# Crumbles or pellets?



## cherylb90

I was told to keep my chicks on crumbles until 18 weeks, then switch to pellets. However my friend only feeds her hens (2 yrs) old crumbles, she said they waste the pellets. Are there preferences? Is one just as good as the other? What is the most effective?


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## Jim

cherylb90 said:


> I was told to keep my chicks on crumbles until 18 weeks, then switch to pellets. However my friend only feeds her hens (2 yrs) old crumbles, she said they waste the pellets. Are there preferences? Is one just as good as the other? What is the most effective?


We only used pellets until we found H and H Old Fashioned Crumble. I have little waste using it. Some people use wet or fermented feed.


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## Apyl

I use pellets on all my flock. I think I switched the babies to pellet around 8 weeks old. I never put thought into it, I just happen to be buying crumble and decided to grab pellets.


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## TheLazyL

Waste pellets?

My BO would throw the pellets all over their run. So I wouldn't refill the feeder until they had eated all the pellets they had "wasted".


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## Bee

I use mash..much fresher than the pellets or crumbles. I had to buy pellets once and my chickens didn't quite know what to do with them..but they sure didn't like them. I didn't either...they have a dull color and stale smell compared to fresh ground mash.


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## Lady_Alia

I use pellets. I find that it's more filling for the birds and I get less waste.


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## hildar

I have always used the crumbles with ours along with a mix of cracked corn. The few times that I have gotten the pellets the chickens acted like they didn't know if it was food or not. In fact the dog ate most of the pellets.


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## nj2wv

i use pellets because of less waste .. it took awhile for them to get used to it but now they love it .. if i run low on funds then i will mix in some cracked corn to make it last a little longer


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## ten-acre-farms

I like pellets best. I don't know why.


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## ThreeJ

I mix the two together, best of both worlds.


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## broncorckcrwlr

I just bought my first bag of pellets last week. I don't know it it's because they don't like them as well or aren't wasting as much or what but I am not having to put as much feed in the feeder each day as I did with crumbles. I'm gonna stick with the pellets for a while and see how they do.


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## calebpayne70

I would use crumbles they are a cheeper but same thing during the spring days when u have a chick hatching corn is the best because it makes a chicken fatter which means more body heat from the hen


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## Shann0

I got my first bag of crumbles a few weeks ago. Surprisingly it didnt look much different from the chick feed I had used previously. Does this mean my bag of "crumbles" was not good quality/got "uncrumbled" at the feed store/in transit to feed store? I was disappointed, but unsure of what it SHOULD actually look like.


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## Bee

The differences in feed size/texture is just that...crumbles are fine ground grains, steamed, and tumbled to form the texture of crumbles. Pellets are just fine ground grains that have been extruded through a form/blade that forms the feed into pellets while it is still wet from being steamed. Mash is a mix of fine ground and course ground grains that is meant to be fed wet...in a mash or porridge.

All these differences are meant for different methods of feeding or different ages of birds being fed. Chicks are fed crumble because of their size and the ease of their eating it.


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## Jim

Shann0 said:


> I got my first bag of crumbles a few weeks ago. Surprisingly it didnt look much different from the chick feed I had used previously. Does this mean my bag of "crumbles" was not good quality/got "uncrumbled" at the feed store/in transit to feed store? I was disappointed, but unsure of what it SHOULD actually look like.


An Old Fashioned style crumble will have some pellet in it, but mostly roasted grains and such. You may want to look for something like that if you are not wanting pellets. H and H Old Fashioned is what I use. See picture for sample of how it looks.









Like this.


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## Shann0

Jim said:


> An Old Fashioned style crumble will have some pellet in it, but mostly roasted grains and such. You may want to look for something like that if you are not wanting pellets. H and H Old Fashioned is what I use. See picture for sample of how it looks.
> 
> Like this.


Would the feed you use be good for fermenting? Or is that mostly best for the crumbles/pellets?


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## Bee

Any feed is good for fermenting, though there is a bad smell factor when using feeds with fish meal as the protein source. No matter what type of feed you ferment, the only difference there will be is in the texture. The formulated, steamed feeds are pretty much the same texture when wet but mash or whole grains will have more large pieces...sort of like a "grits" texture compared to an "oatmeal" texture, or the difference between mashed potatoes and smashed potatoes.


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## Jim

Bee said:


> Any feed is good for fermenting, though there is a bad smell factor when using feeds with fish meal as the protein source. No matter what type of feed you ferment, the only difference there will be is in the texture. The formulated, steamed feeds are pretty much the same texture when wet but mash or whole grains will have more large pieces...sort of like a "grits" texture compared to an "oatmeal" texture, or the difference between mashed potatoes and smashed potatoes.


Ewwww. I didn't think of fermented fish!


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## Bee

Yeah..they say it's an odor one won't soon forget.


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## Shann0

Bee said:


> Yeah..they say it's an odor one won't soon forget.


Alrighty, maybe I shall pass on this one. ;0


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## Jim

Shann0 said:


> Alrighty, maybe I shall pass on this one. ;0


I did ferment the H and H pellets, same formula, just a pelleted version. I don't recall a fishy smell, but also only fermented a few bags that I had, it was the only way to get the flock to eat the pellets.


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## CharlieEcho

*Pellets;*

I'm partial to the pellets. I get less waste this way, I think. They scratch the feed our of their feeders anyway, so they can, or others can, still easily get to the pellets that are spilled. The crumbles get mixed or lost once it's out of the feeders.


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## Bee

When I fed dry, I just wrapped a trough feeder with welded wire fencing and this halted all the flicking and scratching through the feed and resulting feed waste. 

Now I feed wet feeds, the trough is still in use, though now I don't have to have the top covered with wire because there is no scratching, shoveling or flicking through the feed when wet.


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