[chickadee]

£7.40 for fancy feed company 20kg pellets - the few dozen eggs i do sell from my 4 girls so they pay for this themselves

[tiptopchickendon]

£7.40 for fancy feed company 20kg pellets - the few dozen eggs i do sell from my 4 girls so they pay for this themselves

Same there, my 6 girls surplus eggs over the course of the last 6 Months have paid for their feed, bedding and shavings

Farmgates Layers pellets from Hunters farmer shop on the A5 is £5.50 for 20Kg, a 20kg bag of D&H layers in Pets at Home, which is just 800yds away - £9.75   

Also the bales of Bedmax and sundown Red/green both come in at about £5-6

[helens-hens]

I notice Aunt Sally mentioned that there are some bad quality pellets around - are there any brands to avoid or what exactly should you look for when buying?

The nearest place for me is an independent pet food / garden supplies who actually sell them loose but I haven't tried them yet because I wasn't sure how to tell the quality. I usually end up getting Dodson & Horrell from Pets at Home because I have heard of the make. Another I tried was 'Castle Feeds' which I got from a farm supplies shop a few miles away.

Any thoughts?

[lightyears]

A group of us at my allotment go to the local livestock market and get it for the eqivlent of about £4 a bag. 5 Max

[Ma Lowe]

I buy the 20kg bag of A&P Small Holder Natural free range layers pellets at £8.12.

[alisonwo]

It's amazing the differences in price, I pay £7 approx for CC Moore own brand which I have used for years.   Pets at Home are disgusting prices, surprised anyone buys them.  Might have a look around at other makes though, the problem is of course delivery costs.

[Goldfinger]

What's the bedmax like? Is it the same as that easibed, or that other really absorbent bedding stuff (can't remember the name  :blink: )??

[hillfooter]

Saw Spillers Layer at £5.95 a bag or £5.45 if you bought 10 at a time in Frontier Country Store.

HF

[wolverine]

Just paid £7.30 for 20 kg of farmgate layers pellets I thouht that was cheap but by the sound of it proberbly not. it's a small pet shop though and we all have to make a living hey? I'll pay for the convienience of having him round the corner and the size of the shop I can't imagine he can keep many 20 kg bags of anything in stock . I would hate to give pets at home money the greedy errrr people.

[tiptopchickendon]

What's the bedmax like? Is it the same as that easibed, or that other really absorbent bedding stuff (can't remember the name  :blink: )??

I thought that, so bought some...turned out to be just wood shavings...

But turned out useful, as I use it to put down on the floor of the run and pen, then just rake it up and stick it on the compost heap when it needs changing. Girls love rooting around in the stuff when I first put it down. 

[hillfooter]

What's the bedmax like? Is it the same as that easibed, or that other really absorbent bedding stuff (can't remember the name  :blink: )??

I thought that, so bought some...turned out to be just wood shavings...

But turned out useful, as I use it to put down on the floor of the run and pen, then just rake it up and stick it on the compost heap when it needs changing. Girls love rooting around in the stuff when I first put it down. 

Light softwood shavings are amonst the best litter material you can get.  The resin in the wood is a mild disinfectant (the reason pine chopping boards are even more hygenic than plastic) and if they are thin and fluffy they are very absorbant.  I prefer Snowflakes Premiere(?) or Hunters though no doubt there are many equally good brands.  I don't like any made from reclaimed wood who knows what chemicals might have been used to treat the wood such as woodworm treatment which is very toxic.

HF

[Aunt Sally]

I don't like any made from reclaimed wood who knows what chemicals might have been used to treat the wood such as woodworm treatment which is very toxic.

HF

Might discourage red mite though HF

[tiptopchickendon]

What's the bedmax like? Is it the same as that easibed, or that other really absorbent bedding stuff (can't remember the name  :blink: )??

I thought that, so bought some...turned out to be just wood shavings...

But turned out useful, as I use it to put down on the floor of the run and pen, then just rake it up and stick it on the compost heap when it needs changing. Girls love rooting around in the stuff when I first put it down. 

Light softwood shavings are amonst the best litter material you can get.  The resin in the wood is a mild disinfectant (the reason pine chopping boards are even more hygenic than plastic) and if they are thin and fluffy they are very absorbant.  I prefer Snowflakes Premiere(?) or Hunters though no doubt there are many equally good brands.  I don't like any made from reclaimed wood who knows what chemicals might have been used to treat the wood such as woodworm treatment which is very toxic.

HF

Here is a little bit more on bedmax from their own site

http://www.bedmaxshavings.com/detail.php?lang=en&s=20&c=23

I initally put it in the coop, but they are quite large flake and thought it would be uncomfortable for them...

[hillfooter]

What's the bedmax like? Is it the same as that easibed, or that other really absorbent bedding stuff (can't remember the name  :blink: )??

I thought that, so bought some...turned out to be just wood shavings...

But turned out useful, as I use it to put down on the floor of the run and pen, then just rake it up and stick it on the compost heap when it needs changing. Girls love rooting around in the stuff when I first put it down. 

Light softwood shavings are amonst the best litter material you can get.  The resin in the wood is a mild disinfectant (the reason pine chopping boards are even more hygenic than plastic) and if they are thin and fluffy they are very absorbant.  I prefer Snowflakes Premiere(?) or Hunters though no doubt there are many equally good brands.  I don't like any made from reclaimed wood who knows what chemicals might have been used to treat the wood such as woodworm treatment which is very toxic.

HF

Here is a little bit more on bedmax from their own site

http://www.bedmaxshavings.com/detail.php?lang=en&s=20&c=23

I initally put it in the coop, but they are quite large flake and thought it would be uncomfortable for them...

Sounds good but you need to see it as some horse beddings are a bit too heavy for chx.  Many people like Hemcore and in fact I've used this and found it pretty good and has the benefit of easier composting than wood. On the whole though I prefer wood shavings because of it's bacterial performance and absorbancy and Hemcore is a little to hard for the nestbox.
HF

[peeppeeps]

i love the Garvo feed so do the girls 714 - FANCY YOUNG HEN GROWER PELLETS i pay 11.95 but it is well worth it for them and the benefit they get from it plus the poo is not as smelly and much firmer and on the plus side if need be i can order it in or take a nice drive to get it but going from Farm Gate and Allen and Page to that i can truly see the Difference in the Birds. and the 731 - GARVO LAYERS PELLETS COMPLETE is only 9.95 so i am happy with it. here is a web address in case you would like to take a look 

http://www.newlandgrange.com/index.htm