Anyone tried Agway's new soy-free feed 'hearty hen'?

I just have to ask the question: Why do we want to be completely soy free? I mean it was the imperial food of China for a reason- high in nutrients and protein. I suppose a animal by product may have some value but the bottom line is the bottom line...cost. Certainly I'm not an advocate for making an omnivorous animal a vegitarian but then again I free range so they get as much insect and animal protein they can find too.

I'm sorry, my diatribe was impulsive. More so made by the color of the ale...

This is a great development.  I will have to email Agway and see what the ingredients are.  I wish it would have animal protein in it like they use to have in their regular.  Probably doesn't, but worth a look anyway.  China and most asian countries eat fermented soy, not soybeans and meal treated with hexane.  They don't throw it in every food either.

I was thinking of going soy free with my chickens only because soy beans are a very, very heavily pesticided crop.   I have also been looking into the organic feed for them.

I called the local Agway & they did not get any in with this shipment, but plan on carrying it.  While I hate that Agway is owned by Cargill, their feed has always been decent & reasonably priced.  I presently use a feed milled by a local farmer that is transitional organic & soy free.  The mash works right now, as I only fill it up once a day, so that they eat all the powder etc. & they have been laying well.  I may be tempted to try Agway's soy free if I want to go back to pellets.  I don't like the fact that it will still have GMO corn, but you can't have everything.  Waiting to hear back on ingredients.  The feed is listed as 18% and I would like to know how they get it there with no soy and probably no animal protein.  Seems like some companies are looking at what customers want anyway.  

If it is a Meal, Crumble or Pellet there are a few things that they could be using to get the protein up to 18%.

Brewers Dried Grain 28% CP

Corn Gluten Meal 45% CP

Linseed Meal Solvent 39% CP

Pea Culls 25% CP

Peanut Meal Solvent 52% CP

Rapemeal Solvent 41% CP

Safflower Meal Dehulled Solvent 48% CP

Sunflower Meal Solvent 50% CP

etc.

They could even be using

Urea 46% which is 288% CP

CP = Crude Protein

Chris 

Yea, only a few of those things would be good in the feed, that's why I was hoping they got smart & added animal protein again.

Thank you so much for being interested in the new Agway Hearty Hen product.  We are so excited that you’ve already seen it on our website.  This product is officially hitting stores today!  Depending on a dealer’s ordering schedule it may not get to a dealer until later in the week or even the week after.  If you are not sure whether your Agway dealer is going to carry this product I highly encourage you to go in and ask them to.  Hearty Hen will likely retail at about $1 more than the regular Agway Egg Layer Pellets.   

We have formulated this feed without using soy products including soybean meal and soybean oil or any other soy product.  Protein is coming from other high protein plant sources.  We do not add any animal by-products.  Different people have different reasons for wanting a soy free product.  Whatever the reason we did see this as a niche so wanted to provide an option for folks looking for such a feed.  Although this is not an organic feed, Hearty Hen is a natural product.  It contains flaxseed to boost the omega 3 fatty acid level and marigold extract to help enhance yolk color.  We’ve also included prebiotics  and probiotics to help your hens stay strong and healthy.

Thank you again for your interest in Hearty Hen.  Please give it a try and tell your friends about it.  We are really excited about this new product and glad to see you are as well. Check the website and publications over the next few months for promotions and visit our website to sign up for emails including helpful hints and savings.

Here is the feed tag. Keep in mind that we make Agway Hearty Hen in three different locations, so it varies slightly depending on the mill.

Wishing you Happy, Hearty Hens!

Should I take that to mean that the feed is mostly flax seed meal?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChickensAreSweet 

Should I take that to mean that the feed is mostly flax seed meal?

Yea, I never saw a non soy feed with flax as the first ingredient.  The rest is corn & corn byproducts except for the wheat.  Never saw one without peas in some amount either.  How can the Marigold seed extract be the second ingredient?  I appreciate the posting of the tag & the information, but I think Agway missed it on this one.  I will stick with my locally made mash that has a variety of things in it.