# Laying Pellets Ingredients



## MrHank (Sep 12, 2007)

Heres the question. We have found cheaper prices at a feed mill on almost all of our feeds. They are cheaper on pig feed, scratch, and cracked corn by alot. But they are 2.50 higher on their laying pellets then what we are currently paying. What are the ingredeints in these pellets. They speciallize in mixing custom feeds and propably would mox us something that would work for alot cheaper then we can buy what they already have bagged. Thanks.


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## wolffeathers (Dec 20, 2010)

Most feeds have a nutritional value tag with them, telling you the ingredients and the percentages(fat, protein, fiber, etc). If you take a tag from your old layer pellets and compare them to the more expensive, you may find the difference.

Some people here may have their own feed recipe, that you could take to the mill and have them mix.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Ask the mill. They may already have a layer formula that they will mix for you.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Same protein? All natural? Fillers can be high protein but cheap....James


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## Dead Rabbit (Oct 30, 2010)

generally ive found that the main difference is protein levels. higher the protein, the more expensive the feed.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

Dead Rabbit said:


> generally ive found that the main difference is protein levels. higher the protein, the more expensive the feed.


at your feedmill that's probably the difference. Their layer may well be 18% and the feed store layer ration might be just 16%. (that's how it runs here, anyway)

Most of the time, layer ration is lower in protein, but has added calcium (which is really cheap)

what you could do is just feed everyone your regular chicken feed, and then set up a feeder/trough/pan of oyster shell. Only the hens will take the shell, and during the summer you probably won't need to fill the oyster shell pan...they get plenty of calcium from greens (that is, if you range them at all). 

What is generally in chicken feed is soy(for protein), corn (for filler) and sometimes oats or wheat (depending on where you are). They also add a chicken mineral/nutrient which has all the salts and extra "stuff" that a chicken needs for a well rounded diet. In layer, they then add calcium. 

Pelletizing will usually cost something, too. My mill charges something like 50cents a 100# to run it through the pellet mill (and you need a LARGE order)

ETA: From one of our bags: Corn, soy meal, processed plant protein (alfalfa meal), oats, (and then the various chemicals that make up the additive)


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## Dead Rabbit (Oct 30, 2010)

Wisconsin Ann said:


> at your feedmill that's probably the difference. Their layer may well be 18% and the feed store layer ration might be just 16%. (that's how it runs here, anyway)
> 
> Most of the time, layer ration is lower in protein, but has added calcium (which is really cheap)
> 
> ...


imo there is never too much calcium. i run solid bottom rabbit feeders hooked onto the wire of my coops that i fill when need be from the outside of the coop. (same method as feeding rabbits)...

my system is 3/4 oyster shell to 1/4 granite grit. free fed yr round. even when they have plenty of natural goodness in the summer. ...

ive noticed on the SS layer ration,,it advertises it being a vegitarian diet. which i guess to politically correct uninformed pet lovers this sounds like a good thing. but i dont care for a veg. diet for my fowl. its not natural. and soy isnt the best source of protein. its high %%, but not in a real world setting is it optimal. and ive never cared for how much corn was in pellets cause as you said its a filler. and a cheap one at that. then most folks me included then add more corn to their diet. i read once where corn and its products constituted up to 60% of a pellet rations. i would love to be able to formulate my own pellet.

ive always wondered what the ingrediant "processed plant protein", actually was. so its alfalfa......thanks for the education.:thumb:


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

The thing about soy is that it's cheap because it's a byproduct of the oil press and it's HIGH in protein...really high. 

The processed plant protein is usually alfalfa around here I've been told; can also be from toasted soy and sunflower. I'm sure there are others. It seems to be a chemically or heat treated way of extracting the proteins from the "leftovers" to make the amino acids more easily available. There's a lot more to it, I'm sure, but that's what I've gathered from the the folks I've talked to and the research I've done.


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## Dead Rabbit (Oct 30, 2010)

Wisconsin Ann said:


> The thing about soy is that it's cheap because it's a byproduct of the oil press and it's HIGH in protein...really high.
> 
> The processed plant protein is usually alfalfa around here I've been told; can also be from toasted soy and sunflower. I'm sure there are others. It seems to be a chemically or heat treated way of extracting the proteins from the "leftovers" to make the amino acids more easily available. There's a lot more to it, I'm sure, but that's what I've gathered from the the folks I've talked to and the research I've done.



i wonder if the heated extraction process kills nutrients in the vegatation? rendering it basically as nothing more than filler??


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Dead Rabbit said:


> i wonder if the heated extraction process kills nutrients in the vegatation? rendering it basically as nothing more than filler??


Actually, it is quite the opposite. Cooking makes for better bioavailability.


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## lambs.are.cute (Aug 15, 2010)

corn it not so cheep here now. I bought feed yesterday and the layer crumbles cost me 13.99 while the cracked corn was 12.49! I also buy cob and have been noticing less corn in the cob.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

Dead Rabbit said:


> i wonder if the heated extraction process kills nutrients in the vegatation? rendering it basically as nothing more than filler??





tinknal said:


> Actually, it is quite the opposite. Cooking makes for better bioavailability.


Exactly. It frees up the protein and amino acids. Of the two types of processing, heat does reduce *some* of the vitamins available, but the protein is the same in either process.


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## Dead Rabbit (Oct 30, 2010)

Wisconsin Ann said:


> Exactly. It frees up the protein and amino acids. Of the two types of processing, heat does reduce *some* of the vitamins available, but the protein is the same in either process.


its not the protein im worried about. i can add that....and better sources of it at that. but its the loss of vit/and or mineral nutrition that im wondering about. 



> Cooking makes for better bioavailability.


this,,,im not familiar with.


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## MrHank (Sep 12, 2007)

Right now we are feeding scratch grains and layena pellets. The hens have access to oyster shell year round. They do free range all year though but right now they pretty much hang out at the barn and eat the corn we toss out at them when feeding the other animals. The pellets are just quite pricey for the amount of chickens we are feeding. The mill mentioned a laying mash which as long as nutrion wise is pretty much the same I think would be fine for them. 


Lamb.are.cute what size back of cracked corn are you buying? I have found it here for 6.24/50lb bags. 


Thanks everyone for your input! I appreciate it.


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