Is there such a thing as too much "other" food?

[horsewishr]

THANK YOU, Amy!

 

[Agilityscots]

No problem, Horsewishr.

One last tidbit: the pet food industry was created as a byproduct industry after WWII, when meat slaughtering increased to feed returning soldiers and their quickly-growing families. That's also the same time that bomb factories converted over to chemical fertilizer, pesticide and insecticide factories...chemicals were used on only 7% of farms before WWII.

What, exactly, do you suppose that chickens, hogs, cattle, dogs, cats and other animals ate before WWII and before all of our "perfectly balanced" diets appeared? Hmmm...it's a wonder there are any animals alive today after all of our stupidity in feeding them "non-balanced" diets for hundreds of years.

Amy

 

[devora]

Interesting thread. I’d like to hear from folks on the original Q.

I feed my babies handfuls (several for six birds) of oats and BOSS a day when they are out and about free ranging. They still come up and eat their commercial feed, and sometimes they walk away from the ‘treats.’

Yet I’ve read warnings about over-doing the treats. So, how much is too much? Do they self-regulate as they appear to, or am I being fooled?

 

[MayberrySaint]

Your sources are from "real credible" sites that do not tell the whole story. The contamination of feed was from melamine that contaminated the shipment of WHEAT GLUTEN MEAL from China. The feed companies had no idea and definitely did not intentionally formulate commercial feeds with melamine contamination. The ration called for wheat gluten meal which is a perfectly, healthy by-product from the processing of wheat. The fact that the product was contaminated in China was very unfortunate. Do you think the companies wanted to contaminate their customers animals and cause the deaths of pets? The fact that it caused them millions in damages pretty much argues against the fact that they intentionally formulated bad feeds...all you have to do is use commen sense...bad feed=unhappy customers=feed company out-of-business.

 

[MayberrySaint]

Quote:
HaHa...that is a great argument. In the 1930's it took about 6 lb of feed for a pig to gain a 1 lb of bodyweight. Today that number is 2.8 lb. to 1 lb. Poultry and beef have made even greater increases in efficiencies. The main reason...modern nutritional formulation. Of course, if you would rather pay 10x the price for meat and eggs than you do today, we can all go back to the good, old days of agriculture.

 

[CtlisencedArborist]

Im stayin out of this debate,lol....I feed a cucumber 2wice a day to the adults and a handfull of oats.ALso a 5 gallon bucket of grasses at night and morn.Sometimes they get the corn husks and other veggies.The pellets are always full and there is a 50 lb bag of oystershells crushed outside there coop.

 

[FamilyOfChickens]

Another argument? Come on, guys!!! ]

I think we should just start an argument thread. Sheesh.

 

[Agilityscots]

Actually, Mayberry, I do exactly that.

I buy local and I buy organic, and it's pretty cool placing my dollars right into the hands of the men and women who grew my food...without pesticides, herbicides, or GMO seeds or feed. It's not cheap, but in a profit-driven society, it's my best chance for making a difference. My favorite guy, Kevin Eigel, lives a couple miles from me and grows the most heavenly potatoes, tomatoes and beans. I'm getting eggs from him now, but that's only temporary till my girls grow up! I get organic sweet corn from a different organic farm. The average farmer earns only 19 cents on the dollar today, because most of that money is going into the pockets of agribusiness for inputs and GMO seed that resists those inputs. It feels good to know that my money doesn't, even if that means my food is produced the "old-fashioned" way. Newer isn't always better.

Amy

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Can we get a smilie with boxing gloves??!

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=100723#p100723

That's what I was thinking about.

As for the origional topic, I think that since we are mostly raising birds for fun/home/family/ small scale, the birds can choose what to eat so they won't "over dose" on treats. I say watch your flock behavior and condition, if they end up with watery poo, too fat, or too thin, think abut changing up their treat schedules.

I adopted a flock once who's previous owners probably fed too much "fatening" treats like corn because they were hefty. Let's just say they lost a good half lb after a month being here and are much faster on their feet. I give mine lots of table scraps so it is just veggies rather than candy to them.