Colorado

[alpinefarm]

Quote:
Well, there is Front Range group getting together on making a Countryside order for organic, non-soy feed. The weblink for CS is:
http://www.countrysidenatural.com/cnp_store/home.php?cat=12
The shipping costs are being figured at about $10/bag max, though it may be less the more people are involved in the order.

Then, there is a nice mix made by a Colorado mill that does include soy, or you can have the soy left out and then add your own protein source. Here is the ingredient list on this one:

"Feed made from organically grown, non GMO corn and soy meal from Delta county Colorado. We mix this feed with sunflower seeds and flax seeds. We also add certified organic supplements including; salt, apple cider vinegar, charcoal, selenium yeast, fishmeal, dried kelp, dried tomato pomace, carotene, dried potato starch, cayenne pepper, peppermint, garlic, parsley, dandelion root extract, elder flowers, ginger extract, German chamomile, lemon grass extract, thyme, sweet fennel extract, sweet basil, sage and cloves."

I don't have a protein % on this one, but I'll try to get it for you. I'd like to know that, also.

Both these are available currently. There may be some other things happening later on with organic whole grains.

I'm just the messenger at this point...passing info along. I haven't yet tried either feed, but the folks that have recommend them highly. I have contact information for both these if you want to PM me.

 

[Wifezilla]

I am looking for no soy and no wheat.

 

[alpinefarm]

Quote:
That would be hard to find, I imagine. Perhaps using organic whole grains would be a good direction for you.

 

[Wifezilla]

I am thinking about buying 50# bags on individual ingredients and mixing my own. I have a wheat intolerance and soy is just garbage, hence my desire to avoid these two ingredients. I would also like to avoid corn. Since most commercial feed is corn, soy and wheat, you can understand how this makes life interesting for me

 

[alpinefarm]

Quote:
I've recently run across a discussion about wheat intolerance (where was that??) The author stated that eggs from chickens that ate wheat did not pose a problem for wheat intolerant individuals, that the gluten issue? didn't carry thru in the eggs. This was not a lengthy or scientific discussion, just caught my eye, so I thought I'd mention it.

I've had good success feeding my flock barley, whole or crushed oats, brown rice, BOSS. You don't have to put wheat and soy in! The difficulty is finding organic whole grains to use that are affordable.

 

[alpinefarm]

Ok, so please email or PM me if you'd like to be in on the bulk order from Countryside. There is a guy in Colorado Springs who is coordinating it, though folks throughout the Front Range can work out how to handle the shipment after it arrives, how/where to pick up. I travel a lot to the FR, so I may be able to help out some with delivery to the West Slope.

Anyway, if you want to order, please let me know and I'll get you in touch with the person that is placing the order. He'll let you know the exact timing, how to pay, and based on how many total lbs the group is able to order, just how much the shipping cost will be per bag of feed.

This is a big step forward!

 

[Wifezilla]

The author stated that eggs from chickens that ate wheat did not pose a problem for wheat intolerant individuals

Somebody forgot to tell that to my hives

 

[Rockpile99]

Quote:
LOL


Do you think Travis -(CS guy) could find a good source for the raw ingredients such as Wifezilla is talking about?

A Bulk food order would be great, but I think I'd rather be able to get good prices on the grains and stuff to make my own mix.

 

[alpinefarm]

Quote:
Ouch, I hate hives...! I'd rather have thumb screws. But isn't there quite a difference between wheat/gluten intolerance (in the gut/"sprue") and wheat allergy (which causes more generalized reactions, like hives). Some people have one or the other, some both.

Anyway...

Quote:
Well, this is where my main interest lies, as well. I've been feeding whole grains (not organic, just my own mix from what I can find locally thru feed stores--barley, oats, wheat and sometimes even a few things from Vitamin Cottage or Whole Foods, esp brown rice and also quinoa, sesame and flax for baby chicks) and my flock loves eating like this and they are thriving. I actually believe my feed costs have gone down some, that they waste less, and that they are healthier/happier overall. I started doing this because my son couldn't tolerate foods with added synthetic vitamins (try that diet out and see what a teenager can find to eat! Sheesh!) I didn't want him to have our eggs if there were a lot of supplements in the feed.

I have contacted a number of Colorado mills but so far haven't found any sources there. They make their money milling and combining the whole/raw grains, so they tend not to sell it prior to doing that. I have a possible bulk source that will be offering some organic, human-grade grains this fall...but it is in Utah. I don't know prices there yet.

So...any ideas??

I used to get human grains for my family thru a Rainbow Foods co-op when we lived on the Front Range. Wonder if we could get in on ordering thru them somehow? Anybody belong?

 

[Wifezilla]

I actually talked to one feed mill that seemed really helpful and said they were willing to order 50# bags of the individual ingredients if I wanted to mix my own feed. Unfortunately, its the feed mill in LA JAUNTA!!!

As for my hives, I need more than one thing going on to trigger it. Wheat and or eggs PLUS stress PLUS cottonseed oil usually does the trick.