I bought 3 bags of chicken feed. The first one is Prince, made in Wisconsin. Cost was $19.00 for a 50lb. Bag. Purchased at landmark feed mill in Cederburg, wi. The protein source is from pigs. I didn't realize that when I bought it. I know chickens are not vegetarian but Im pretty sure they don't eat pigs, but it didn't really bother me. I opened it up and it has a funny order and is fine ground so as your scooping it the dust goes into the air and you have to smell it. How did the chickens like it? They gobbled it up likes pack do wolves. Makes one happy when your chickens like their food. The disadvantage is the girls make a big mess, they spill it all over the ground (out of their feeder).
I also purchased this bag of organic feed from Landmark in Cederburg and it's made in Wi too. It was 24.00 for a 40 lb bag. It smelt and looked like something I would eat for breakfast, very promising, not a processed look but like real food. I heard a lot of good comments on the Internet about organic and was excited to try. It is vegetarian. The girls gobbled it up like it was scratch or a treat which made me happy.
This is the first bag of feed I bought, Nutrina from Farm & Fleet in Oak Creek, wi and it's the feed Kleemas mill in Racine, wi carries, it (bought a bag there too) was $16.00 for a 50 lb bag. It is in a processed looking pellet form. No odor and the chickens gobble it up. They don't make a big mess, most of the food stays in their feeder.
So, I thought I'd put the three feeds next to each other to battle it out with the girls. They all ran to the middle dish with the organic feed in it, it was a clear winner. The runner up was the Prince and dead last, they didn't even touch it, was the Nutrena.
It was an interesting experiment, they do gobble up just about anything that's in their run, but I did feel good how happy they seemed with the organic feed. Definitely personal preference as to what is available in your area and cost. Landmark mill is 18 miles away and farm and fleet I can run to over my lunch break at work.
