Handling food allergies & feeding chickens

[mamamama124]

Hey yall, do any of you have food allergies or have family members with them? We've been feeding starter feed and meal worms and have been fine with them. I was looking at scratch mixes at the feed store and they are all processed with or contain peanuts. I'm considering just buying straight up oats, wheat, and sunflower seed and mixing my own but I'm concerned about the peanut cross contamination again. Just wondering how other food allergy families handle this.

Side question ... if my chickens free range every afternoon/ evening do I need to supply grit?

Thanks!!

 

[Abriana]

Hey yall, do any of you have food allergies or have family members with them? We've been feeding starter feed and meal worms and have been fine with them. I was looking at scratch mixes at the feed store and they are all processed with or contain peanuts. I'm considering just buying straight up oats, wheat, and sunflower seed and mixing my own but I'm concerned about the peanut cross contamination again. Just wondering how other food allergy families handle this.

Side question ... if my chickens free range every afternoon/ evening do I need to supply grit?

Thanks!!

I have severe nut and egg allergies. I don’t remember what my feed is called, I’ll let you know later. It doesn’t have any nuts in it. If it is just cross contamination you might be ok. How severe is the allergy? If you wear a surgical mask when you scoop feed it might be ok.

You should always have a small bowl or pie pan filled with grit for them. If they free range they most likely will get their own, but better be safe than sorry when they have impacted crop.

Good luck! I’ll post the name of my feed later.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Since scratch is just a treat no reason to risk buying it if there's a chance of it being in contact with allergens. You can mix your own, just remember to not overfeed it, since it's basically chicken candy.

 

[lazy gardener]

Depending on how severe your allergy, you might want to contact your feed manufacturer. Chances are great that the mill that produces your blended feed also handles peanuts or peanut oil. If you can handle products from the grocer that have peanut oil, then handling bird feed may be ok. When in doubt, go the ultra conservative route, and seek medical advice. My limited understanding says that even if your birds consume peanut oils, by the time the nutrients gets to the egg, the allergens would be completely broken down.

 

[PeppersPeeps]

My son is allergic to peanuts. I’m checking the scratch bag now... I never even thought to look. He helps feed chickens...

Nope, no peanuts. The brand is Blue Seel.

Thank you for this post!

 

[mamamama124]

Thank ya'll! This is such a great forum! I contacted one major feed provider and basically if it contains peanuts, it's on the label. But they cant guarantee it wasn't processed where peanuts are processed or stored where peanuts were stored. So we'll proceed with extreme caution and acknowledge it as another hurdle. These chickens are fun and I love watching him hurry out there to feed them and walk around with them...they free range the better part of the day.