Corn and Soy free......?

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Sad to see this is from 5 years ago... but also happy to see it's not a super new idea. I am also well versed in nutrition for other critters, and the nutrition for commercial production poultry thanks to my degree. I'd rather forget that part of it, and start learning about what chickens SHOULD eat.

As with horses, cats and dogs, I take everything back to evolution (which spans much longer than domestication and the feedstuffs forced on many species).

I think it's funny the first comment here blames "political reasons" which is hilarious. This has nothing to do with politicians. It has to do with my animals, their stomachs, gizzards, and intestines, and what they utilize best based on what they were evolved to process.

I am afraid that the answer is rather costly and includes "insects and rare, extinct seeds" but I would like to get as close as economically feasible... and maybe get the conversation on backyard chicken nutrition moving forward as the backyard chicken trend continues to grow!

I will be reading the comments above, but if anyone has any new commentary, feel free to chime in ;)
 
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BrittsBantams said:
......
As with horses, cats and dogs, I take everything back to evolution (which spans much longer than domestication and the feedstuffs forced on many species).
.....
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Taking things back to evolution completely ignores the fact that humans have intervened in the physiology of livestock by breeding them for specific traits. Claiming the you should feed a modern Rhode Island Red exactly as you would a wild jungle fowl is fool hardy and misguided.
 
Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay said:
 Taking things back to evolution completely ignores the fact that humans have intervened in the physiology of livestock by breeding them for specific traits.  Claiming the you should feed a modern Rhode Island Red exactly as you would a wild jungle fowl is fool hardy and misguided.
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Well, I never said " completely"... and I will offer a Layer pellet to my girls to have when they fell need anything they could be missing :)
....nor do I have RIR's ;)
 
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I just found a product that I want to share here.

I've been feeding soy-free since I began keeping chickens 6 years ago. One of the main issues we have is getting a good protein level, of course. I found that my birds did not like the field peas and would usually just leave them. I tried sprouting - birds not interested. Tried soaking - not interested. Even tried cooking them just to see if they would eat them. Still, no interest.

Just a couple months ago I found that Fertrell is now offering a soy-free protein crumble that you mix with your grains in ratios based on the protein level you want. If you decide to try it, you can contact their formulators and they will also give you a formula based on what grains you have available.

The best way to purchase this is from a local dealer which you can track down on their website. Shipping to an individual is too cost prohibitive.

This comes in organic and not organic. Contains field peas, sesame meal, linseed meal, fish meal and crab meal.

I purchased a 50 lb bag to try and my birds are eating all the feed and seem to like it. Of course, they pick out the grains first, but they don't hesitate to eat the crumbles. If doesn't all stay in crumble so it has powder. But that doesn't seem to deter them. I also use the Poultry Nutribalancer (have since the beginning).

Here's a link"

https://www.fertrell.com/no-soy-protein-pellets
 
DeannaOR said:
I am feeding corn and soy free chicken feed, but I realized that as educated as I am about dog and cat nutrition...I know little about chicken and turkey nutrition. So my question is, are people wanting to avoid soy and corn in chicken feed for nutritional reasons? or does it have more to do with political/economic reasons?
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The real reason is political. As smart or as dumb as a chicken is or can be I have never found a Democrat or a Republican chicken and I have kept quite a few chickens over the year. In this one political aspect maybe chickens are smarter than us humans.
 
Leahs Mom said:
… I've been feeding soy-free since I began keeping chickens 6 years ago. One of the main issues we have is getting a good protein level, of course. I found that my birds did not like the field peas and would usually just leave them. I tried sprouting - birds not interested. Tried soaking - not interested. Even tried cooking them just to see if they would eat them. Still, no interest.…
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Peas, pigeon peas, soy beans, in fact any legume seed is toxic to chickens. The truth is that peas and beans give chickens gas and chickens are unable to poot.

Chickens only eat soy beans in pellets or mash form because the soy beans have first been ground, roasted or steamed at high temperatures, then the soy bean oil is pressed out or expelled chemically to create soy bean meal.
 
DeannaOR said:
I am feeding corn and soy free chicken feed, but I realized that as educated as I am about dog and cat nutrition...I know little about chicken and turkey nutrition. So my question is, are people wanting to avoid soy and corn in chicken feed for nutritional reasons? or does it have more to do with political/economic reasons?
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Nutrition. corn and soy loaded with lectins. Biologically doesn't agree with us. You are what you eat eats
 
DeannaOR said:
I am feeding corn and soy free chicken feed, but I realized that as educated as I am about dog and cat nutrition...I know little about chicken and turkey nutrition. So my question is, are people wanting to avoid soy and corn in chicken feed for nutritional reasons? or does it have more to do with political/economic reasons?
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It absolutely has to do with health! Both of those r mostly all gmo sadly, these days. U r what u eat. U eat eggs from chickens with all that junk, grain too, in it and your body will not like it. All 3 r toxic. Google it
 
It is an interesting challenge to try and find corn free animal feed... it is hard. We did find some which we order... we are specifically limiting and avoiding corn because of some of the breeds we have, they do have a higher % of jungle fowl in them. Long Tails and Ayams.
 
Leahs Mom said:
For me it is nutrition reasons.

A huge percentage of soy & corn grown in the US is Genetically modified (GMO). There is a whole lot of information regarding the dangers of GMO foods out there if you look. The mercola.com website has a lot of that information with links to studies done on the effects of GMO items on health. Go to the site and search for genetically modified or GMO and there are many footnoted articles.

I don't believe corn is bad for chickens - just be careful that it is not genetically modified.

That being said, soy is one of those things that, it seems, was never meant for consumption unless it is fermented. It is not healthy for you or for animals. However the US has an abundance of it and has to do something with it. It ends up being presented as a health food but has had some pretty devestating effects on health all around.

You can read about soy in The Whole Soy Story. http://www.amazon.com/The-Whole-Soy...9751/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338074898&sr=8-1

As far as feeding soy to chickens, it is NOT a food that they would choose to eat on their own. I have even read of folks that grew several grain crops and some soy alongside for their chickens and try as they might, they couldn't get the chickens to eat even the soy plants let alone the beans. If you'll notice, feed that has soy in it always has "roasted soy" rather than raw. That is because it causes nutritional problems in it's raw state (if you could even get a chicken to eat it). It has to be roasted to make it somewhat useable nutritionally.

Now...when was the last time you saw a group of wild chickens sitting around a campfire roasting soybeans? (I just had to say that....quite a picture, huh?)

I know I didn't footnote any of my statements but I encourage you to do a bit of a study on the effects of soy on humans. As a quick reference, the mercola.com website has lots of links to articles and studies on soy as well.
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This :goodpost:
 

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