Looking for a gluten free, oat free, chick starter feed .

[0fchicken89]

My chicks are 1 month old. We are looking for a starter feed that is strictly gluten free , also that does not contain oats . Any help much appreciated

 

[Jenbirdee]

Why?

 

[OrpingtonManiac]

Why do you want that type of feed?

 

[0fchicken89]

Allergy sensitivity in the family.

 

[0fchicken89]

Why?

Allergy

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Do be aware that chickens are gluten free, even if they consume feeds containing gluten - they break it down and reassemble it as other proteins. BUT if your family is so gluten sesnitive that the dust is a concern, there are gluten fee feeds out there. Avoiding oats is actually pretty easy. They are popular in "make at home" recipes, but not widely used in commercial feeds.

New Country Organics and Prairies Choice both have options meeting your needs, I believe. I'm not enamoured of NCO, their guearanteed nutrition tags tend to be "lacking" compared ot other producst at similar price point. However, you are in the "niche" feed section, and sadly some products seem targeted more at filling the niche than providing best possible nutrition to your birds within the niche limitations.

 

[0fchicken89]

Thank you ! NCO may carry a gluten free product but it doesn't seem that they carry a gluten free STARTER. Prairies choice seems to have a gluten free product but it's labeled as a "grower" . Can I replace a starter for a grower ?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Thank you ! NCO may carry a gluten free product but it doesn't seem that they carry a gluten free STARTER. Prairies choice seems to have a gluten free product but it's labeled as a "grower" . Can I replace a starter for a grower ?

Yes. the marketing term "starter" "grower" "all flock" isn't nearly as important as the guaranteed nutrition label. For many brands, their starter, grower, and all flocks formulations are nutritionally VERY similar. Except "layer" - that tells you too much calcium for most anything other than production layers.

 

[DrumsticksAndGizzards]

Do be aware that chickens are gluten free, even if they consume feeds containing gluten - they break it down and reassemble it as other proteins. BUT if your family is so gluten sesnitive that the dust is a concern, there are gluten fee feeds out there. Avoiding oats is actually pretty easy. They are popular in "make at home" recipes, but not widely used in commercial feeds.

New Country Organics and Prairies Choice both have options meeting your needs, I believe. I'm not enamoured of NCO, their guearanteed nutrition tags tend to be "lacking" compared ot other producst at similar price point. However, you are in the "niche" feed section, and sadly some products seem targeted more at filling the niche than providing best possible nutrition to your birds within the niche limitations.

Yes, the meat is gluten free, but it is virtually impossible to process chickens who consume gluten-containing feed without contaminating the meat with gluten. Their feathers are covered in feed dust, their feet can be caked with feed and waste (ideally not, but not everyone has acres of rolling pasture), and their digestive tract is primed to spill gluten into your scalding water or onto your butchering surface via the crop, the vent, and every part in between. If you are really careful, processing at very small scales, and have someone who is willing to take the "oops" meat off your hands, you can try. For those of us with real allergies or sensitivities, conventional feed is an absolute menace. Gluten-free feed is just feed, but it re-opens the door to backyard chicken keeping in a way that feels almost miraculous. I have now used both brands mentioned above (Prairie's Choice and New Country Organics) with decent results (noting that my birds are rotationally grazed on grass inside a 100' electric fence). I definitely recommend the Prairie's Choice starter/grower crumble for chicks, as they will cherry-pick certain grains out of the New Country Organics Layer mix and end up eating an unbalanced diet.