Organic vs. Non Organic Feed

[mikecnorthwest]

Organic vs. non-organic is totally a personal choice in my opinion, but I personally don't see any significant reason to pay more for organics. You should feed whatever makes you the most comfortable.

 

[Nambroth]

You are on the right track- researching! Find out what you can, decide what you are most comfortable doing, and what you can afford... and go from there.

There are strong opinions on both sides of the organic/GMO fence on this forum, and in the interest of not arguing, I won't post my specific opinions here. I will only share my observations:

I feed an organic and soy free feed, and raised my chicks on it from day 1, so I never have had trouble with them being picky about what they eat out of it. This may not be the case for someone switching adult chickens onto it-- I don't know. There is a powder left that they don't eat very well, and so every few days I dump it out of their feeder and into a large bowl, mix it with a bit of water, and they eat it like crazy (it's gone within 30 minutes, so no risk of spoilage or mold).

I will also note that my coop, run, nor chickens have any odor to them. Fresh droppings can have a slight sharp odor if you are close by, but it quickly goes away and there is no lingering manure smell. I cannot tell you specifically why this is-- but I can tell you that I have had visitors exclaim their surprise at the lack of odor (compared to their chickens). And, having visited other people's chickens (that had clean coops!) I have to agree. I have to imagine that this must be dietary. Of course you shouldn't chose your feed based on 'how smelly it makes the chickens' but it was an unexpected (and welcomed) side effect for me.

My eggs have a slightly different flavor than those of a family friend who raises her hens on a different feed, but I will be the first to say that they are not better NOR worse in flavor-- just slightly different. The laying rate from my hens seems on average with anyone else. My chickens are not yet old enough for me to make any observations on long term health, and furthermore there are so many other factors that go into their health that any observation in health changes may or may not be linked to diet.

I hope this helps in some way!

 

[phelpcd1]

Can someone recommend a brand of organic feed that has worked well for them? I'm doing organic, and I want to find a good source before we get our girls.

 

[MsLisaG]

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I posted this before I realized what a hot-button issue it is, I didn't mean to spark a heated debate or anything. I think I am leaning toward organic feed. Cost isn't a big issue for me since I will only have three, but the more I am researching and reading here I think organic is the right way to go for us. I don't live all out organic, but I do try to when I can. I would love some recommendations for organic feed, if anyone has any!


Lisa

 

[SweetSilver]

Organic starter in unmedicated, that is one big difference. I buy organic. I don't have many chickens, and when compared to how much the cat food costs, it's nothing. And my cats don't lay eggs either, they just eat birds. So, no I don't mind paying more.

You will hear that there is no nutritional difference between organic/ non-organic, but in studies that compared the nutritional value of org/ NO veggies, the organic was notably higher. Would this apply to feed? I can't answer that.

Funny how picky chickens can get.

 

[cockadoodle]

I just switched to organic feed (from Modesto Mills) and my chicken love the stuff. It has been difficult finding it until recently around here. The feed looks a lot better, you can really see the difference. Based on the scale of my little operation, neither cost or difficulty in finding it are really showstoppers for me. If I had 50,000 chickens, I probably couldn't afford it. Most of the negative feedback regarding organics on here will be from people that don't buy anything organic, even for themselves, so they are definitely not going to buy it for their animals, pros and cons aside.... For me, the only question was "Is this feed better than what I was previously buying?"...with a definite yes as the answer, the choice was easy. I have raised a number of chickens on conventional layena feed with zero problems, I think the organic stuff is just higher quality. It's no different than any other 'you get what you pay for' situation.

 

[MsLisaG]

I'm glad to hear that someone likes the Modesto Mills, I did a quick search and that brand was the first to pop up. I have to drive to a town about 20 minutes away to get it, but I go that way regularly so it won't be a big deal. Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[deek]

Does anyone have experience with Rogue Chick Starter, Organic?

 

[Johann Torre]

hy Erica,
iI will like to mix my own natural feed. do you have a mix recipe you can share ... or thats secret of the chef? haha. The one I have/made is from what I can get here and has decent price: yellow corn, oats, wheat, "whole-grain" soy (heated and ready), fish flour, mixed minerals and I can add fresh cut alfalfa ... but I have doubts on amounts and if soy is ok or not ... I hope you can help me or some of the other friends of back-yard-chickens... Thanks in advance

 

[Jewellan]

Even though you may want to feed organic (as I did/do), the feed ultimately needs to provide a fully balanced diet for your flock.
My experience with one organic feed turned out to be somewhat negative, in that respect. The feed I tried was not available in a crumble (the form my girls prefer), but only mash or pellet. I opted for mash because my girls don't seem to like pellets.
Turned out that they would pick out the bits they preferred from this soy-free formula, leaving behind much of the field peas that were the main protein source. Soon after the first bag was finished, I had feather picking, which I attributed to a lack of protein.
Once back on the regular commercial crumble, which seemed more palatable to them, things seemed to calm down.
I may try another brand of organic--probably in pellet form to ensure more complete nutrition, but I really wish an organic crumble were available!

Modesto Milling Inc, has an Organic Crumble for layers. 209-523-9167 I have not used it yet. My girls are still on chick starter (just got them) but I have been on the internet looking for a good organic feed to put them on when they reach laying age. I can't say if it's a good feed or not, I have not tried it but their pricing list does say that they have a layer Crumble.