Quote:
I've never heard of good intentions stopping or preventing diseases.
my grandfather raised chickens without the "help" of anything outside of nature. He's 80. And still as frisky as ever. Also, to my knowledge, his chickens never "suffered" or had a "hard life". In fact, they all seemed quite happy doing what chickens do.
what you feed your chicken, you are eating, either via the meat or via the egg. with good intentions (e.g. 'i just want to help', or 'i just want more eggs'), we are infecting our bodies with out-sourced chemicals - - and the full impact is unknown. but, it's not looking good.
so, i agree with you. good intentions don't always stop the bad.
that said, i prefer my grandpa's way. seems smarter (to/for me and my family).
Quote:
I've never heard of good intentions stopping or preventing diseases.
my grandfather raised chickens without the "help" of anything outside of nature. He's 80. And still as frisky as ever. Also, to my knowledge, his chickens never "suffered" or had a "hard life". In fact, they all seemed quite happy doing what chickens do.
what you feed your chicken, you are eating, either via the meat or via the egg. with good intentions (e.g. 'i just want to help', or 'i just want more eggs'), we are infecting our bodies with out-sourced chemicals - - and the full impact is unknown. but, it's not looking good.
so, i agree with you. good intentions don't always stop the bad.
that said, i prefer my grandpa's way. seems smarter (to/for me and my family).
I had a large rebuttal to your comment and decided to delete it I don't want to take over this thread. This is an argument that has gone on for decades and I don't see an end to it any time soon.
Quote:
my grandfather raised chickens without the "help" of anything outside of nature. He's 80. And still as frisky as ever. Also, to my knowledge, his chickens never "suffered" or had a "hard life". In fact, they all seemed quite happy doing what chickens do.
what you feed your chicken, you are eating, either via the meat or via the egg. with good intentions (e.g. 'i just want to help', or 'i just want more eggs'), we are infecting our bodies with out-sourced chemicals - - and the full impact is unknown. but, it's not looking good.
so, i agree with you. good intentions don't always stop the bad.
that said, i prefer my grandpa's way. seems smarter (to/for me and my family).
I had a large rebuttal to your comment and decided to delete it I don't want to take over this thread. This is an argument that has gone on for decades and I don't see an end to it any time soon.
yes. i thought about that after i replied, as well. apologies to the OP.
to respond to the OP: i've never heard, or read, about organic feed causing hyper-ness. i guess that would depend on the ingredients though. however, i think it's more likely to be a breed/bloodline thing.
im interested in the debate as always... so glad to see some discussion on it in this thread.
I just wondered if the medicated portion of the feed tended to slow a chick down. but i agree, probably has more to do with the breed and could also have to do with the fact that i have more roosters in this batch with it being 'straight run'
Quote:
That would only be a concern, I would think, to someone who is looking for organic certification, in order to sell their eggs or meat labeled as "certified organic"? Speaking for myself, there is a balance struck between wanting to do what's best for my birds, given modern advances and medications, and my desire to obtain eggs that are at least somewhat safer than what I find on the store shelves.
If feeding medicated feed for a few weeks keeps my chicks safe, I'm willing to forego the ability to call my flock "organic".
Plus, there are probably people feeding organic feed while they allow their birds to range on land that hasn't been pesticide/fertilizer-free for 10 years--they technically can't call their birds organic, either, can they?
Quote:
You're right on track. Unless you are feeding your chicks nothing but corn, or something else grossly deficient in nutrients, you arn't going to change the activity levels that are naturally inherant to the little balls of fluff, and their breed. I had an EE that ran circles around her Red SL sister, and they ate the same feed.
As far as the organic aspect goes, it's a personal choice. People like to argue either way (I personally don't think it's an 'either or' choice), but I'm a big advocate of doing your own research and coming to your own conclusions. I researched the active ingredients in the medicated feed (amprolium), and it's effect on mammilian body, and how long it stays in the avian system. Everything I read pointed to the medicine not even being present in the chickens' systems by the time they were laying, since they were doing so months after I stopped the feed.
It's all personal choice. I have been personally in the presence of life-stealing and dehabilitating disease that could have been prevented by modern practices. I do like to have fresh ingredients that havn't been highly altered, but I also avoid automatically turning my nose up at thousands of years of improvements in health-preserving techniques. I am choosy about both organic and non-organic food.
Research research research, its your gift and right as a modern human