[karlooben]

i am feeding my guys layers meal as that  is what they are used to . but i have one very experienced farmer freind telling me  not  to wean they over to pellets and another one says  wean they onto or mix the pellets with the meal ? :?  :?   who do i listen to .

i've mixed in small handfulls of pellets with the meal since sunday an one of my girls went funny with her mood { shes fine now i think she was getting broody } i thought that was due to me giving pellets an the guy who said not to feed the pellets reckon they could be to rich for my girls { that i dont know } . but now i am seeing to much runny poo well to much for my liking  could that be from the pellets  :?:  please advice guys

[Foxy]

chickens digestive systems can be a little sensitve to any changes in diet -even brands sometimes.
Laying birds or birds over 18weeks old need whats called "layers' pellets" or "Layers mash" they are both identical ones just a "mashed" version of the other! sometimes called "meal" which I think is what your birds are used too. Both are nutritionally balanced to support a laying hens requirements in terms of ratios and vitamins. There are other types of feed for chicks and growers which contain slightly different ratios to support the different nutritional requrements of growing birds.
Most good feed stores will be able supply you with good quality poultry feeds, a couple of good brands are Smallholders and Marriages.
So when changing feeds  take a week gradually replacing the old feed with the feed of your choice. Pellets tend to be favoured as they are less messy!
Hope this helps!

[karlooben]

layers pellets is what i would prefer as they are slighty cheaper from one of my suppliers , but when u get told one thing by someone u trust an then something else also by someone else it can be tricky an differcult to decide what to do .. i will keep an eye on them over the next 48 hours an see if there is any difference in thembut so far so good .