Organic feed for Broilers

[seramas]

If you know the 'Man' is coming to take samples and to inspect your 'organic' operation what pair of shoes are you going to show 'Him'? If you are an honest Organic Operator but have to depend on ingredients from the other Not So Honest Organic Supplies how will you know? Too many holes in this 'Organic' bucket!

Testing was done as a favor by Old Classmates of mine. These tests are not cheap--as much as $235 to test for containments without gene tests for GM ingredients. Not sure what the cost for that would be. Than there is a fee for each vitamin/mineral tested for. It can get very expensive quick!

I won't share the result due to legal problems that could arise from them. The results are for a given sample, not a range of samples (industry standards-start-middle-end of batch).

 

[dancingbear]

Serama, it sounds like the average person really has no way at all to find out what's in the feed they buy. You suggested buying the "cleanest" proper feed for whatever species/type being raised, but how is one to do that, if there's no way we can get test results, or get feed tested? Is there something I missed?

Jeff, mine catch their own animal protein most of the time! Of course, they do need something extra in the winter, even here, where the bugs are never all gone, (or so it seems). I've seen mosquitoes here, when there's still some snow or ice on the ground.

In colder, snowier climes, the birds definitely need some kind of animal protein. That could come from eggs or dairy too.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Ya it doesn't have to be much protein... just something. I hear so much of people not feeding the animal protein and just using soy.

It works but they do better with animal protein.... but it's the same as the grain. You have to find a clean source, and it doesn't get any cleaner than the bugs in your yard.

 

[Bossroo]

Quote:
Au contrere my friend, many bugs not only crawl, walk, jump, carried by water via runoff, carried by the winds ( spiders are known to be carried hundreds of miles) but also FLY and do so from a few feet to miles on end ( grasshoppers, crickets, or flies, biting and sucking insects, etc. come to mind). Where have they been and what have they eaten ( pesticides, herbicides, pollens, GMO's )??? What microbial pathogens do they provide passage for ???

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Ya.... your right. So I'm curious to see how clean those bugs really are.....

 

[seramas]

I did a test with a group of Cornish X; raising 104 birds purely organic at an average of $12.32 each (lost 6 to heart attacks and crippling) and 104 birds on my fortified mash average cost $5.26 (lost 0). The organic averaged 14 ounces lighter than the fortified group. Then without telling the customers, 1/2 their orders came from each group. Not one single person said one or the other tasted better. When they came back for more, I told them what I did and everyone said they both tasted the same.

I believe that the organic feeds are not 'pure organic' in the sense of perfection and that many of them are deficient of vita/mins due to fluctuating levels in the ingredients use to manufacture it. Most organic feed producers do not have Biochemical Intuitionalist on staff to test for key vitas/mins levels. If they did or do are pricing their product out of the common mans' market.

The large commercial manufacturers have large research & development programs to insure improved nutritional quality in their products and do to the volumes sold can keep prices down. As of late, they are slowly moving to the organic side.

With Fed & State laws that restrict many known 'bad' additives and lowering acceptable containments levels forcing better and safer feed. This can be furthered by an informed public that voices their wants and needs with their checkbooks & e-mailing them with their views.

Look how long dog & cats live on the quality feeds currently marketed over the average live spans of these same breeds in the '50s and '60s. Most are 25+% longer.

Slow change is frustrating but is better than no change.

I am in no way saying organic feeds are not as good as commercial feeds or a waste of money. They, for the most part, have lower levels of containments-my concern lie with consistent nutrient levels.

 

[dancingbear]

In all the years I've kept chickens, I don't think they've ever come to harm from eating bugs, so I'm not gonna worry about that. The bugs are probably pretty safe for the birds. Out in the sticks where I am, we're mostly surrounded by wooded areas.

They sure loved eating the cicadas, summer before last. Now those were some fine, high protein chicken treats! I understand people eat cicadas, in some countries. I can see why, they're big enough to roast. I don't think I could overcome the "ick factor", unless I was starving.

 

[seramas]

Here is the government link for Regulations concerning animal feeds. I have collected these regulations (in book form) each year back to 1963 and a few dating back as far as 1933.

There evolution in nutritional requirements is surprising to most that read these in their entirety.

Try reading a link a day (even of you don't fully understand) it will give you a better understanding that the animal feed business is not for the faint of heart.

Remember this is not the complete regulations.


http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/tex...idno=7;node=7:3.1.1.9.31#7:3.1.1.9.31.2.342.3

 

[bibliophile birds]

We're a family farm (I'm the 5th generation, my brand new niece is the start of the 6th generation to live here) and we're lucky enough to be able to look over that history to help decide for our future. Like most farms, we were self sustaining until about the 50s: all of our "fertilizer" was from the horses and cows on the farm, which only ate what we grew (out of said fertilizer) or could get locally from other farmers we knew. We treated sick animals with mostly farm remedies or, if they were valuable, treated with medicine. We wouldn't have passed organic certification, but we were as "natural" as we could get.

And then, like most farms, we changed with the times to "modern" farming practices such as herbicides and pesticides and preventative antibiotics and commercial feeds and hormones. Sure, we ended up saving some money by boosting production. But it became increasingly obvious that there was a cost to all this. Even with crop rotation, the soil just didn't provide the way it had before. Our biodiversity was almost destroyed. No healthy insect populations meant no frogs in the pond which meant we had fewer and fewer birds. Government subsidies went to modern farms, which meant that you did it their way or you couldn't survive. Most didn't.

We feed all organic now, but that just started a few years ago. Basically it came down to deciding exactly what things were important to us. It was important for us to know we weren't overloading the soil and water table with chemicals. And that what we fed, and consumed, was clean food. I wanted to know that my generation wouldn't be the last to live here.

Now, that might all sound like the poetic ramblings of a farmer's daughter, but the point is that farms like ours are what is at stake every time someone decides that cheaper is better. Natural and organic is more expensive, as someone already pointed out, because we aren't getting subsidized. You are paying the difference already, but instead of putting that money in a farmer's pocket, you are giving it to the government to give to factory farms.

Many of the reasons you probably raise chickens at home are the same reasons you should be buying organic feeds. You know that home grown, small flock chickens are tastier and healthier. There is a big difference between your chickens and a Tyson frozen chicken shipped from half-way across the country. Feed is no different.

Sorry for the long-winded soap box moment, but it's something that is very important to me. The more people willing to pay the little extra up front will mean that more of us can keep doing what we do, which means the prices will come down and actually give us a chance to compete with BIG AGRIBUSINESS. I won't think badly of you if you don't agree with me, I just hope you see the value in what I've said.

 

[bibliophile birds]

Oh, and in most states you can sell your eggs and chicken as organic without certification as long as it is on a small scale (the specifics vary from state to state) and you clearly state that you aren't certified. What we do when we sell at the Farmer's Market is post a sign that I had made that explains what organic "means" in different situations, why we aren't certified, and what we actually feed. So far, I've not had a single person decide not to buy because we weren't certified, even though the booth next to us is a certified farm. I think people buy from us because we're locals and the other farm is a few hours away. And because I'm such a persuasive marketer, of course!