Organic feeds... DO you use it? How much do you pay... Is it worth it?

[awmartian]

From what I have read so far...I don't think the 22% protien is necessarily a bad thing for growing hens. My chicks are now 6 weeks old and extremely healthy (not fat). The other local farmers use Modesto Milling for all their chickens and have been very pleased. I think if people were to complain or be unsatisfied the company wouldn't have been in business this long or they would have changed their product. Occording to their website, they have been selling organic feed since 1998. In 2007 their board of directors decided to switch soley to selling organic feed so the company must have received positive feedback for them to completely switch. JMTC

On a side note, I also feed my chicks mealworms that I began raising. The mealworms are also fed the chick/ grower starter. That means my chicks are receiving additional protein from the worms and have had no ill affect. I have pictures posted on my facebook. When I get a chance I will create a page here for them so you guys can check them out.

Amber

 

[whillergee]

Thanks for the "feed"back (har har) - I'll keep happily using the Modesto Milling stuff. I don't even know how much my husband paid for it - maybe we should take a field trip out to the central valley one of these days and pick up a load.

My four older ladies were out in their chicken run for the first time today, and went wild over the idea of bug hunting!

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
At the risk of stating the obvious, whether it's worth it depends on what your goals are.

It is my understanding - just from what i have been told - that selling your eggs with the "organic" label requires something like 4 years of organic history with documented inspections, etc. I'm sure this varies from state to state.

For me, the most important thing is that i can eat and sell eggs produced by chickens who are not fed any kind of drugs. I've had to go to some lengths just to get that.

I agree that the purchase of certified organic feed is not sustainable, specifically if you have goals for self-sufficiency. Our goals in that direction include raising crickets, black oil sun flower seeds, and other grains, to supplement our chickens' mostly free ranged diet.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

 

[Organics North]

Quote:
At the risk of stating the obvious, whether it's worth it depends on what your goals are.

It is my understanding - just from what i have been told - that selling your eggs with the "organic" label requires something like 4 years of organic history with documented inspections, etc. I'm sure this varies from state to state.

For me, the most important thing is that i can eat and sell eggs produced by chickens who are not fed any kind of drugs. I've had to go to some lengths just to get that.

I agree that the purchase of certified organic feed is not sustainable, specifically if you have goals for self-sufficiency. Our goals in that direction include raising crickets, black oil sun flower seeds, and other grains, to supplement our chickens' mostly free ranged diet.

OK...
Organic Certification:
#1 For growing certified organic crops records must be kept for 3 years on the ground organic crops are grown. As far as Organic certification on Chickens. You can buy non organic hatchery chicks, but they must be fed organic from day one to be certifiable. (No three year thing, that is just for soil to grow crops.)

#2 You can sell up to $5000 worth of organic foods with out going through the certification process. One should still LEARN and FOLLOW all certification procedures though!

Sustainable:
I agree with PunkinPeep, But I ask what is sustainable for our urban society that can not grow their own crops? Is it only the price paid at the cash register that determines sustainability??? $1 Big Mac is certainly cheaper than a healthier option at the deli! The USA population is the "lab rat" in the cheap food experiment. So far we are the fattest nation on earth with the highest health care costs, and life spans on par with many 3rd world countries. Reason.. cheap food based on corn and soy. Both of which are heavily subsidised with our tax dollars to make them cheap!
http://www.organicconsumers.org/gefood/govtsoyloans.cfm

No organic foods are not cheaper than non organic today. Do organic farming practices represent a sustainable form of agriculture? YOU BET! Take the subsidies away from non organic corn and soy crops and watch the giant fall...

ON

 

[edselpdx]

I feed a mostly locally-sourced corn-free, soy-free organic layer feed to my ladies. I have a local feed store (Urban Farm Store) in Portland, OR who puts this together and sells in a reusable bucket program--bring in an empty blue bucket, they sterilize the buckets and reuse them for the next customers. There is a deposit for the origianl bucket, but not after that as long as you're bringing one of theirs back, so reduced packaging costs as well.

Organic is important to me not because organic eggs are more nutritious (they're not), but for global environmental reasons that are important to me. Corn and soy are among the most likely crops to b genetically engineered. Use of pesticides and artificial fertilizers exposes farmers and farm workers to chemicals that are not necessary. Not all people agree with my personal reasons described here, and I respect that, but I'm doing what I can to reduce my personal impact on the planet.

If I had to source from relatively non-local mills and pay to ship from halfway across the country, I would probably make different choices. Local, organic, and sustainable is ideal, but you have to make your choices based on your own beliefs and circumstances. My 3 hens are "pets with benefits" for me, and I would probably be forced to make hard decisions if I were trying to make this pan out financially as a business as well.

 

[sandiatonimarie]

I envy all of you who at least have real organic options. I found only ONE feedstore in my area that had organic feed, locally produced. It would be a special 30-35 mile one way trip for me to go there every time I needed chicken feed as there is no other reason for me to go to that part of town. In addition to the gas, time and mileage, a 50 pound bag of the organic feed was $41! It also still had soy as a major ingredient.

So I buy another local feed that is $15 for 50 pounds and available on my way to and from work, locally made, company with long standing good reputation for their feeds being high quality but not certifiably organic.

had to edit to add this:

Organic is important to me not because organic eggs are more nutritious (they're not), but for global environmental reasons that are important to me. Corn and soy are among the most likely crops to b genetically engineered. Use of pesticides and artificial fertilizers exposes farmers and farm workers to chemicals that are not necessary. Not all people agree with my personal reasons described here, and I respect that, but I'm doing what I can to reduce my personal impact on the planet.

I totally respect and agree with these reasons. I was willing to pay more for organic feed but not 2 and a half or three times as much. Hopefully, we will get a little healthy competition around here for producing organic feed and maybe that price will come down.​

 

[Organics North]

sandiatonimarie,
In your situation I would do the same...

-----
I spent some hours researching. It does not hurt to get proactive! Ask your local feed stores to find an organic product that is price competitive! Let them know you would be a loyal customer and that many others are looking for that product too...

This is one of the many reasons I like to deal with small businesses instead of big chain companies. Often times they will listen and find the products you are looking for at the proper price points....

ON

 

[AHappychick]

Its hard I will say that my feed is $28 a bag and with what I buy per month it is well over $300 thats what I spend at the grocery for my ds and I but I dont want to eat the non organic, This year though I am going to try to grow as much as I can. Brunty I think it would be awesome if you went organic, some customers may not want to pay the extra amount but many will and it is just so much better for you and your customers.

 

[sandiatonimarie]

Thank you, Organics North --

I spent some hours researching. It does not hurt to get proactive! Ask your local feed stores to find an organic product that is price competitive! Let them know you would be a loyal customer and that many others are looking for that product too...

This is one of the many reasons I like to deal with small businesses instead of big chain companies. Often times they will listen and find the products you are looking for at the proper price points....

The place I've been buying from is a local small business and she is great with chickens, been raising them for 30 years or more and has tons and tons of knowledge that she shares with customers -- another benefit of dealing locally. So I do have someone that I trust to have the best quality feed, organic or not.

I imagine if the retail price is $41, the wholesale price to a feed store must be pretty high, too -- kinda scary to invest that much more in a product and hope you sell it if you're a small biz. I will ask her, though.​