Another feed question.... recommendations for all flock organic pellets?

[Lemon-Drop]

"No synthetic pesticides" is not the same as "no pesticides."

I'm pretty sure there are some pesticides that are acceptable for organic use, because they are considered "natural."

Oh, ok! That makes more sense.

 

[Chuckie chicken]

To me organic is overhyped. Organic does not mean pesticide free and most of the time growing organically means farmers have to use more pesticides.
When it comes to a organically grown carrot or a non organic grown carrot nutrition wise they are identical. I have been growing lettuce hydroponically on and off for years and I tried organic but it just didn't work as well, organic tends to go off after a while. So any lettuce I would grow and feed my chickens would not be organic.
Have I felt any sideffects from not eating organically? I wouldn't say so, I think having a well formulated fertilizer over an organic (ie cow manure for example) can achieve better results and thus more nutrition in the lettuce.
There are things to avoid when it comes to feed. I would always avoid artificial colors. They cause health problems, same for artificial flavors. Some don't like GM-modified ingredients. I'm undecided on that one, not enough evidence but going with traditional non GM- feed has always known to be fine.
But organic vs nonorganic just reflects the additional pesticides the farmer had to use and probably the reduced crop he got growing 100% organically with no help from science we have developed over the past 100 years to help us grow better crops.

Organic means more pesticide than non organic? That's bizarre. Where are you located? In Canada at least, it means no pesticide.

Edit: natural pesticides would be acceptable, like DE, vinegar, other insects, companion plants, etc. The organic farmers I know (several) definitely do not use more insecticide than conventional growers.

 

[Mellowmalt]

well regardless why organic is more expensive, whether it is because they don't use pesticides and caterpillas eat the produce or because the pesticides that are organic approved are more expensive ( I read they have to use more of the stuff, whether they actually do, I don't know), lemon has kinda rules it out based on the cost and just a slight increase does work out to a lot but geez lemon, I thought you had a small flock like me, $150 per month is a lot of money on feed.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

well regardless why organic is more expensive, whether it is because they don't use pesticides and caterpillas eat the produce or because the pesticides that are organic approved are more expensive ( I read they have to use more of the stuff, whether they actually do, I don't know), lemon has kinda rules it out based on the cost and just a slight increase does work out to a lot but geez lemon, I thought you had a small flock like me, $150 per month is a lot of money on feed.

I did have a small flock... then chicken math happened!

We had 7 full grown chickens for a while, the one passed. (From cancer)

And then we picked up 7 chicks from a local feed store...

And then another 3 silkie chicks because one of the full grown hens is a silkie in a mixed and was getting picked on by the others so we wanted her to have buddies. (Plus, silkies are just amazing!)

So now we have 16 chickens.

 

[Mellowmalt]

Here in the UK I am going to give Marriage pellets a go, they do an organc version too and it more than 50% more expensive, since it is the same company making both feeds I trust they just use cheaper (but safe) ingreadients for the regular feed and then organic certified ingredients for their more expensive feed.

If you look at the ingredients, most of the time half the ingredients are chemicals you'd never even heard of before which doesn't sound too organic to me but its pretty much the same stuff that is in my multivitamin tablets.

Are multivitamins considered non-organic cause they certainly didn't grow on a tree lol.

 

[Grandmas Coop]

I would totally use this if I had the money... but for 100# of feed, it would cost about 150 dollars.... which is unfortunately out of my price range. My chickens eat about that much in a month, so that would be near 2000 dollars a year.

Well honey I totally understand, my second choice, before S&P made pellets is
Purina Organic Layer Pellets

 

[Mountain Roost]

I buy organic grower feed by the 1/2 ton minimum from a grain mill that does only organic feeds. I drive three hours one way to pick it up. It is the best feed I have ever seen. They grind it fresh the day before I pick it up. And it comes out to 18.50 for a 50 lb bag. That way beats the $30 40 lb bag of organic grower at tractor supply. I pull it home behind my small SUV on a utility trailer.

I had the layer vs grower feed dilemma too. Now I just provide calcium in addition to the grower and the chicks, hens, roosters, ducks, geese, and guinea hens are all healthy and doing great. They never seemed satisfied on the layer feed.

Do a search and see if you can find a local mill. It is so worth it.

 

[Mountain Roost]

This is how I store all that feed when I get home. 6 bags will fit in one 55 gallon drum.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

I buy organic grower feed by the 1/2 ton minimum from a grain mill that does only organic feeds. I drive three hours one way to pick it up. It is the best feed I have ever seen. They grind it fresh the day before I pick it up. And it comes out to 18.50 for a 50 lb bag. That way beats the $30 40 lb bag of organic grower at tractor supply. I pull it home behind my small SUV on a utility trailer.

I had the layer vs grower feed dilemma too. Now I just provide calcium in addition to the grower and the chicks, hens, roosters, ducks, geese, and guinea hens are all healthy and doing great. They never seemed satisfied on the layer feed.

Do a search and see if you can find a local mill. It is so worth it.

I did find a local mill... Conway feed. But it doesn’t specify much at all on the website... it’s a 2 hour drive... but I would like to know more about it instead of driving two hours only to find it’s super pricy or something.

Thank you so much for the info! That sure is a lot of feed!

 

[Mountain Roost]

Call the mill. They are usually very friendly people. Farmers just like us!

It is not as much as you think really. It comes out to about 4 months for the ever growing flock I have. 20+ chickens + lots of chicks, 3 ducks, 2 geese and 2 guinea hens. It takes a huge 'chore' of having to go to the store and get feed every couple weeks off the list.

I also do meat chickens every summer and you can't beat the price for organic grower for them. I am able to produce organic meat cheaper than the grocery store sells it. Its a win for me!