I'm Sending Feed to be Analyzed

[Bhubbard]

As someone who does not free feed, but portions their food out each and every day, I can attest to that being true. I use that as one of my gauges as to the quality of the food I'm feeding them. They will eat up to half again as much of a cheaper feed with lesser quality ingredients, even though as per label it supposedly has the same nutritional value.

I’m amazed that it took a conspiracy topic to really have me evaluate what I was feeding. So no matter the truth on this topic I’m grateful I ended up seeing this come up and have moved to a higher quality feed. I use a gravity feeder in the coop that I made when building my own coop to hold exactly a 5 gallon bucket of feed. I’m getting about an extra day out of it when ground is covered in snow. Now that the days are nicer and girls are out more I am getting a couple days out of it. So no matter what I’m excited about that!

 

[Krugerrand]

Maybe it's not the feed, maybe It's CHEM TRAILS

Pardon my venting, but this irks me a tad. It strikes me as an attempt to ridicule people who struggle to identify a perceived problem with their chickens. And, of all places, that should not happen here.

Let's not forget that many of the people who have mentioned issues are not new chicken owners. They are familiar with egg decline in winter and during molts. Yes, the discussion gets amplified by those that could be experiencing that for the first time. Be respectful of those with experience and are still struggling to identify a perceived problem with their chickens.

It's great that people here are assisting with testing feed.

As many people have pointed out, it seems highly unlikely that from a self-interest/profit standpoint a company would knowingly /willingly sell bad feed. At the same time, well before this ever came up, when I read of people having issues, one of the first things asked of them is 'what are you feeding your chickens?' It is reasonable for people to look at feed as a potential issue.

Feed issues happen. And even if your batch of the same brand is not causing you problems, does not mean it isn't causing problems elsewhere.
The FDA Suspects Tainted Pet Foods Poisoned Hundreds Of Dogs
FDA Warns Consumers Not to Use Certain Powdered Infant Formula Produced in Abbott Nutrition’s Facility in Sturgis, Michigan

And, it's also worth pointing out that things written off as conspiracy once sometimes show up later as true. So, rather than using a 'conspiracy' label to avoid rational discussion, you may simply be better off avoiding the discussion. I suggest you review Operation Northwoods, Operation Mockingbird, MKUltra, Project Sunshine, Gulf of Tonkin, the USS Liberty.

While I personally don't see this as a clandestine action, it would not surprise me in the least of something got tainted somewhere. It would not surprise me in the least if a corporation would attempt to hide something that goes wrong to protect their bottom line.

It also is worth keeping an eye on which corporations and organization own and control significant percentages of any sector such as food and medicine. It is worth noting that governments have a long history of being influenced by the most financially powerful. Legislators, the US Patent Office, the FDA etc can greatly influence which corporations make major profits and which do not. One person can feel very small when up against major corporations backed by government force.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Pardon my venting, but this is irks me a tad. It strikes me as an attempt to ridicule people who struggle to identify a perceived problem with their chickens. And, of all places, that should not happen here.

Let's not forget that many of the people who have mentioned issues are not new chicken owners. They are familiar with egg decline in winter and during molts. Yes, the discussion gets amplified by those that could be experiencing that for the first time. Be respectful of those with experience and are still struggling to identify a perceived problem with their chickens.

It's great that people here are assisting with testing feed.

As many people have pointed out, it seems highly unlikely that from a self-interest/profit standpoint a company would knowingly /willingly sell bad feed. At the same time, well before this ever came up, when I read of people having issues, one of the first things asked of them is 'what are you feeding your chickens?' It is reasonable for people to look at feed as a potential issue.

Feed issues happen. And even if your batch of the same brand is not causing you problems, does not mean it isn't causing problems elsewhere.
The FDA Suspects Tainted Pet Foods Poisoned Hundreds Of Dogs
FDA Warns Consumers Not to Use Certain Powdered Infant Formula Produced in Abbott Nutrition’s Facility in Sturgis, Michigan

And, it's also worth pointing out that things written off as conspiracy once sometimes show up later as true. So, rather than using a 'conspiracy' label to avoid rational discussion, you may simply be better off avoiding the discussion. I suggest you review Operation Northwoods, Operation Mockingbird, MKUltra, Project Sunshine, Gulf of Tonkin, the USS Liberty.

While I personally don't see this as a clandestine action, it would not surprise me in the least of something got tainted somewhere. It would not surprise me in the least if a corporation would attempt to hide something that goes wrong to protect their bottom line.

It also is worth keeping an eye on which corporations and organization own and control significant percentages of any sector such as food and medicine. It is worth noting that governments have a long history of being influenced by the most financially powerful. Legislators, the US Patent Office, the FDA etc can greatly influence which corporations make major profits and which do not. One person can feel very small when up against major corporations backed by government force.

I don't think anything you're saying is unreasonable. Cutting costs or trying to cover up a mistake with the feed is all plausible.

But to go from, "My chickens aren't laying as much as I think they should be" to "The government is deliberately trying to kill us" is a really illogical leap, yet some folks are making that leap.

Edit: And basing it off studies some internet personality posted that were incorrectly cited to purposely mislead people (because the people repeating the lies haven't bothered to read the cited studies for themselves).


(edited for, like, a million typos - new phone with a much more sensitive keyboard - sorry)

 

[Krugerrand]

I don't think anything you're saying is unreasonable. Cuttung costs or trying to cover up a mistake with the feed is all plausible.

But to go from, "My chickens aren't laying as much as I think they should be" to "The government is deliberately trying to kill us" is a really illogical leap, yet some folks are making that leap.

Edit: And basing it off studies some internet personality posted that were incorrectly cited to purposely mislead people (because the people repeating the lies haven't bothered to read the cited studies for themselves).

Change it to "The government is deliberately out to get me" and recent and not-so-recent history makes me more sympathetic to the fear. Government has a history of sacrificing some (yes, even lives) for the profit of others - see the 'conspiracy' list above. It was not that long ago that the Federal government tried to have everybody fired who did not receive a certain medical treatment regardless of the advice of their doctors. I'm sorry, but 'you are not allowed to earn a living' is much closer to "The government is deliberately trying to kill us" than not.

Fear ... I think that is key. It motivates people to believe things that are not necessarily rational.

"people repeating the lies haven't bothered to read the cited studies for themselves" I would argue for some degree of leniency here - especially on a forum of fellow chicken raisers ... and even more so for established members of the forum. (I've noticed lots of new accounts in the discussion and that give me reason to pause.) Not everybody has the time or ability to fully digest studies. That's okay. Thus they depend on those they trust. We can point out issues with a study without referencing 'chem trails.' In doing so, can earn their trust over the previous source. That seems more valuable.

 

[Morrigan]

As someone who does not free feed, but portions their food out each and every day, I can attest to that being true. I use that as one of my gauges as to the quality of the food I'm feeding them. They will eat up to half again as much of a cheaper feed with lesser quality ingredients, even though as per label it supposedly has the same nutritional value.

Very interesting. What feed to you use now? And, what cheaper feed did you stop using? I've used Purina Flock Raiser for years, but sometimes wonder about local milling options.

 

[Krugerrand]

The crazy thing is that Gov'ts generally don't want their people to starve. Some of the best research in thew world right now on feeding chickens is coming out of places like China and India. WHY???

Because happy, well fed citizens rarely rise up in effort to overthrow their gov't. Even unhappy well fed citizens rarely rise up. Starving citizens??? Historically, they do rise up in efforts to overthrow their governments, having nothing left to lose (but their lives). Sure, they fail at it often, but sometimes they succeed.

This is a truth even the Romans knew, recall Juvenal's quote re; "panem et circenses" (bread and circuses).

Lots of truth in that. "Bread and circuses."

I guess it comes down to if your are deemed 'their people.' I don't think Stalin considered the Ukranians a part of 'their people.'

 

[Krugerrand]

@Cindy in PA Over 3.5 million people died from starvation in the Ukraine under Stalin. Pray tell, what is funny about that?

 

[chickDgnr8]

Maybe it's not the feed, maybe It's CHEM TRAILS

I wanted to mention this too, but thought maybe to much off topic (and conspiracy). I hear Bill Gates & company want to try an experiment over Baja California, spraying Sulfur Dioxide chemicals into the atmosphere to reflect the sun? Wouldn't that cause Acid Rain? They stopped their experiment. Acid rain was a big deal when I was in school. Chem Trails is supposed to be Aluminum Salt particles? for the same reason to reflect the sun. But, I have read of people complain their gardens are not doing as well and blaming Chem Trails. My experience has been new gardens do great first year then diminish in production without crop rotation and soil amendments. Drastic weather changes from day to day really effect me here in Colorado (northern front range), blazing hot and dry one day, cold wet and windy the next. Maybe it all boils down to this - we think we are so smart that we can predict the weather manipulate it to our advantage and make everything just right. And when we can't...

 

[chickDgnr8]

Lots of truth in that. "Bread and circuses."

I guess it comes down to if your are deemed 'their people.' I don't think Stalin considered the Ukranians a part of 'their people.'

Moa's China millions killed, starved, now with their "Zero Covid" policy welding doors shut on apartment buildings. So, many die they are forbidden to put Covid on death certificate and funeral homes can't keep up. (NTD China in Focus)

 

[Geena]

Very interesting. What feed to you use now? And, what cheaper feed did you stop using? I've used Purina Flock Raiser for years, but sometimes wonder about local milling options.

Unfortunately I'm not a good person to go to for feed reviews. After checking the labels, I have always fed my animals in the very unscientific "by feel" way. How does the feed look and smell? How do the animals look - fur, feathers, body weight, activity level etc and how do they smell, along with how much are they eating and eliminating and yep, what that looks and smells like too, LOL.

That said, I've probably tried every brand available to me in my area. I really liked Southern States brand feeds, but their feed division was bought out by Nutrena/Cargill a couple of years ago. Right now I'm feeding Nutrena Layer mixed with a game bird developer.

You should check out your local mill(s). I plan to cycle out to a local mill for my next feed run. I had bought food there back in the fall and although there was a bit of a mix up with the feed (my fault for not paying enough attention), in the end the chickens loved it and did very well on it.