New Country Organics decline in quality

[Criticalicious]

Un-roasted peas or other legumes are bad for chickens. The fact that more of the "yellow" peas are now cracked may be a step in the right direction but my feelings are that this is a substitution of a good ingredient, namely GMO soybean meal for an inferior ingredient, namely whole "yellow" peas what ever that means. You can't force my chickens to eat raw peas of any kind if you held a gun on them.

That's interesting. Mine gobble up raw frozen green peas. Dried or undercooked BEANS are not good for them, but I haven't seen any evidence why peas are bad.

 

[Loona]

Yeah, not even sure that Rapeseed is a valuable replacement nutrient compared to soy, but I do have an allergy to soy specifically, but Rapeseed is what NB uses in the soy-free version. Corn, I have no problem. So it's too bad it's not all corn. I think corn feed makes eggs taste good! Maybe my imagination tells me so!

I'm waiting for a call back from NB. I've only seen NB at TS. My SS (and it's a big one) sells another name of organic that comes in crumble, mash and pellet. But I always found that one to have a rancid smell. Mgr says it's prob from the soy. The mash feed looked sandy with bits of cracked corn. Will let you know what NB's says.

 

[Loona]

That's interesting. Mine gobble up raw frozen green peas. Dried or undercooked BEANS are not good for them, but I haven't seen any evidence why peas are bad.

I feed mine cooked green peas and they love it. I've never seen yellow peas. You? Have also heard dried lentils are ok, but I always cook those too.

 

[Criticalicious]

I feed mine cooked green peas and they love it. I've never seen yellow peas. You? Have also heard dried lentils are ok, but I always cook those too.

Every time I walk through an International grocery store I discover 100 new varieties of fruits and veggies I've never heard of or have any clue how to prepare. According to multiple sites, yellow peas and green peas are identical except for the color. Lentils are not peas, although they look similar.

 

[Loona]

It is amazing, all the things. Right, Lentils are not peas. Not sure sure if they're considered a legume/bean. I think so.

NCO feed is loaded w/split yellow peas and it always gets wasted. Def not the hens favorite.

But I've heard of people feeding dry lentils (which look like split peas), but I think it's better cooked. They cook pretty fast. One small bag will fill an entire pot once cooked. Personally I love lentils, so the chickens do get some when I make them

 

[Folly's place]

I grew up having home made split pea soup, with the yellow dried split peas. Here in southern Michigan, I have found only one store that carries them, so that's where I go to stock up. Same product, different color, and the soup isn't 'pea soup green'!
Mary

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I haven't read through the whole thread so you may have already been told this. All bagged feed in the US is required to print a mill date on the bag somewhere. Some companies use a simple date on the guaranteed analysis tag or the seal tape. Others will use the Julian date. A few will have a batch or lot number but at any rate, the mill date is able to be determined. I never buy a bag of feed unless I know how old it is. I've seen feed at some stores as old as a year. Once I found feed two years old. That would be useless as a feedstuff.
Rapeseed is a brassica so it is neither grain or legume.
Lentils are a legume.

Yeah, not even sure that Rapeseed is a valuable replacement nutrient compared to soy, but I do have an allergy to soy specifically, but Rapeseed is what NB uses in the soy-free version. Corn, I have no problem. So it's too bad it's not all corn. I think corn feed makes eggs taste good! Maybe my imagination tells me so!

I'm waiting for a call back from NB. I've only seen NB at TS. My SS (and it's a big one) sells another name of organic that comes in crumble, mash and pellet. But I always found that one to have a rancid smell. Mgr says it's prob from the soy. The mash feed looked sandy with bits of cracked corn. Will let you know what NB's says.

You wouldn't be able to find an organic feed that has all corn as the primary ingredient. Corn is deficient in several amino acids (not to mention vitamins and minerals) so needs to be supplemented with other seeds, legumes, animal protein and/or synthetic amino acids to make a complete feed. Organic certifying organizations no longer allow synthetic amino acids in organic feed.
Every seed/grain/legume has different nutritional makeups. GMO products are prohibited to be in organic feeds. It gets tough to formulate a GMO free feed because 88% of US produced corn is GMO, 90% of canola(rapeseed) is GMO, 93% of soy is GMO. 94% of cottonseed is GMO.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

New Country Organics uses a lot number to differentiate the mill date. If you call and give them the lot number they can tell you when it was made. It will be a 'V' number if manufactured in Virginia or a 'T' number if from Texas.

 

[Loona]

I haven't read through the whole thread so you may have already been told this. All bagged feed in the US is required to have print a mill date on the bag somewhere. Some companies use a simple date on the guaranteed analysis tag or the seal tape. Others will use the Julian date. A few will have a batch or lot number but at any rate, the mill date is able to be determined. I never buy a bag of feed unless I know how old it is. I've seen feed at some stores as old as a year. Once I found feed two years old. That would be useless as a feedstuff.
Rapeseed is a brassica so it is neither grain or legume.
Lentils are a legume.



You wouldn't be able to find an organic feed that has all corn as the primary ingredient. Corn is deficient in several amino acids (not to mention vitamins and minerals) so needs to be supplemented with other seeds, legumes and/or synthetic amino acids to make a complete feed.
Every seed/grain/legume has different nutritional makeups. GMO products are prohibited to be in organic feeds. It gets tough to formulate a GMO free feed because 88% of US produced corn is GMO, 90% of canola(rapeseed) is GMO, 93% of soy is GMO. 94% of cottonseed is GMO.

Organic can contain

Great info. Thank you. I did look up rapeseed and yes, brassica. Wikipedia says "The byproduct is a high-protein animal feed, competitive with soybean".

So I did get a call back from Natures Best and their soy-free pellet didn't hit the "reset" at Tractor Supply in the recent 'reset', but it did for the next 'reset' which he says is in August so it will be available in TS in August, so that great.

Southern States is only available if you have a SS that is independent and can still special order things on their own. Whether or not SS will carry it is a different story. He does not know. It is up to SS. My SS does not carry Nature's Best, but I will see if he can special order it for me. If I have to wait till August, that is fine. I'll keep using the one I'm using now.

 

[Loona]

Also, I thought Rapeseed was Canola. But Nature's Feed said, it is close, but it is not the same. There is a difference between the plants even though it's same family. Canola seed has the amino acid profile sufficient to replace soy.

Through looking around online I have seen Rapeseed listed. But NB's specifically said Canola. I thought they were the same, now I see they're not.