Organic frustrations.....

[Organics North]

Correct in the USA Organic will be GMO free.

Yes it is frustrating, I could get organic feed, but not soy free. It was only maybe a 20% premium over non organic...
I make my own too.. And drive 4 hours one way! to get my ingredients. Lucky I buy by the ton and only go twice a year.
If you want to see what I feed check out my BYC page.
ON

 

[TanyaFL]

I feel your pain. I have the same issue! No organic soy-free feed anywhere near us! I ended up sucking it up and just paying the shipping costs from countryside natural like another poster noted. (the closest place to me that has it is about 150 miles away and they want $83 for a 50 lb bag! Nearly twice the price I can get it direct.) It is organic so no GMO and it is soy-free. They are accredited by Global Organic Alliance Inc. who is an accrediting agent for the USDA. Global Organic Alliance also appears to hold to higher standards than USDA alone as well. (If you spend some time on their website comparing the sections of USDA standards with the International Cert Standards they also hold their members to, it appears the International Cert Standards that must be met are slightly more stringent then USDAs NOP for crops)

Anyway, it is not cheap...not by any stretch. I pay $45.44 to have a 50 lb bag shipped to my door, but I only have 3 girls currently and no one else around me wanting to split up shipping on larger orders of organic feed. I do have a new chick someone gave me last week that I am hoping is a girl, lol. I also have one roo, and it may sound mean, but I do not let him eat the girls layer feed. He lives off the grass, bugs, etc. of approx. 1.25 acres as well as my always fully stocked compost and I do also toss him some of my "organic meal worms" lol so its not like he is starving or anything. (Yeah, I also have a meal worm farm going, but to be fair its not just for the chickens. I have some toads and a couple leopard geckos to feed as well, lol) I just cant afford to let the roo have that feed...I tried. He hogs it, wont let the girls near it, and it seems he alone eats as much as the 3 girls combined a day!

I actually came on today to check out some homemade incubators and got side tracked, lol. I want to order some hatching eggs so I have "non hatchery" (or feed supply, which is where these girls came from lol) chickens filling in the rest of my flock. I am kind of bracing myself just thinking of the feed costs. I found some rare breeds I want really badly though, lol! So a hatching I will go! I am a sahm of 3 human kiddos myself so no income from me...just my hubby, and trust me, sometimes I want to throw my hands up in the air and just give up and go buy that $12 bag of conventional feed up the road. However, its the right thing to do for our kids and our planet, and I have to practice what I preach ya know?

Oh and before any highly committed environmental conservationists point out my carbon footprint from shipping feed like that...I know, I know. But living in Florida, which is SO not a grain growing state, lol, ALL feed is shipped here anyway so any feed I buy has that tied in already. Plus, I do try to get several orders of other things we need that are not available locally to work out with the same shipper and day as well. This way I am not having UPS stop by to drop ONE box at a time to me, not to mention its UPS so there are many other people in the area that they were coming out for anyway. Not so different than the carbon footprint of buying from a store, which I would be forced to do in my state regardless. (I like to think its a bit less of a footprint considering I skip a storefronts operations plus I supported the organic process which lowers my impact as well.)

Anyway, back to the original subject...thought you might like to check out the ingredient list of the countryside natural layer feed so here it is:

Organic Field Peas, Organic Corn, Organic Oats, Organic Wheat, Calcium Carbonate, Fish Meal, Organic Alfalfa Meal, Organic Flaxseed, Organic Rice Bran, Sodium Silico Aluminate, Dried Organic Kelp, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Yeast Culture, Roughage Product (organic wheat middlings),Organic Sunflower Oil, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Menadione Nicotinamide Bisulfite Complex, D-Calcium Pantothenic Acid, Niacin Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Biotin, Folic Acid, Manganese Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Extract, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Dried fermentation product of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Dried fermentation product of Lactobacillus casei, , Dried fermentation product of Lactobacillus plantarum, Dried fermentation product of Enterococcus faecium, Dried fermentation product of Bacillus coagulans, Dried fermentation product of Bacillus licheniformis, and Dried fermentation product of Bacillus subtilis.


Tanya

 

[iluvmichickens]

It's nice to know I'm not the only one with this problem! I think I've called every number in the book trying to find organic feed in our area. Most people just snicker when I ask, but I did find a place that would order a bag when needed (although I did have to keep calling to remind them) and I found that a local Theisens carries an organic brand (when they can).

The troubles we go through to do what we feel is better for everyone! Keep it up!

 

[Pampered Hen]

I'm curious as to why you are looking for soy free, corn free feed? Is it because you might end up with GMO pollen on the organic plants and get a contaminated product?
How do up the protein in the feed when you omit soy?

 

[Organics North]

Quote:
Plenty of soy free ways to get protein! Field peas, fish meal, flax and many others.

Just google the "dangers of soy". Many different reasons for saying no to soy. I also subscribe to you are what you eat, and if my chickens are eating soy so am I. Me personally, feel their is way to much soy in the American diet. I have concerns about potential hormonal effects...and what that can do to the body, from early maturation of children to being an accelerator for cancer. Most likely my #1 reason for avoiding non organic soy is GMO's and the Monsanto corporation and all that they represent in industrial agriculture. I am also opposed to the level of mono cropping corn and soy in this country.... Plant some field peas....! It was the number 1 legume until industrial ag came along.

These are just my PERSONAL reasons... I say to each his/her own...

 

[LovinMyPeeps]

Quote:
Plenty of soy free ways to get protein! Field peas, fish meal, flax and many others.

Just google the "dangers of soy". Many different reasons for saying no to soy. I also subscribe to you are what you eat, and if my chickens are eating soy so am I. Me personally, feel their is way to much soy in the American diet. I have concerns about potential hormonal effects...and what that can do to the body, from early maturation of children to being an accelerator for cancer. Most likely my #1 reason for avoiding non organic soy is GMO's and the Monsanto corporation and all that they represent in industrial agriculture. I am also opposed to the level of mono cropping corn and soy in this country.... Plant some field peas....! It was the number 1 legume until industrial ag came along.

These are just my PERSONAL reasons... I say to each his/her own...

just a little quick reading if anyones interested.

http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog...rop-ingredients-in-pet-foods-and-human-foods/

 

[Pampered Hen]

Looks like I need to do some reading.

 

[Cluckn Crazy]

I believe everything in moderation. I'm okay with small amounts of organic soy (definately against GMO), however my feed was 80% corn and soy. I think I can do better then that for birds that would naturally prefer a diverse diet. Better health for my birds - better eggs for my family - well worth the effort.

 

[trilyn]

I would love to do organic also...but its way out of my price range at the moment. Sooo...I mix my own feed using different seeds and grains. At the moment I am using boss, sunflower seeds(hulled), flax seed, whole wheat, fish meal, DE, alfalfa meal, shelled peanuts, safflower seed. There is a protein calculator on lionsgrip.com or the best one is what was posted on another thread on byc. The calculator came from backyardchickens.com and it rocks. You'd have to join that forum and then search for "cuda" and they were talking about feed and mixing your own. It will take a bit of searching and I wish I could just copy and paste for you, but it doesn't work. It is worth the effort though!!! You can just adapt the calculator by taking out what you don't need and adding what you do use and the protein and fat content of what you want to use. It has made a huge difference in my feeding program and putting the whole grain mix next to the game bird feed....the girls choose whole grain everytime and it makes the eggs taste completely different. I highly recommend mixing your own. Just have to have the correct protein amount or guess what? NO eggs!! lol Of course all of last years birds are molting and this years girls are purebreds, so not a whole lot of eggs just yet.

But the ones I do get are golden!!

ETA: forgot to mention I add a vitamin/mineral mix to the water-avia charge 2000. Just to be on the safe side! Also, the main reason for doing this....NO SOY!

 

[LovinMyPeeps]

We have a place out of Quebec (which is right near here) that does decent organic. Until I can get my farm completely up and running I need to buy so alas I digress. I plan to do field peas and my own non GMO organic heritage corn, as well as wheat. I've already test grown a patch of wheat and it did well. The local Amish grow the oats and other ingredients I may need. It will take me a while to get there, but I plan to try to make a go of it. (While working my full time nursing job, maybe I'm nuts :dunno ) Anyway....