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Layers Pellets or Meal?
What should I feed – Layers Pellets or Meal?
 Layers pellets and meal are basically the same feed just in different forms. Where as each pellet will be a uniform blend of ingredients that is pressed into pellet form, a meal (or mash) is a coarsely ground mix that can be fed dry or wet. Feeding pellets means that the hens cannot feed selectively, where as with a meal the hens are able to pick out certain bits of feed so it is important to ensure that the entire meal ration is eaten to avoid an unbalanced diet. Feeding pellets is more popular than meal as there is usually less wastage and dust, however meal takes longer to eat, so for hens with limited ranging space feeding meal will keep them occupied for longer and can reduce feather pecking and other boredom related issues.
When changing hens from one feed to another it is important to do so gradually by mixing a little of the new feed in with the usual feed and slowly increasing the amount of new feed over the course of at least a week. Not only does this give the hens digestive systems time to adapt to the new feed it also allows hens to become familiar with a completely new feed. This is particularly important when changing from pellets to meal or vice versa as hens select their feed by size and texture, so changing from one form to another may mean that hens do not initially recognise the new feed as something to eat but will get use to it in time.
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