no animal by- product feed- help please!

[Smoky73]

Quote:
So, is Corn a problem too along with Soy, animal byproducts & everything else?

Someone suggested citing scientific facts rather than info from biased sources-I agree. Here's a fact I confident is accurate: what ever you do you'll die eventually. IMO some people obsess too much about the never ending stream of health scares we're subjected to.

Totally agree, I remember when I was a kid, Betty Crocker cake mixes were supposed to kill you as well, and raw cake batter/cookie dough and so forth. I did both and still do and I am still alive. I want my birds to have the animal protein, but I do believe that Soy in large amounts are not good for you. I am lactose intolerant so when I have cereal for breakfast, I use soy milk, other than that, its real.

 

[NYREDS]

Quote:
Don't forget to get pleanty of rest & drink 8 glasses of water daily! You'll still die anyway.

 

[Chris09]

I look at it this way.
If we take all the Corn, Soybean, Animal Protein and Byproduct out of the feeds then over half of the people that are complaining about these products will just find something new to complain about that is in the feed.
Or they are going to complain about all the Animal byproducts that we are putting into a landfill...

Chris

 

[Katy]

Quote:
Yep...they'd just find something else to crusade against.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
Just so you know, I've paid in waaaaaaaaaaaay more tax dollars over the years than I've ever collected in farm subsidies.....and I've never collected one dollar in subsidies for corn.

Hey Katy,
Ya I know.. It was not aimed at you.. You are a Wheat farmer right? I remember a discussion on the prices of wheat.

(I grew up farming during the Beef boom years in the 70's. We grass fed pastured right up to finishing the cows with grains. That was the cheapest way to go back then.)

I am just passionate about bringing back the small farm. So I am into organic, local, non GMO. Pretty much anything anti government subsidy, anti large scale globalization of food, anti Monsanto .
Ultimately one Greedy CEO gets rich and everyone else works their tail off. Besides our country is fat enough we do not need any more cheap processed foods made from corn syrup and soy..

Yes some honest hard working mid size farmers could get caught in the cross fire... But they can always join the cause, of the people taking back control of their food!

Be well all.
(The subject of food can invoke strong emotions.. I know it does for me!)

ON

No, we grow more than wheat.....we grow corn, soybeans, milo some years, alfalfa, silage, cane feed and we also have a cow herd so we have a very diversafied operation.

 

[Organics North]

So, is Corn a problem too along with Soy, animal byproducts & everything else?

Someone suggested citing scientific facts rather than info from biased sources-I agree. Here's a fact I confident is accurate: what ever you do you'll die eventually. IMO some people obsess too much about the never ending stream of health scares we're subjected to

There is a study to counter every other study.. Just as stated earlier... Some times these "health scares"
pan out some times not.........Heck, ole grampa smoked tobacco till he was 95 years old... All those silly "health scares".................We aught to listen to those nice folks at RJ Reynold company, heck they have scientific studies to back them up...Tobacoo won't hurt you.

what ever you do you'll die eventually

Wow... Yep.....That about sums it up....Heck, I can not even comment....

It is my opinion one should be happy some folks question the status quo.

If nothing I feel I am trying to defend the OP's honest question on trying to find certain type of feed... See.. I respect folks that think about what the put into their body. (Yes some of us believe you are what you eat.)

ON
Some one that questions what I am "told"....

 

[Organics North]

Quote:
Yep...they'd just find something else to crusade against.

Come on Chris09, Katy,
Don't you think you are taking it a little too far?
Why do people have back yard chickens? Well one reason is people want to take back some control of their food......

People are concerned about the shear amount of corn and soy their diets of processed foods. It is almost impossible to go grocery shopping without buying products that contain corn or soy. Not that a little corn or soy is going to kill you. Its just so much is used..

SO they want to find feeds with less corn and soy maybe as a way to reduce the amount they consume. Both of you happy with Monsanto? Do we really want monopolies on our food sources? Do we really fully understand the impact of GMO's?

Choosing to not feed or eat animal byproducts, is a choice people can make.. I personally do not want to eat or feed animal byproducts from large scale farm operation. Animals I butcher myself, or animals from people I know and trust.. That is a different story. Also I feel it is smart to look at the fish meal issue. Over harvesting in the oceans is a problem. These issues are deep and complex...By no means is the "status quo" agricultural model we have perfect... IMO it is not sustainable.

Yes I will come out and say I am a proponent of local, small to mid scale agriculture.
"Supersized" farms and shipping produce back and forth from one end of the county to another is a problem. I am alarmed by the shear number of small to mid size farms that have gone under in the past 20 years!!! I feel if you support the current model, you also support the extinction of private farms....................................Yes, I would like to see the return of the small family farm, where one can make an honest living doing honest work. I see the "organic revolution" as a means to that end. I also feel fuel prices will continue to rise, making local small scale agriculture cost competitive with the current model.

Katy, I do not feel the small to mid size farmer has been dealt a fair hand in the current model.....Hats off to you on your diversity.!

Wishing you the best.

ON

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Scientific studies are usually published in scientific journals, and receive critique from a wide array of fellow scientists, many of whom love to poke holes into others' research--usually by trying the same or a similar experiment or study to see if they can replicate or refute the results.

Are scientific studies ever flawed--of course, see me comment above, but an independant researcher has no bias towards the results. Yes, a study funded or operated by an "evil agricultural conglomerate" could be biased. That is one reason why government research, university research and research by independant laboratories are common.

 

[Lbrad7]

You guys are reeaaally over thinking this. All this talk of feeding fish meal, have any of you thought about mercury being in it??? Just sayin. If you are really worried about the animal by products being in the feed, go with the Purina that has the soy for protein, throw in a little free range time and table scraps with a touch of your choice of treats and you are good to go. I think that is a pretty clean line from the birds feeder too your gut.

Back to that fish meal thing....I have nothing against feeding that to your chickens. I think it has a lot of benefits but was trying to make the mercury point in that there is a con to every pro. Even free ranging (which is as natural as you can get) you have to deal with big losses from hawks or dogs. etc. I actually rotate brands of feed so they can get a good balance of what ever choice the maker is using for a protein source.

Good luck to you in whatever you decide....

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
I believe that the fish with mercury in them are from the Great Lakes.
Fish that are harvested/ used for fishmeal are sea type fish.

Fishmeal can be made from almost any type of fish but is generally manufactured from two main types. These two types of fish differ both in their ability to store oil as well as where in the body oil is stored.

The first type includes a group referred to as "lean fish." This includes such species as cod and haddock. In these species the oil is stored primarily in the liver. The flesh (fillets) contain very little oil. Fishmeal from this type of fish has a low oil content (2 to 6%) since the livers are removed beforeprocessing. Of course, if the livers are added back, or the whole fish is used, the oil content would be higher. The whole fish is not usually used since cod and haddock are prized for the fillets. Since the fillets are used for human consumption, the fishmeal from these lean fish are made principally from the offal (white fish frames) remaining after filleting. "White" fishmeal commonly contains a higher concentration of ash (minerals) since the bony frames (head and racks) of previously filleted cod, haddocks, etc. are used. White fishmeal constitutes only 10% of the world fishmeal production.

The second type of fish used to manufacture fishmeal stores oil in certain parts of the flesh. They are high oil fish and, unlike the lean fish, are not prized for their fillets. They are commonly referred to as "industrial fish." Such species as herring, menhaden, anchovy, pilchard, sardines and mackerel fall into this category. Approximately 90% of the world fishmeal production is from these high oil species.

Most species of fish used for the production of fishmeal have a similar protein content that averages approximately 16% in the whole fish. This whole body protein content will vary by only plus or minus 2 to 3%. The fishmeal derived from these fish will, therefore, all be fairly similar in protein content. Theoil (fat) content in fish species is much more variable than their protein content. The amount of oil in fishmeal is directly dependent on the efficiency of the oil removal at the time of processing.

Chris