FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[LeslieDJoyce]

Scratch & Peck feeds contain Camelina meal, an ingredient known to make eggs and meat taste bad. But lots of people seem to like that brand.

 

[pdirt]

Quote:
That reel top feeder looks like a great idea for the chicks. FYI, Amazon has a very similar one, I just ordered it and will comment leave a review as to it's quality/durability. Ships free with Prime. http://www.amazon.com/Brower-RT20-P...id=1394683782&sr=8-1&keywords=reel+top+feeder Something weird I just noticed though about the price. I ordered it not 5 minutes ago for $8.xx and it said "only 1 left in stock". I think they meant only 1 left in stock...at that price. Now the item says $10.83...for the very product/seller I just purchased, but now it says "only 12 left in stock". Maybe they sell a certain number at a certain price and when those sell (demand is up and supply is down), the price goes up. Don't think I've ever noticed that on Amazon before.

 

[pdirt]

Quote:
We just signed up for Azure and absolutely love them. Lots of good health food (and some animal feeds) options, in small quantities or bulk for way less than we can get around here. You just have to show up on the day and time that they deliver to your area. I don't know about your area, but the local distributor (the middleman between us and Azure) charges us a nominal $7 delivery fee. Perhaps there is no fee in some areas. We were not aware or told of the nominal fee prior to our first pick-up, but we don't care, it's worth every penny, especially since we live in the sticks. But otherwise, yes, no shipping or tax with a $50 minimum order. That said, we have been using Scratch n Peck feeds almost since we started chickens not quite a year ago. Yes, it's expensive, but we have a modest flock of 12 birds. The eggs are wonderful and the feed looks more like real food. The fermenting makes a huge difference. I'm playing with some ideas to basically dilute/supplement the expensive feed with less expensive but still quality ingredients to basically make my own recipe. I will probably hold off during the heat of the summer when ingredients could go rancid more quickly and they are free-ranging so much. Perhaps next winter I'll start the supplementation. I need to do more research on chicken nutrition and amino acids.

 

[niqueie]

I bought my organic feed from azure standard too but I bought the mash that's $30.80 for 50#. It's called Big Sky Organic Feed Poultry Layer Mash, No Soy, Organic. I really like it. It is pricey, but cheaper that scratch and peck. It also is the mash type which is what I wanted also. You can get the big sky scratch too which has 14% protein and is a fair price too. I also got some organic chicken feed quality oats from azure to add to the mash to make it cheaper also. I add about 1:4 ratio of oats to feed mash in my FF bucket. Good luck in your chicken journey, it has been so fulfilling!! I bought organic so I can sell organic eggs to friends. Otherwise the non-organic feeds do great with the FF method.

 

[niqueie]

What is the camelina meal. And what is this about it making eggs taste bad?

 

[Ariel188]

Scratch & Peck feeds contain Camelina meal, an ingredient known to make eggs and meat taste bad. But lots of people seem to like that brand.

I would love to know more about this. Can you please explain further? Is there somewhere people are talking about it making eggs taste off? I found this:

"Camelina, a relative to canola, is a drought resistance seed that is adapted to cooler northern climates. The seeds are a pale yellowish brown color and are quite small. It is a fall or spring planted annual oil crop species. Camelina germinates and emerges well before most cereal grains.

Camelina meal, the extruded product remaining after cold extraction of the oil, generally contains 10% – 15% oil (close to 30% of the oil consists of omega-3 fatty acids) and 36% protein."

 

[LindaB220]

Quote:
Not too long ago I wanted to stock up on 60 watt bulbs. Amazon had a bunch and one caught my eye. A box of Standard brand of 24 for like $8.99. So I ordered 2. A few days later my SIL said why not order another so I went in and the price was $8.99 so I click for 1 more. It hesitated for about 30 seconds and flashed that I had it in my cart, but when I looked the price was $26.00. So maybe I personally can only order it once before price goes up. Needless to say I deleted it. Maybe it went up for everybody as the other brands were about that high.Can't find 75 or 100 watts anymore at all. Unless you go to a brooder site. Or reptile.

 

[niqueie]

I found this article very informative.

http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperDownload.aspx?PaperID=24118

It talks about some good and bad of camelina. My feed has it in it but I have been very pleased with my eggs taste. It's very mild flavoring. It has to do with the percentage in the feed.

It also talks about there being a significant rise of omega 3 in the eggs. That great news.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I would love to know more about this. Can you please explain further? Is there somewhere people are talking about it making eggs taste off? I found this:

"[COLOR=333333]Camelina, a relative to canola, is a drought resistance seed that is adapted to cooler northern climates. The seeds are a pale yellowish brown color and are quite small. It is a fall or spring planted annual oil crop species. Camelina germinates and emerges well before most cereal grains.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]Camelina meal, the extruded product remaining after cold extraction of the oil, generally contains 10% – 15% oil (close to 30% of the oil consists of omega-3 fatty acids) and 36% protein."[/COLOR]

Try googling it. That's how I found the info myself. That way you google your own specific questions ...

When I was researching I found some interesting taste tests that indicate people can detect the off flavor when Camelina Meal is included in smaller doses, but the flavor gets unacceptable when the Camelina meal is included at higher levels. At least one state limits the amount of Camelina meal that can be used in poultry or pig feeds to 10%. I didn't research much beyond that. I just wanted to know what Camelina Meal was while I was considering different feed options.

It is used as a soy alternative ... something that can be concentrated. So other ingriedients can be added for a complete balanced ration.

It does increase Omega 3s, and is more stable than flax. But like flax, it is said to make eggs and meat taste bad.

Alfalfa also increases Omega 3s. As does green fresh pasture. I don't think either of those make eggs taste bad.

People are very keen to get away from soy. It is one of the most GMO crops. Me, too. But I don't want to jump the shark ...

 

[LindaB220]

Try googling it. That's how I found the info myself. That way you google your own specific questions ...

When I was researching I found some interesting taste tests that indicate people can detect the off flavor when Camelina Meal is included in smaller doses, but the flavor gets unacceptable when the Camelina meal is included at higher levels. At least one state limits the amount of Camelina meal that can be used in poultry or pig feeds to 10%. I didn't research much beyond that. I just wanted to know what Camelina Meal was while I was considering different feed options.

It is used as a soy alternative ... something that can be concentrated. So other ingriedients can be added for a complete balanced ration.

It does increase Omega 3s, and is more stable than flax. But like flax, it is said to make eggs and meat taste bad.

Alfalfa also increases Omega 3s. As does green fresh pasture. I don't think either of those make eggs taste bad.

People are very keen to get away from soy. It is one of the most GMO crops. Me, too. But I don't want to jump the shark ...

Google is my friend. Along with Amazon Prime. Best two things ever.