If chickens are omnivores, why is every chicken feed totally vegetarian?

[donrae]

Ever hear the old saying, "the early bird gets the worm." I feed Modesto Mills soy/corn free layer pellets because I believe it is the best I have found, but everything I read says that chickens need animal protien such as bugs to have a complete diet. So why do animal feed manufacturers only make grain and vegetable based feeds? I am throwing dehydrated grubs and mealworms occasionally, but I'm not sure if dehydrated bugs are good for them on a regular basis. It just seems so unnatural. Also how often should I be doing this and is there a better source of animal protien I can offer them? It seems to be balanced it should be daily,

It occurs to me that most birds in nature are also omnivores that eat bugs and some are strictly carnivores such as raptures and eagles. But they are still birds with similar digestive systems.

consumer driven, for the most part. Ignorant folks think birds eating meat products is A Bad Thing. Granted, how the meat product gets into the feed may not be the yummiest thing ever, I really don't know. But it's not like your birds are going to get Mad Cow disease or anything like that.

If you want to supplement with a "better" protein source, look into raising your own. Mealworms are pretty easy to raise, once you get a colony going. I've not done the roaches or black soldier fly larvae, but folks seem to like them also. I raise mice as feeders for our pet reptiles, and when I have an overabundance of pinkies, they go to the flock. I tried raising crickets for our reptiles, it didn't work so great for me as our house is too cool for them to reproduce well in the winter. If you have central heat, you may have better results.

I also feed meat scraps to my flock. We're carnivores, so we have meat scraps. Most bones go to the dogs, but things like the turkey carcasses go to the flock to be picked over.

If I ever have a real abundance of eggs I might feed them back to the flock, but especially this winter they're in short supply. Eggs are for people, right now.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

There are a lot of reasons feed is vegetarian.
It is cheaper to add synthetic lysine and methionine than to use animal protein. Animal protein probably requires more in the line of preservatives to maintain quality.
Commercial farms use vegetable based feeds because they use the offal, feathers, etc. as a base of protein fed to feedlot cattle. Most places in the world don't allow bovine product to be used in chicken feed because of mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)

 

[Egghead_Jr]

We are not allowed to slaughter wild horses in the USA anymore. It gets expensive to capture, ship live animals to Mexico for slaughter then ship the product back. It's dumb, non educated laws such as this that...and...If my pappy...shovel...pfft!

 

[Croamagna]

We feed H and H layer that has both fish and "Animal Protein". Not exactly sure what the latter is but it is a soy and corn free organic feed. They are local for us but they do ship their food. I believe they even sell it on amazon as a third party sale. I am located in central Texas and we have several options here locally milled and most contain fish. Youll need to go to an actual feed store around you and not a pet store or tractor supply type chain store. Someone nearby oughta have an option for you. If not and it is important to you and you can afford youll have to have it shipped in.

 

[centrarchid]

We feed H and H layer that has both fish and "Animal Protein". Not exactly sure what the latter is but it is a soy and corn free organic feed. They are local for us but they do ship their food. I believe they even sell it on amazon as a third party sale. I am located in central Texas and we have several options here locally milled and most contain fish. Youll need to go to an actual feed store around you and not a pet store or tractor supply type chain store. Someone nearby oughta have an option for you. If not and it is important to you and you can afford youll have to have it shipped in.

I could have a local miller mix feed but I would have to provide the fish meal or animal meal.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Look at the label closely. The fourth ingredient listed on mine is animal products or something like that, I can’t remember the actual phrasing. Organic rules restrict the use of animal slaughter byproducts in certified organic chicken feed but other animal products are allowed. Not all chicken feed is purely vegetarian, not even certified organic.

If you look at the analysis on the label you’ll probably see some weird things that Canoe mentioned. These are amino acids that the chickens need that often come from animal products. Even if you include animal products in the feed, these are usually added to get the levels up where they need to be. Although these are synthetic these supplements are allowed under organic rules because they are necessary for the chicken’s health.

I don’t know what the label on your feed looks like. If it includes lysine and methionine it should contain everything your chickens need, whether from animal products or more likely synthesized. As long as you make that the major part of their diet they will get enough.

Like many others I feed mine animal products. When I butcher I keep a bucket handy for the parts I’ll feed back to the flock. When I dispatch certain predators I toss the carcass in the run and cut it open so the chickens can feast. When I trap mice those get fed whole to the chickens. Mine forage so they catch creepy crawlies. Kitchen meat wastes go to the chickens. I do not depend in any of this to supply the necessary nutrition to the chickens though. These are all considered “treats”. I’m not consistent enough to think I’m adequately providing enough of the things they need by these random meat products, I rely on their feed for that consistency.

Your basic question was why do they sell vegetarian feeds for chickens. That’s because that’s what some people want to buy, just like you want to avoid soy and corn. As long as they have the right mix of nutrition they work great.

 

[TalkALittle]

Pelleted fish feed (the kind you would feed to stocked fish for human consumption) is a generally readily available and convenient source of fish meal. For those who buy their feed in small quantities, fish pellets are a far easier and cost effective way to add animal protein than shipping in special feed or having a mill prepare a custom feed.

 

[mobius]

I was thinking about mixing my own feed and had even developed a recipe. But then I was blessed to find this:

http://www.montanaflour.com/big-sky-organic-layer-mash-chicken-feed-no-corn-no-soy/

Have to say I am proud that this feed is made in Montana. The ingredients are amazing, IMO. And unbelievably my local feed store stocks it so no shipping cost. Heard tell some folks in AZ are having loads drop-shipped to a co-op.

It contains (the label is hard to read) fish meal and crab meal. Fish meal is the fifth ingredient. The other products they carry are pretty amazing too. I don't work for them or know anyone who does, I am just a little backyard chicken keeper.

 

[centrarchid]

I was thinking about mixing my own feed and had even developed a recipe. But then I was blessed to find this:

http://www.montanaflour.com/big-sky-organic-layer-mash-chicken-feed-no-corn-no-soy/

Have to say I am proud that this feed is made in Montana. The ingredients are amazing, IMO. And unbelievably my local feed store stocks it so no shipping cost. Heard tell some folks in AZ are having loads drop-shipped to a co-op.

It contains (the label is hard to read) fish meal and crab meal. Fish meal is the fifth ingredient. The other products they carry are pretty amazing too. I don't work for them or know anyone who does, I am just a little backyard chicken keeper.

Very pricey stuff.

 

[mobius]

Yes it is pricey at $30 a bag. Fortunately I only have six chickens, plus I ferment the feed to reduce cost a bit. I don't know if I could make a grain=based organic mix myself for any less...