Medicated chick feed or organic?

[NatraLee]

I am a backyard chicken newbie but have been doing a lot of homework. I switched my 8-week-old layer pullets from medicated feed from Callahan's ($8.50 for a 50 lb bag) to organic feed from Buck Moore ($29 for a 50 lb bag) last week. They all got the runs really bad and I thought one of them was going to die because she kept collapsing and was really weak. After giving her pedialite, yogurt, and some meds (anti GI parasite and anti stomach inflamation) she recovered and is doing much better. But a number of the girls had the hershey squirts. I made absolutely sure all sanitation was up to snuff, supplemented their water with vitamins/electrolytes, and hoped for the best. Fortunately everyone recovered but it was pretty spooky. If you are going to change their feed from medicated to organic, consider a few things:

1. Is it worth the economics to go organic? The organic feed is about 3 times the cost of conventional feed and I doubt you will be able to sell your eggs for 3 times the price of free range eggs from chickens fed conventional feed. I am considering switching back though I prefer to be all organic. My understanding for the birds to be "certified organic" though is that the birds must have organic feed within two days of being hatched? If that's the case, then mine can never be certified organic? So what's the point of switching over and paying 3 times more for feed? I'm a purist and all, but c'mon! I hear mixing your own organic feed is not much less expensive than buying the organic pre-bagged stuff. Is that what you guys have found? In other words, are the suppliers gouging us with the organic feed prices or is that just what it costs?

2. If you decide to change their feed, I would transition them over gradually by mixing the new/old food together for a week or so. And I would also make sure they have grit in case they had a harder time digesting the organic feed - though I doubt they would since what I got is practically powder, which was a surprise to me. I gave them pigeon grit because they didn't have chicken grit at Callahans. They say most people use oyster shell for grit? I have been a little surprised at the lack of knowledge by folks who make a living selling livestock and livestock products. My understanding is that oyster shell for young birds can cause bone problems due to excess calcium during development? Anyway, I also let the girls run around the yard and eat whatever grit that want. I dunno the difference between chicken grit and pigeon grit? The reading I've done says older chickens can eat either so I guess pigeon grit is OK. I mixed it in with their food.

Right, so now I'm faced with the decision of continuing the organic feed path and maybe trying to get certified if possible? Or saving $20 per bag of feed and letting the girls eat conventional feed but still be free range? Thoughts out there?

 

[BC_Farms]

I talked to a few people in the are and have found that it's cheaper to mix your own but I don't have space for 300lbs-1 ton of feed since you can only buy a lot of the ingredients in bulk.

You can also get unmedicated feed that isn't organic, which I thought was worth mentioning because after reading this thread I could see how someone would think "there's medicated chick starter, and organic non medicated chick starter only".

 

[NatraLee]

Thanks BC_Farms. When I just had chicks on the way, I went to the feed store and asked for chick starter and the feedstore people recommended medicated chick starter. Not knowing any better and having seen the same recommended in more than one reference, I fed them medicated chick starter. Now I'm reading on BYC how people are throwing out eggs because their chickens accidentally ate medicated feed? Or how they won't eat eggs from chickens that ever ate medicated feed in their lives? And now I can't call my chickens certified organic because they ate some medicated feed once? Boy howdy! Some of that seems a little extreme given that lots of mainstream references recommend beginning with medicated chick starter. But then again, I am a newbie... I'll do some more homework and think about what I want to feed my girls once their high dollar organic feed runs out. My thought is that it will either be something I can mix myself (if it's not a ridiculous effort or overly expensive to do so) or do the non-organic unmedicated layer developer. If the cost for organic feed was anywhere in the same ballpark as conventional feed (i.e., if it could be made up by charging a dollar or two more per dozen eggs) then it would be a no-brainer for me to do organic feed. But man, I'm broke and can't afford to pay $30 a bag for organic feed when conventional goes for $10. Especially when I can't make up the cost and can't even call my eggs organic?! I guess I'll see how long the organic feed lasts - maybe if it lasts longer or something it would be worth the extra cost.

BC_Farms, do you know where your friends are getting their bulk stuff to mix feed? I might have room to store 300 lbs of feed if it means I can feed my girls organic feed without going bankrupt.

-Lee

 

[colowyo0809]

NatraLee. Those suggestions are good ones. However, part of the problem with switching from medicated to non is the medicated helps keep some issues at bay that non medicated won't. And if you don't supplement in any way, those issues will definitly pop up. We feed non medicated organic with kelp and probiotic supplement mixed in and haven't really had a problem except one bird that apparantly had a nervous system issue. Cost all depends on where you are at, but I know in this area, there are people asking for upwards of $5.00 a dozen and getting it. And, it is my understanding that in order to qualify for organic certification your birds have to be raised on organic feed from day two. However, switching the birds you have now means you won't have to worry about who is eating what when you add to the flock (i'm assuming you will be adding, after all the current set won't live forever!)
I personally feed ours organic because I want to know what is going into them, and how it was grown. And, I do know that. However, I do not plan on marketing my eggs as organic because A) they have not been on a strict organic diet and B) I will be marketing them thusly: "Houdini's Acres Eggs: More than Organic, It's Natural!"

Which lets me get around the "organic" label while still upholding it. My birds eat the feed, but they also eat bugs and grasses and etc and they eat Quinoa and other scraps including meat. I don't know what the organic requirements are but I know what goes into my birds (within reason, I don't watch every bug after all) and I know they aren't eating pesticides from our property.

But, your choice, your birds

Matthew Ryan
Houdini's Acres