Pullet grower and developer feed: buying the rearing block
Pullet grower and developer feed carries birds from the chick phase to point of lay. It is the bulk of rearing tonnage, bought against a body-weight and uniformity target rather than a growth rate, which makes consistency between batches the main commercial requirement.
Who buys at this stage
- Rearing farms contracting the whole rearing period with one mill
- Egg producers rearing in-house and sizing annual rearing tonnage
- Buyers who need pre-lay feed specified as its own line item
Form and packaging
- Mash or crumble as your rearing system requires
- Bagged or bulk depending on rearing unit size
- Batch labelling that distinguishes developer from pre-lay clearly
Commercial feed types
Grower / developer
The main rearing volume, usually mash or crumble depending on the system.
Pre-lay feed
A short block before lay where the programme calls for it; specify it separately.
What the RFQ must specify
- Pullets reared per year and weeks on each rearing diet
- Breed target body-weight curve being followed
- Form (mash or crumble) and particle-size expectation
- Quantity per shipment and committed annual volume
- Delivery point, port and preferred Incoterm
- Delivery schedule and acceptable lead time
- Packaging and pallet or bulk handling constraints
- Certifications and documents required with each shipment
- Currency, price basis and how long the price must hold
What moves the cost
- Cereal and protein prices over the rearing window
- Fibre and filler ingredient availability locally
- Mill changeover cost between rearing diets
- Delivery frequency to what is often a small, separate site
Storage and shelf life
- Rearing sites often have limited storage — match delivery size to it
- Keep rearing feed away from laying feed to avoid cross-use
- Turn over within weeks; mash deteriorates faster than pellets in humidity
Certifications and documents to ask for
- GMP+ B1 / FAMI-QS or an equivalent feed safety scheme
- HACCP plan and the mill's own quality manual
- Certificate of analysis per batch (proximate analysis, moisture)
- Mycotoxin, salmonella and heavy-metal testing regime
- Traceability of raw materials and batch numbering
- Non-GMO, halal or organic certification where your market requires it
- Country-specific feed registration and import documentation
Supplier evaluation checklist
- Installed capacity against your monthly tonnage, not just the annual total
- Evidence of supplying the same stage and pellet form commercially
- Batch consistency record and how out-of-spec batches are handled
- Lead time from order to delivery, and behaviour during raw-material volatility
- Price basis: fixed, indexed to a named raw material, or reviewed periodically
- Delivery capability to your point, Incoterm and vehicle or vessel constraints
- Technical support available on-site and the escalation route when results slip
Size the volume first
Other layers stages
Questions buyers ask
How is rearing feed tonnage planned?
Why does batch consistency matter so much in rearing?
Can FeedMatch advise on the developer diet?
How the request is handled
You submit the requirement, a person at FeedMatch reviews it, and only then are qualified suppliers approached on your behalf. Offers come back normalised to the same delivered basis so they can actually be compared. No supplier receives your details automatically and no introduction happens without that review.
Submit a feed project requestFeedMatch Group is an independent, supplier-neutral procurement platform. We are not a feed manufacturer, trader, nutritionist, veterinarian or lender, and we do not guarantee prices, supply, FCR or animal performance. Figures on this page are indicative commercial planning ranges, not specifications. Every requirement is reviewed by a person before any supplier is approached, and no supplier receives your details automatically. Last reviewed 16 September 2026.