A little bump here...looks like you haven't been logged on since April, but I'll give it a shot anyway...
we have thirteen girls and use New Country Organics - ours does have corn in the layer, but you can get the layer without corn - all their seed is non GMO organic and has no soy - we have great eggs and happy girls who supplement with fresh garden veggies and other homemade treatsA little bump here...looks like you haven't been logged on since April, but I'll give it a shot anyway...
I've been thinking about this topic quite a bit recently. I'm personally on a lower carb, grain free, dairy free, paleo/primal diet and feel most people would thrive on this. We didn't load up on carbs until very recently in our evolutionary history. I believe the excessive carbs, refined sugars/grains, artificial colors/flavors, and foods like soy contribute to a lot of the metabolic disease and cancer we see (not all cases, but many). In other words, fat doesn't really make you fat, but rather excessive carbs and sugar. High fat with high carbs is generally a big no-no as well. That's just my personal belief so I don't really want to go down that debate road with anyone in here today.
With that said, I think about my chickens and what their paleo foods would be. Pretty much insects, vegetation, and seeds and fruits they can find...pretty much the red junglefowl diet. Usually the argument here is that these are now domesticated birds that can handle all of these refined grains, corn, soy, etc., but it makes me wonder. I was able to handle a lot of chips and ice cream through my 20s and still be in shape, but I couldn't do it now at almost 40. Our birds can seem to thrive on this feed, and produce many eggs and tasty meat, but at some point in their adult life a lot of those metabolic disorders start popping up (fatty liver, hormonal issues, etc).
Maybe egg production would go down, but would it create a healthier bird and a healthier yolk? Commercial feeds really load the birds up with the n-6 fatty acids. I've read about the feral Hawaiian chickens having higher n-9 and n-3 ratios from eating macadamias and avocados...yes avocados. I'm not sure I'd risk the avocado route given some of the horror stories here, but I wonder if there's a happy middle ground here between a commercial feed and the feral diet.
When I eat carbs I usually go toward more paleo friendly ones that are nutritionally dense...usually different types of sweet potatoes (orange, white, purple). I'll usually bake them and cut the ends off of each side and give those to the birds. They tend to enjoy the warm treat and they're packed with nutrients. Others are yucca, plantains, chestnuts, and butternut squash. I know birds are better suited to handle seeds and grains than humans, but I still wonder about the high amount of refined grains found in commercial feed. I'm contemplating switching over to NCO soy/corn-free, but that just gets loaded with other grains and field peas.
Any thoughts? I know there are others out there with similar thoughts as mine so I'm not trying to reinvent that wheel, but I do want to think outside of the conventional box. If it results in a slight drop in egg production, but a healthier bird and egg, I'm fine with it.
Do you ferment the feed? Do they tend to pick the ingredients they ant out of that feed and leave others behind? I've been looking for NCO corn-free around here for months to no avail. I'm not paying $21 for shipping from them so I've been holding off.
