# Laying Mash vs. crumbles



## Guest (Feb 26, 2010)

For those with layers, which do you prefer?

We had always used crumbles, but then I switched them to mash. Of course they went on a laying strike, and it seemed they wasted more of it. It was much cheaper than crumbles though. I just wonder if the price difference is enough to make up for the loss of feed?


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## jerryf (Apr 1, 2006)

I was using laying mash bu they do waste alot
When I clean the coop down in the bedding is laying mash
at the price of it - I can't afford them to waste it!
I switched to Layena layer pellets. Pellets don;t get "lost" in
the bedding so none is wasted. I am getting more eggs.
Layena is a plant protein based, so I do feed a bit of meat scraps, 
canned cat or dog food so my hens get animal protein as well
I think the pellets are great.

Jerry


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

I feed pellets.
They waste a lot less


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## switchman62 (Oct 19, 2007)

I have tried mash and crumbles. The mash is cheaper but a lot more wasteful. I never tried to see if there was enough of a saving to be worth it to use crumbles but that is what I use. I'd love to find the pellets and try them.

Dave


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## mullberry (May 3, 2009)

I feed crumbles to quail & layena pellets to laying hens


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

When I used mash, they seemed to waste a lot..but then I started (on Cyngbaeld's advice) to add warm water to it. Worked like a charm. I started feeding a straight grain mix from the feed mill, but kept some mash around and would do a pan of wet mash every morning. Some of the girls would dive right in. Some ignored it. Everyone seemed to like it in the winter, tho.


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## giraffe_baby (Oct 15, 2005)

I Have tried crumbles, they just throw it around... we do pellets and they find every tasty morsel!


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Mine won't take the pellets. Only crumbles. I only put out enough for one day. I don't see much waste.


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## Guest (Feb 26, 2010)

We don't have any chickens any more. Have been without for 2 years, but plan to get some more this spring. Mash was $6.50/50# while crumbles or pellets were $9. Not sure what it costs now. I'm just thinking ahead...

Ann, how much water do you add to the mash? Just enough to bind it together (its awfully dusty)? 

Adding water to the mash sounds like something that would be do-able for me. Probably wouldn't work if they were being free-fed. I don't free-feed the chickens, to encourage free-ranging. I used to feed them as much as they would consume in the morning. In the late morning, I would collect eggs and let them out for the day. In the evening, I would feed again, to get them back into their run. They would eat and shortly thereafter they'd go to roost for the night.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

I used enough to make it look like sloppy oatmeal. The grain soaks up the water pretty quickly. 

Since you do a "here's what you get, eat it and go out foraging" feeding  should work great. With the water in it, it WILL start to ferment in a couple of days.


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## jil101ca (Jul 2, 2007)

I use crumbles now. I too found they wasted alot of the mash picking through loking for the good bits. when I shoveled 25 lbs of mash out of their coop I switched. Alot less waste, i have tried the pellets but my girls don't eat them.


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## Betty Jean (Jan 7, 2009)

I also use Layena pellets. I supplemented with cat food when they molted I also give them scraps occasionally. For a treat some scrambled eggs. 

Oh, and they love leftover mac and cheese!


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## Cindy in PA (May 13, 2002)

I have used all over the years. I have never seen more waste with crumbles or mash. I just recently went to mash again, because it is local & made with Fertrell minerals & fish meal. I have always heard that with pellets they eat faster and have more time to be bad!!! I have been wondering lately, what is the "binder" they use to make pellets stick together, anyone know? I mostly got tired of Purina and their stranglehold on the market and their over priced product. I also wanted fish meal in their diet, as I just think it keeps them in better shape. My chickens eat whatever I put in front of them, but never tried pellets with the bantams I got last year.


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## egg head (Nov 11, 2009)

We feed pellets, yes they eat quick but low waste. Just a guess on what makes the pellets stick together, molasses


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## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

I feed layer pellets. When I first tried to switch them from crumbles, they turned up their little beaks at the pellets. I eliminated all treats and scratch the next day and they miraculously cleared out the feeder. Now I have no trouble getting them to eat them.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

I don't feed a pre-made feed. Our feed consists of soybean meal, oats, cracked corn, alfalfa meal, and a 2:1 dairy mineral. I feed oyster shells on the side for calcium. We pay 157.00 for a half ton at a time... About 7.85/50lbs. I don't know how we could afford our chickens before we got the custom mix, we were paying between 11.00 and 14.00/ bag of layer crumbles. The mix is about 18-20% protein, and I've even raised broilers on it fairly well. The downside is that they don't like the powder parts very much, but if I leave them to it they will eat it... Or I mix with warm water and give 'em a warm mash, which they love.  I'm going to ask next time I go to the feed mill if there's a way I can get a feed mix that is all cracked grains. They tried to talk me into grinding it all, but the birds seem to gasp and need water a lot with the powdered feeds, so I usually mix it with water for 'em.


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## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

I feed pellets - less waste than crumbles. Tho 1 brand of pellets breaks down so quickly it's more crumbles than pellets. I don't buy that brand any more. 

But where do you buy mash? Our feed stores don't sell anything by that name, but when my grandpa raised chickens he made homemade hot mash in winter. And I do, too. A mixture of leftovers & grains with meat parts we don't eat.


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## Guest (Feb 27, 2010)

I buy mash at the feed store. They mix it up and make it there. It's their own blend.


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## Natalie Rose (Jan 14, 2010)

I used crumbles for a long time but as was mentioned alot got wasted, some of the hens would deliberately scratch some out of the feeder onto the floor while they ate.
I only bought mash when that is all the feedstore had and they didn't like it and spilled even more of that than the crumbles.
I get pellets now for regular feeding but I always keep a bag of crumbles on hand for their "hot mash".
On the cold mornings in winter and sometimes in the early evening before they go in the coop for the night I make up some mash.
I use a galvanized pan and mix together, crumbles, cracked corn, scratch, sunflower seeds, oatmeal, a little oyster shell and whatever grains I may have on hand.
I then pour boiling water over the whole thing and let it sit for a couple of minutes.
They know when they see me coming outside with the pan, they go nuts stampeding towards me.
I think it helps them cope with some of those bitter cold mornings we have and then to go to bed at night with a full belly from a hot meal.
I wish we had a mill closer to us, the feed store only carries brand name but I am thinking of just mixing my own grain.


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