Cooptown Lady
Chirping
I agree that people with concerns should not be patronized.can someone in the US explain to one who's not why plain old crime is overlooked in favour of conspiracy theories and weird govt behaviour? We all know food prices have shot up since covid and the invasion of Ukraine, and issues with the food supply chain have been front and centre in media of all sorts. Historically in such circumstances food gets adulterated to make it go further. Animal feed is subject to less checks and interest than human food, so is even more likely to feel the squeeze. And homogenized products, which make it impossible to identify the ingredients on sight, are more obvious candidates for adulteration than recognizable things.
I don't buy commercial feed so I have no flesh in this game and no axe to grind. I just think if a lot of people are complaining about the feed, it is a bit patronizing to suppose they're all idiots, or arrogant to deny their expressed experiences, or lazy to blame social media, or dismissive to label them conspiracy theorists.
Before I heard anything about this feed/no eggs issue, I went to Tractor Supply to buy scratch grains. Since I've been confused why the scratch hasn't been as appealing to my hens as previously (and also that I'm mixed up about which brand is their favorite), I asked the man at TS which scratch has more milo in it, which my hens love. I told him the last two bags were not the same.
He said that feed companies have had to adjust their product in order to keep the product affordable.
Now this man is very knowledgeable about all things farm, but that doesn't mean he knows anything about what feed companies are doing. Just thought I'd throw that anecdote into the mix.
BTW, my hens are in their second winter. Last winter they laid eggs consistently without interruption. This winter 3 of the 4 stopped laying. I switched from Dumor to Pride brand (again before hearing anything about the feed/no eggs issue). Within a few days only 1 of the four isn't laying. Doesn't prove anything, just makes me curious.