Organic Feed in Oregon... I'd like to buy bulk or make my own

[Meggan]

Hi All - I'm a newbe here but have had chickens for 4 years. I currently have close to 70. They free range on 5 acres and I sell eggs. I have been buying Nutrena ~ Nature Wise. I Would like to go no soy/corn and maybe organic. However, the cost of that for the number of hens I have is, $$$$. I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions on where to maybe buy bulk or ideas on a good mix I can make myself?
Thanks for any input.

 

[pastryman]

well, I live in Denmark, but what I did was this:

I called 3 different organic dairyfarmers near where I live. One of them I had allreday met. I asked them if I could buy grains from them. They all grow some of their own feed, and I got barley, wheat, oats and peas from them. One of them also had some pellets for calfs I might buy later.
The price was less than what I would buy non-organic food for at mills, and now I am also getting my organic milk from one of them. They where all very friendly.

First find out what you can get at a good price. Then find out what nutrition the chickens would not get from this, and go looking for something that contains this.
Good luck.

 

[countrygirl74]

Have you checked into www.azurestandard.com - they carry organic, soy-free poultry feed and bulk grains, etc. to make your own if you wanted. That's where I buy all my organic feed and it is only a couple dollars more than the local non-organic.

 

[HooDoo Mtn Farm]

I've gotten away from all processed foods for my gals, & am feeding sprouts & organic grains. Egg production is great, & all are healthy:

My sprouting system . .
I bought a bucket for each day of the week from the Dollar store.
Day 1 is a soaker, no holes in bottom, with a pint of whatever seed (currently lentil culls; 100 lb bag for $10!).
Days 2-6 have holes in bottoms, nested into one another.
I cut 4-inch-long sections of 4" dia white plastic pipe, and set one in the bottom of each bucket as spacers, so these buckets stack about 20" high.
Day 6 bucket is at the top of the stack, & is where I run my fresh rinse water into, 2x a day (filtering down thru the stack, all set in the bathtub).
Day 7 bucket has no holes & is in a lighted area, "greening up".

The gals get Day 7 bucket every day; day 6 goes into #7, Day one soaker bucket gets dumped into #6, which then gets rotated to the #1 (bottom) position in the stack.

That 1 pint turns into a gallon & a half of sprouts for my 2 dozen chickens.

Next on the agenda is fermenting a separate batch of seed grains, when my 100 Delaware chicks come in May