Dodson & Horrell Layers Pellets – 20kg

Dodson & Horrell Layers Pellets – 20kg

A complete pelleted ration for laying birds, fed from point of lay right through to the end of the laying period. Because it is a complete feed, it is the whole diet — the pellet carries the protein, the calcium for shell formation and the vitamin and mineral fortification, and nothing else needs adding beyond grit and water.

It is a 3.2mm pellet, small enough for bantams and laying ducks as well as full-size hens, and the 20kg bag is the size that makes sense once you are past three or four birds. Dodson & Horrell built their name on horse feed and have milled smallholder rations alongside it for years.

Performance & Benefits

• Complete feed — no separate balancer, mixed corn or supplement is needed for the diet to work.
• Pelleted rather than mashed, so birds cannot pick out the bits they like and leave the fortification behind.
• Calcium is carried in the pellet itself, which is what a laying bird needs for shell formation.
• 3.2mm pellet diameter, small enough for bantams and laying ducks.
• 20kg bag, the sensible size for a flock of more than a few birds.

Suitable For

• Laying hens from point of lay, usually around 20–24 weeks, through to the end of lay.
• Laying ducks and laying bantams.
• Free range, garden and housed flocks alike.
• Not for chicks, growers or any bird not yet in lay — those need a chick crumb and then a grower pellet, such as Fancy Feeds Chick Crumb followed by Fancy Feeds Grower Pellets.

Feeding

• Feed as the complete diet. Offer ad lib in a hopper or feeder and let birds regulate their own intake.
• Provide insoluble grit separately so birds can grind their food, and oyster shell if shell quality slips.
• Fresh, clean water at all times — a laying hen drinks far more than most keepers expect.
• Change over from a grower ration gradually across a week or so rather than overnight.
• If you also scatter mixed corn, keep it to a small afternoon handful; corn dilutes a balanced ration fast.

Composition & Analysis

• 20kg bag. 3.2mm pellet.
• Dodson & Horrell's own website now covers their equine range only and carries no page for this feed, so no composition or analysis is stated here as theirs.
• Stockist listings circulate a declaration of crude protein 16%, crude oil and fats 3.5%, crude fibre 4%, crude ash 12.5% and calcium 3.75%. Those figures are not published by Dodson & Horrell on their own site and are given here only as a note.
• Treat the ingredient list and analysis printed on your bag as the authority.

Care & Caution

• This is a high-calcium layers feed. Fed to chicks, growers or any bird not yet laying, that calcium load can damage the kidneys — it is a genuine welfare problem, not a technicality. Wait until point of lay.
• Do not feed to birds being treated with a medicated ration unless your vet has cleared it.