What’s important to you about feed?

[high5]

Just jumping in here after reading this interesting discussion. May I recommend a book? Eating to Extinction by Dan Saladino, published this year. Absolutely fascinating read about what we've done to eliminate diversity in our food supply. Sounds like those contributing to this discussion would all enjoy it. There's even a section on chicken breeds!

I'll take a look, thanks @APKS

 

[Iluveggers]

See how well the alcohol ban worked out.

Not advocating banning GMOs. Alcohol is labeled as such. I would like the US to have any food source (for humans or livestock), to be labeled “contains GMOs”. Rather than the other way, where it is labeled as non

 

[emw224]

In the poll, I chose No corn, no soy, non GMO, higher protein and organic. I think it is incredibly important.

I highly prioritize organic feed since corn is the most heavily sprayed crop in the US. The plant and corn its self is sprayed in pesticides, and RoundUp which contains glyphosate and causes cancer. Absolutely not something I want to be feeding my chickens.
RoundUp is sprayed on corn to increase the growth rate and production of crops, commonly right before harvest on plants that are not genetically engineered to dry out the crop so it is ready sooner than if left to dry naturally.
Not only are pesticides horrible for the consumer, but its horrible for the environment. Sprays will the soil ecosystem, and destroy whole point of a functional farm. With organic farming, this is avoided.
https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/glyphosate-contamination-food-goes-far-beyond-oat-products

Its a ton of nasty, I would absolutely never want to be giving my birds a direct dose of glyphosate in their food.

Non-GMO is important to me because GMO products are also heavily sprayed. That is the point really, to create a crop that will not be affected by herbicides, pesticides, and RoundUp for more efficient growing. Not something I want to give my chickens.
I choose no corn and soy since they are the two most heavily sprayed crops. Even organic feeds are not 100% organic, or are heavily spraying with organic pesticides. Not interested.

Protein is important to me because my birds do a lot of free ranging, and I prefer a higher protein to make sure they are not deficient. I also prefer to not have to switch feed in the winter, during molt, etc, etc.

I’m trying to find a chicken feed with these qualities. I’m wondering if you have a certain brand you recommend or use? I’m having a hard time finding quality chicken feed.

 

[Weeg]

I’m trying to find a chicken feed with these qualities. I’m wondering if you have a certain brand you recommend or use? I’m having a hard time finding quality chicken feed.

Scratch and Peck is my go too. Corn and soy free, organic, and with that comes non-gmo. It’s also a whole grain feed, so does need to be soaked or fermented before feeding.
It’s pretty expensive right now, normally I can get it for $32 a bag, but right now it’s sky rocks to $47. I’ve had to switch brand’s until prices go down. Normally that’s my go too though. If you buy it in bulk I think it’s cheaper too. I’ve seen people asking to split pallets where you can get it at 35$ a bag.

 

[Folly's place]

Only one mention of 'mill date' as an issue, and it is. Buying older anything is not best.
And because everything we eat here isn't all organic, we don't spend the extra money on organic chicken feed. Being practical, and saving a bit where we can. Otherwise, an all- flock feed with separate oyster shell, and free ranging on our farm when possible.
Mary

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

As with most threads asking about special attributes people want in their feeds we get a lot of misinformation, misinterpretations, and massive confirmation bias with quotes and citations.

 

[high5]

Just jumping in here after reading this interesting discussion. May I recommend a book? Eating to Extinction by Dan Saladino, published this year. Absolutely fascinating read about what we've done to eliminate diversity in our food supply. Sounds like those contributing to this discussion would all enjoy it. There's even a section on chicken breeds!

Looks fascinating too! I've downloaded the book and will start to read it when I have time soon.

If anybody's interested, here's the write-up...

Eating to Extinction by Dan Saladino EPUB

Dan Saladino's Eating to Extinction is the prominent broadcaster’s pathbreaking tour of the world’s vanishing foods and his argument for why they matter now more than ever

Over the past several decades, globalization has homogenized what we eat, and done so ruthlessly. The numbers are stark: Of the roughly 6,000 different plants once consumed by human beings, only nine remain major staples today. Just three of these - rice, wheat, and corn - now provide 50 percent of all our calories. Dig deeper and the trends are more worrisome still:

The source of much of the world’s food - seeds - is mostly in the control of just four corporations. Ninety-five percent of milk consumed in the United States comes from a single breed of cow. Half of all the world’s cheese is made with bacteria or enzymes made by one company. And one in four beers drunk around the world is the product of one brewer.

If it strikes you that everything is starting to taste the same wherever you are in the world, you’re by no means alone. This matters: When we lose diversity and foods become endangered, we not only risk the loss of traditional foodways, but also of flavors, smells, and textures that may never be experienced again. And the consolidation of our food has other steep costs, including a lack of resilience in the face of climate change, pests, and parasites. Our food monoculture is a threat to our health - and to the planet.

In Eating to Extinction, the distinguished BBC food journalist Dan Saladino travels the world to experience and document our most at-risk foods before it’s too late. He tells the fascinating stories of the people who continue to cultivate, forage, hunt, cook, and consume what the rest of us have forgotten or didn’t even know existed. Take honey - not the familiar product sold in plastic bottles, but the wild honey gathered by the Hadza people of East Africa, whose diet consists of 800 different plants and animals and who communicate with birds in order to locate bees’ nests. Or consider murnong - once the staple food of Aboriginal Australians, this small root vegetable with the sweet taste of coconut is undergoing a revival after nearly being driven to extinction. And in Sierra Leone, there are just a few surviving stenophylla trees, a plant species now considered crucial to the future of coffee.

From an Indigenous American chef refining precolonial recipes to farmers tending Geechee red peas on the Sea Islands of Georgia, the individuals profiled in Eating to Extinction are essential guides to treasured foods that have endured in the face of rampant sameness and standardization. They also provide a roadmap to a food system that is healthier, more robust, and, above all, richer in flavor and meaning.

 

[AnnPann]

Looks fascinating too! I've downloaded the book and will start to read it when I have time soon.

If anybody's interested, here's the write-up...

Eating to Extinction by Dan Saladino EPUB

Dan Saladino's Eating to Extinction is the prominent broadcaster’s pathbreaking tour of the world’s vanishing foods and his argument for why they matter now more than ever

Over the past several decades, globalization has homogenized what we eat, and done so ruthlessly. The numbers are stark: Of the roughly 6,000 different plants once consumed by human beings, only nine remain major staples today. Just three of these - rice, wheat, and corn - now provide 50 percent of all our calories. Dig deeper and the trends are more worrisome still:

The source of much of the world’s food - seeds - is mostly in the control of just four corporations. Ninety-five percent of milk consumed in the United States comes from a single breed of cow. Half of all the world’s cheese is made with bacteria or enzymes made by one company. And one in four beers drunk around the world is the product of one brewer.

If it strikes you that everything is starting to taste the same wherever you are in the world, you’re by no means alone. This matters: When we lose diversity and foods become endangered, we not only risk the loss of traditional foodways, but also of flavors, smells, and textures that may never be experienced again. And the consolidation of our food has other steep costs, including a lack of resilience in the face of climate change, pests, and parasites. Our food monoculture is a threat to our health - and to the planet.

In Eating to Extinction, the distinguished BBC food journalist Dan Saladino travels the world to experience and document our most at-risk foods before it’s too late. He tells the fascinating stories of the people who continue to cultivate, forage, hunt, cook, and consume what the rest of us have forgotten or didn’t even know existed. Take honey - not the familiar product sold in plastic bottles, but the wild honey gathered by the Hadza people of East Africa, whose diet consists of 800 different plants and animals and who communicate with birds in order to locate bees’ nests. Or consider murnong - once the staple food of Aboriginal Australians, this small root vegetable with the sweet taste of coconut is undergoing a revival after nearly being driven to extinction. And in Sierra Leone, there are just a few surviving stenophylla trees, a plant species now considered crucial to the future of coffee.

From an Indigenous American chef refining precolonial recipes to farmers tending Geechee red peas on the Sea Islands of Georgia, the individuals profiled in Eating to Extinction are essential guides to treasured foods that have endured in the face of rampant sameness and standardization. They also provide a roadmap to a food system that is healthier, more robust, and, above all, richer in flavor and meaning.

I hope you enjoy it! The book is packed with fascinating info, and the author is an excellent story teller. Rare combo for a non fiction book on a topic that I would normally expect to be very dry!

 

[Flair1239]

A word about food in general. It is worth remembering that in the US less than 100 years ago malnutrition and hunger were not rare problems.

Now obesity is a bigger problem. The only way to starve or go hungry in this country is to be either a drug addict or mentally ill (or a child of one of those two). Calories have never been less expensive.

The fact that we can now debate about the quality of our food is a luxury. I am not saying the conversations are not worth having, but it is worth considering how far we have come. I say this as someone who has a lot of disdain for the current state of the US, but you have to give the devil his due.

 

[Iluveggers]

A word about food in general. It is worth remembering that in the US less than 100 years ago malnutrition and hunger were not rare problems.

Now obesity is a bigger problem. The only way to starve or go hungry in this country is to be either a drug addict or mentally ill (or a child of one of those two). Calories have never been less expensive.

The fact that we can now debate about the quality of our food is a luxury. I am not saying the conversations are not worth having, but it is worth considering how far we have come. I say this as someone who has a lot of disdain for the current state of the US, but you have to give the devil his due.

That Sugar Film on Amazon is a great documentary if anyone is interested.

I ordered “Eating to Extinction.”