Demand that the hatchery you order your chicks from this year:

[Resolution]

Soy has been fed to poultry for as long as I've been alive (which is a rather long time). I suspect soy was fed to poultry long before I was born. Feeding soy to poultry is not a new practice.

That's mostly correct. Soy has been fed since the 1950's together with animal proteins and animal fats + bone meal. I'll reiterate once again and for third or fourth time on this thread alone, this soy being added to our feeds in 2012 is not the same soy as was fed in the 1990's much less the 1950's. This is a whole "new and improved" commodity.
This soy produces its own insecticide and or is grown in soil heavily saturated in Round Up- hence the term " Round Up Ready Soy". This wasn't given a green light for use in our food chain until very recently and since that point in time the soy has been further genetically altered. This is not an alarmist speaking. I'm quite familiar with feed formulations and commodities and ingredients that go into livestock nutrition products as I've been heavily invested in three separate feed companies for some time one for nearly two decades now.
I attend international livestock feed symposiums. International zoo conferences and also participate in avian pathology workshops and avian veterinary conferences.
This hardly makes me an expert of any sort, but it does give me confidence in all I impart here.

We are all being experimented on with soy bean material that does not have nearly adequate empirical data studies on its long term consumption - and almost no studies have been undertaken by anyone outside of the incredibly influential and powerful soy industry.

I've covered this topic in several threads over the last few months. Of course people will disagree but it's invaluable to know precisely what it is being disagreed with rather than coming to conclusions based on finding me irritating. I won't be the writer asserting anything not substantiated with irrefutable facts.

Chicks hatch from eggs.
Mothers that are deficient in certain nutrients are more stressed producing eggs for hatcheries than those are not.
Chicks that hatch from eggs deficient in certain nutrients are less healthy than those hatched from non deficient eggs.
Mothers suffering from nutritional deficiencies producing dozens of hatching eggs are dispatched each year.
Breeding stock should be kept for as long as it is productive and the productivity of this stock is curtailed by insufficient nutrition.
Soy is poorly digested by chickens as has been clearly demonstrated in amino acid studies going back to the 1970's.

 

[Duramaxgirl]

I feed soy free. Although I haven't always. I started a while back purchasing a home made feed that I travel 81 miles one way to get. The main protein ingredients is triticale. It is 17% protein and has 7 different grains in it plus added calcium. It is soy and GMO free. I also have oyster shell and grit available at all times. My coops are not over crowded. although they have been at times.....
But I still have pecking problems at times. I think birds peck... Its just a part of the way they are. I don't blame the hatcherys. Or necessarily the breeders. I'm more quick to blame myself for not providing something they need, and I research find out what it is and fix the problem. I also think feeding to high a protein feed can cause pecking. Yes once pecking starts its hard to stop. but usually can with a few well chosen chicken dinners...

Do I think hatcherys should provide proper care of their breeding stock? Yes.. And if proven that they aren't providing such care I'd be willing to call and ask them to reevaluate their practices.
I've purchased chicks from Hoovers hatchery which is one of the cheapest hatcherys out there. I was very happy with all the chicks and had no early deaths and they arrived last February and it was cold! I wonder if some of these so many dead or unhealthy hatchery birds could be caused more by improper care from the person who purchases them not the hatchery?
I lost 3 chicks in my first ever batch of chicks and it was my fault! And mcmurray gladly refunded me my money. I didn't at the time know it was my fault
boy... I'm long winded today! These are just my opinions

 

[Resolution]

I feed soy free. Although I haven't always. I started a while back purchasing a home made feed that I travel 81 miles one way to get. The main protein ingredients is triticale. It is 17% protein and has 7 different grains in it plus added calcium. It is soy and GMO free. I also have oyster shell and grit available at all times. My coops are not over crowded. although they have been at times.....
But I still have pecking problems at times. I think birds peck... Its just a part of the way they are. I don't blame the hatcherys. Or necessarily the breeders. I'm more quick to blame myself for not providing something they need, and I research find out what it is and fix the problem. I also think feeding to high a protein feed can cause pecking. Yes once pecking starts its hard to stop. but usually can with a few well chosen chicken dinners...

Do I think hatcherys should provide proper care of their breeding stock? Yes.. And if proven that they aren't providing such care I'd be willing to call and ask them to reevaluate their practices.
I've purchased chicks from Hoovers hatchery which is one of the cheapest hatcherys out there. I was very happy with all the chicks and had no early deaths and they arrived last February and it was cold! I wonder if some of these so many dead or unhealthy hatchery birds could be caused more by improper care from the person who purchases them not the hatchery?
I lost 3 chicks in my first ever batch of chicks and it was my fault! And mcmurray gladly refunded me my money. I didn't at the time know it was my fault

boy... I'm long winded today! These are just my opinions

Is this a vegetarian diet?

 

[tazcat70]

That video is awful!!!!!

 

[Duramaxgirl]

yes I think it is a vegetarian feed. I'll have to ask the guy that makes it. I'm getting a lot of eggs from my layer coop, Average of 24 eggs from 30 hens. I do throw in some animal protein here and there. Most my wyandottes aren't old enough to lay yet. I spend a lot of time with my birds and listen and watch, so if there is going to be a problem I can catch it fast. My worst pecking problem was caused by to many pretty roosters that I didn't want to eat and couldn't sell... Freezers full now and feathers are growing back

 

[idahodebra]

My 2012 flock will come from a mix of small breeders, big hatcheries, and my own birds. I will assume that all of the parent stock will be fed soy, as will all of the chicks that I buy or hatch. I will definitely assume that the hatchery stock is fed a vegetarian diet. Most commercial feeds are vegetarian. What, exactly, is MyPetChicken going to tell me about their diets that i don't already know?

Ironically, it is the offspring of gmo-soy fed breeders from MyPetChicken that have been, hands down, the healthiest birds that I have owned. I guess that I can call them and DEMAND!!!11!! that they keep doing what they've been doing.

 

[redhen]

I guess i dont understand whats so bad about soy....
Honestly.. i havent read up enough on it..

What does it do?? Cause cancer?? Make men grow boobs?? What?
Anyone??

 

[Resolution]

My 2012 flock will come from a mix of small breeders, big hatcheries, and my own birds. I will assume that all of the parent stock will be fed soy, as will all of the chicks that I buy or hatch. I will definitely assume that the hatchery stock is fed a vegetarian diet. Most commercial feeds are vegetarian. What, exactly, is MyPetChicken going to tell me about their diets that i don't already know?

Ironically, it is the offspring of gmo-soy fed breeders from MyPetChicken that have been, hands down, the healthiest birds that I have owned. I guess that I can call them and DEMAND!!!11!! that they keep doing what they've been doing.

That's a good idea. Input is what it's all about. It's not a negative in any light unless that's what you make it. And you don't know what the hatchery is using unless you ask them now do you? If you read what I actually wrote, I've just explained that this newest batch of soy has never been used in feed until 2012. The older GMO was bad enough but this new and improved soy beats all. I also explained that I know of more than a few hatcheries that mill their own feed and use meat protein in all their formulations- because they are old fashioned country traditionalists. I've learned that old timers generations deep in agriculture don't think much of round up ready soy and they don't want their livestock fed on it much less fed to their families every day. But do keep a decent egg log and let your hatchery how much you appreciate what they're doing.

You keep up with your round up ready soy and see how long your bird continue to lay, how much longer they survive-both measured in years of course. And savor every tasty bite of egg yolk saturated from its cellular level with round up if that suits you. I don't know why this is turning into a sashay with attitude thread. I'm not a dart board people.

 

[kathyinmo]

I guess i dont understand whats so bad about soy....
Honestly.. i havent read up enough on it..

What does it do?? Cause cancer?? Make men grow boobs?? What?
Anyone??

It is GMO soy, red. (genetically modified) Read about Monsanto.
It affects thyroid, reproduction, etc..... cancer? It is thought by many to be the case. Infertility, and many health problems we have. We eat soy and we eat animals that eat soy.....
Try to find some food products at the store that do not contain soy. Tons of stories on the web about Monsanto, and about soy. It is eye opening.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/genetically-modified-soy_b_544575.html

The movement against GMO agriculture seems to have exploded recently. European farmers and consumers have forged a formidable alliance calling for a moratorium on genetically engineered crops. Indian farmers have burned fields believed to be planted with GMO cotton. In the U.S. an emerging alliance of consumers, farmers, corporate accountability and fair trade activists has recently gathered steam.

 

[redhen]

It is GMO soy, red. (genetically modified) Read about Monsanto.
It affects thyroid, reproduction, etc..... cancer? It is thought by many to be the case. Infertility, and many health problems we have. We eat soy and we eat animals that eat soy.....
Try to find some food products at the store that do not contain soy. Tons of stories on the web about Monsanto, and about soy. It is eye opening.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/genetically-modified-soy_b_544575.html

The movement against GMO agriculture seems to have exploded recently. European farmers and consumers have forged a formidable alliance calling for a moratorium on genetically engineered crops. Indian farmers have burned fields believed to be planted with GMO cotton. In the U.S. an emerging alliance of consumers, farmers, corporate accountability and fair trade activists has recently gathered steam.

Ahhh! I see!! Thanks! I'm learning...