Belstra Milling Co., an Indiana animal feed manufacturer since 1954, announced Oct. 7 that it had entered into an agreement to purchase NatureServe feeds and the NatureServe brand assets from NutriQuest and is now announcing the official acquisition and newly formed partnership with Hoovers Hatchery, a longtime user of NatureServe feed.

The purchase of NatureServe will further increase Belstra Milling Co.’s share of feed in the retail marketplace. The combination of purchasing NatureServe and the partnership with Hoover’s Hatchery, with NatureServe as Hoover’s Hatchery’s preferred feed, will enhance the quality feed consumers desire, the company said in an announcement.

NatureServe products include chick and layer poultry feeds. After acquiring NatureServe, Belstra Milling plans to begin offering an extended product line that includes chick, layer, duck, turkey/gamebird, goat and rabbit feeds. NatureServe feeds feature the addition of essential oils, prebiotics and probiotics to promote happy, healthy and productive animals, the announcement said.

“We would like to thank NutriQuest and Hoover’s Hatchery and for selecting Belstra Milling Co. for this great opportunity to purchase the NatureServe brand and begin manufacturing NatureServe feed,” Belstra Milling vice president Nick DeKryger said. “We are excited to have purchased NatureServe and to see what the future holds with the addition of the NatureServe feed brand as well as the potential growth in the retail consumer market.”

Hoover's Hatchery director of business development Tony Halsted said, “As the leaders in the backyard poultry hatching industry, Hoover’s Hatchery is pleased to be working with NatureServe. We raise our flocks on small family farms using the same essential oils for health and vitality found in the line of NatureServe Poultry Feeds. Their line of poultry products as well as other species takes a natural approach at a great price.”

Belstra Milling is a family- and employee-owned company in DeMotte, Ind., that manufactures Belstra Action Feeds, Heinold Feeds and NatureServe Feeds. Belstra also offers other feed brands for general retail as well as some custom feed and nutrition upon request.

Hoover’s Hatchery was started in 1944 in Rudd, Iowa, when Bob and Helen Hoover took over a small existing hatchery. They retired in the early 1970s, at which point longtime hatchery employees Doug and Mary Halsted decided to take over the business. They owned and operated the hatchery for 47 years. Today, Hoover’s is owned by a group of families with the same values on which the Hoovers and the Halsteds originally built it.