Am I wasting $$ Organic VS non-organic feed?????

[Talihofarms]

Organic is better and this is a fact.
Now having said that you have a tough choice on which way to go. Organic is expensive. We raise and sell organic eggs, poultry and meat. There has to be a market to sell your products. If not you will suffer a slow economic death.
We have been selling our products for over 10 years. Having said that, we have made all of the mistakes. First off..... simple math boils down to this.... you can expect anything with the organic label to cost twice as much. From feed to the final product. Now, if you have a few chickens and want to have organic feed then your best bet is to buy bulk. Split a ton with others in your area. Or buy from someone who mixes their own. We have progressed to the point that we mix our own. This isn't cheap either. Ingedients,Mill,Trucking in Organic corn and other ingedients. You can also give your birds Sprouts...Boss,Wheat,Oats. Remember that if you are using a free range system you can't use any chemicals on your property. This takes alot of work and $$$$$. Monsanto is awsome on killing weeds. But what else does it kill? That debate will rage on. Fortuently for us we have more customers than product. So our direction is clear.






Just my.02

Good Luck

 

[buckabucka]

I do not like Monsanto, but I must say I likely contradict myself. I buy an "all natural" (non-GMO) layer feed, but then I mix it with Purina flock raiser (which I would assume IS GMO). I started this for two reasons: a bunch of my hens had not started laying (still 4 to go, even now), and I didn't want them on layer feed exclusively until they were laying. The other reason was that I saw some feather pulling/eating, and I thought a higher protein feed would be helpful (which the flock raiser is). I always offer oyster shell free choice.
Sometimes I consider buying organic layer pellets, but it seems silly if I continue with the flock raiser. My feed store does not seem to have a higher protein, all natural and/or organic selection. I also feed table scraps, some which are organic, and some not. And I have to wonder where that cracked corn that I throw out there comes from!
Interesting topic.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

organic does not means quality, it means everyone who has had something to do with creating this feed has had to PAY someone to have a piece of paper that says they are following the rules your gov. has put on paper, so they can say there stuff is organic, that is reason for the price, not anything else. I follow the rules of organic but I will not PAY for it so i can not say my eggs and chickens are organic. which is fine for me, anyone that buys from me knows what i feed and how my birds are raised, i don't need that piece of paper.

 

[ranchhand]

I'm curious how anything grown anywhere is the US can be considered organic, what with wind transference and water contaminants. We don't use pesticides or herbicides here on our property, we remove all that by hand. BUT.... our "neighbors" both up, down and across the county highway do. No telling what gifts they send our way.

And then there's the residual factor- we don't know what the previous owners did or didn't do on this piece of land. Unless we can trace it back to when it was still under the Atlantic Ocean no amount of testing is ever going to be truthfully able to say is is truly "organic". To me, organic just means "well, WE aren't using that stuff........". Yeah? What's in the soil and water where your plants/meat are growing?

I prefer the use of common sense in such matters. Grow what you can and buy what you must. Try to avoid chemicals, just try to be careful.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

Quote:
exactly

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
They'll be wanting coffee to go with the styrofoam next!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
I think organic is worth it for two things in chicken feed: soy and corn. Because it could be GMO if it isn't organic.
My solution: to mix my own feed. I give no soy. The only organic stuff I buy is corn. But it still runs me probably at least $3 or more per 50 lb bag (and more if you include the kelp meal) than the $15 grower feed.

chickensaresweet,
I checked out your recipe as this mix of organic grains and regular grains might be a good compromise. Also,I think, whole grains are a good idea. Your recipe says rolled oats. Oatmeal? Also, if you wanted to up the protein, and not use soy, what would you use? I have been supplementing with hamburg.

Since I posted that, some things have changed:

1. I have calculated the true cost of my feed mix (it's on my BYC page) and it is approximately $20 per 50 lb since I am supplementing with extra grains now (chickens' request).

2. Also, I feed organic layer pellets as treats now, which contain organic soy.

The rolled oats that I buy are whole oats that have been flattened. They still retain the hull, just squished. I was disappointed when I opened the bag, as I was expecting it to look like Quaker Oats with no hulls. I think I might go back to whole oats.

If I wanted to increase protein at this point (which I don't), I would actually feed back some scrambled eggs. I think they are maxed out on seeds. They crave grains and have been self-regulating. There are both grains and seeds left at the end of the day in the feeders.

They are very healthy with nice thick eggshells and are laying well (out of 17 layers I am getting around 12-16 eggs a day now).

 

[colowyo0809]

Honestly, we do organic because we want to grow organic. since we don't currently, this is the next best thing for us. Plus, we pay .35 per pound for our layer feed and for our flock of 30 some odd birds we go through, right now with it being winter, 33 pounds or so a week (probably less), which is roughly $11.50 a week

I don't really know why people are paying so much elsewhere or why they are feeding so much unless it is because they have substantially more birds than we do. Also, in the spring/summer/fall the birds eat even less.

for us, this all is worth it. We get food for the chickens that looks like food, is raised decently, comes from an area farm, and is not the most expensive out there

 

[Judy]

Quote:
exactly

X2.

I don't worry about animal by-products for an omnivore, or GMO, for that matter. If figure GMO will be unavoidable soon if it isn't already.

Ever notice that cream cheese, just as an example, which used to turn green a week after you opened it, now stays nice and white for weeks and weeks? Irradiated, maybe?

We don't even know what they're doing to half our food. The only way to be safe is to stop eating, drinking and breathing. Next best thing is common sense, do what you can -- and what you can afford; on a budget, one is going to make some compromises.

And, frankly, I don't trust organic labels any more than I do others. Actually, I figure they're more likely to be formulated by people who don't really know what they're doing. I try to buy old standard brands of feed, thinking maybe there's a better chance it's not full of some kind of junk.

I have health problems, and share land with my family. While they are slowly working toward some measure of self-sufficiency, I'm never going to get that far.

 

[Judy]

For years, I gardened organically, and gradually had more and more of my crop get eaten or ruined. Finally decided I'd rather choose the nasty pesticide and control the handling myself than trust Monsanto to do so.