Organic Feed...Need help in Michigan finding food!

[livinggreen]

I am trying my best to have my hens on an organic feed when they get to the age where they start laying. I wanted to mix my own and found this recipe that I want to try...

2 parts whole corn (in winter this is increased to 3 or 4 parts)
3 parts soft white wheat
3 parts hard red winter wheat
1 part hulled barley
1 part oat groats
1 part sunflower seeds (in winter this is increased to 2 parts)
1 part millet
1 part kamut
1 part amaranth seeds
1 part split peas
1 part lentils
1 part quinoa
1 part sesame seeds
1/2 part flax seeds
1/2 part kelp granules
free choice of granite grit
free choice of oyster shell

The problem is that I cannot find anywhere that sells all of this organic and in bulk in my area. I am in the Detroit Metro area. Anyone in this area have any ideas? Or is there a supplier online that I can order from?

Thanks!

 

[keljonma]

This site might be of some help to you.

http://www.lionsgrip.com/chickens.html

 

[TheStus]

No suggests, but if you don't mind me asking, where did you find this recipe?

 

[greyfields]

To find that many organic components is going to be really really tough. You may need to buy some off the shelf organic stuff, then pick up the pieces as you can. Some items there are no 'organics' for, such as the kelp meal. You can check the NOP website for organic permitted natural substances.

As far as finding it, you need to have a long phone call with a feed store. Most stores can get anything you need, but at a price. Some are very happy/excited to do custom orders. Others don't want to bother with it. Call ahead to get a sense of what place you'll be dealing with.

 

[livinggreen]

I got the recipe on this website...

http://organicchickens.homestead.com/

I have found it to be a very helpful site for trying to do things organically.

Thanks for the suggestion with contacting the feed stores to see what they can get for me. I guess I thought this stuff would be more readily available but it looks like it's going to take some research.

 

[SeaChick]

I have no idea about how the price for human-grade would comare to animal-grade (if indeed there is a difference) biut a lot of that stuff we can get at health food stores, co-ops, or natural foods marketplaces -in the bulk aisle. It might be worth 10 minutes with the yellow pages and phone. They might even give you a discount of you got big amounts through them (like 25# bags or whatever.)

That looks like areally good mixture. I might try that. Or maybe just a mixture of some of it for treats/scratch to supplement organic layer pellets. Thanks for the recipe!

Stacey