpellet machine Your article is meaningful and it helps me a lot.It is a chance for me to give my voice here and I like this very much.
We support local and buy mash. We layer pellets and mash in the feeder and they love it. They eat every drop and none goes to waste
I know I’m a little late to weigh in on this topic. I have used all three forms. The Mash was more work but I preferred it for a number of reasons, #1 I got it local from a miller, he knew exactly what was in it and even from which farm all the ingredients came. #2 I was able to get it at a great price – about $.20/lb for his organic blend or $.12 for the non-organic. #3 I mixed in some flax and other seeds, used our daily fruit & veggie leftovers, threw them in a blender with water, yogurt, ACV, or whatever else to make the liquid portion and mixed it all up. They loved it, I never had any leftovers let alone waste and it made me feel better to think they were getting a more complete and varied diet.
I’ve used pellets and crumbles, but the local mill mixes their own “mash” and it isn’t ALL GMO grains, so I opt for that since I am trying to get around the GMO grains. I’ve added warm water in cold weather and they love it. I had a feed box made out of plywood and have it hanging on the wall in the coop. After feeding the mash they leave a little mostly powder, so to get them to eat it (don’t like waste) I’ve added 1/2 cup of organic olive oil and mixed it real well. They eat it right up. So, I guess I like the mash but it’s a little more work for me.
I have tried all 3 versions. I cannot always tell which ones my chickens like better, but I prefer the pellets. My first round of chicken went right from chick starter feed to pellets and never had an issue. This year my local feed store seemed to be out of pellets a fair amount so I used both the mash and crumbles. The mash seems so inefficient and so much ends up on the ground and if it gets wet, which it inevitably does, it clumps up in the coop and I don’t care for that. This years new chickens seem to prefer the crumbles, when I swithced back to pellets the older chickens were the only ones eating for a day, but after a day my chickens all ate the pellets.
I feed pellets in the run and crumbles in the coop. My chicken ladies prefer the crumbles but I haven’t been able to find the Organic,Omega rich feed in crumbles. I also make them a warm mash using the pellets on very cold mornings. I mix in alittle rolled oats, milk or cottage cheese with the pellets and warm water. My girls really enjoy getting a warm breakfast.But only feed what they can consume in about 15 minutes.
When I was a kid, mash was all there was but no one ever mixed it with water. I feed pellets to my hens because that is the only form organic is available in here. I also feed cracked corn which isn’t organic but that is all there is.
I feed my free range chickens whole corn. They forage on their own but come around for some corn every day. I have never had any sick chickens, so it must work here. Mine only lay in warm weather, as they live outside all year round.
I have used both pellets and crumbles,and have found my hens [9 red star].they seem to like the crumbles best. I get nine big brown eggs most every day! I am a big beliver in using the best feed i can afford.[purina layena]. I enjoy your newsletter. Alabama Pete.
I got six chicks this year. Since they have been in the yard and off chick feed they have not really eaten layer feed. I offer it, but it mostly goes uneaten and ends up being thrown out. I have tried several different brands with the same results. They look healthy and all are laying but one. I’m getting 3-4 eggs a day. Should I save my money and let them forage on their own or continue to offer it seeing that it is getting colder. Should I offer corn instead? Doesn’t seem to have much nutrition.
Thanks for the info! I alsways wondered why anyone would use pellets when my chicks don’t seem to like it. Now I know! 🙂
I use pellets. As mentioned above, less waste. They spend less time at the feeders. I have to introduce it slowly when moving them from crumbles chick starter as it is quite different for them, they need to adjust to the different shape/size. But they do well once they get used to it.
I use the small pellets for my adult hens. I put the feed in a “Rabbit Feeder” which is hung up off the ground and out of the weather. That way I only have to fill it up once a day for a back yard flock of 6.