Which Natural Farm Feed Product Should I Buy For My Chickens?
Layer? Premium Layer? Broiler? Premium Broiler?
If you keep roosters in your flock, you will probably want to avoid the Layer products as they include calcium, which the hens process through but it accumulates in the roosters and contributes to gout. I do have roosters so I feed the Broiler/Grower line and offer eggshells and calcium separately.
The Premium line -- that is the Premium Layer and the Premium Grower -- includes the Fertrell's Poultry NutraBalancer that serves as a Fermentation kick-starter. If you are fermenting, you either want to be buying the Premium products or the separate bag of Fertrell's and adding it to the non-Premium lines.
As I am feeding 100 birds, it makes sense for me to buy the Fertrell's product separately and add it in by hand. If I were only feeding a dozen birds or so, I would just buy the Premium line.
So to sum up, if you have a normal size flock, with a rooster, get Premium Broiler. No rooster? Get Premium Layer.
If you have a crazy number of birds as I do, spring for the $80 Fertrell's bag once a year and buy Broiler if you have a rooster and Layer if you do not have a rooster.
More details on fermenting feed found here. And you can join a Natural Farm Feeds Buying Group here.
