organic scratch & peck vs. purina

[Roosterfry]

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[latebloomer]

abejita, what kind of dog is that?

we have poulin grains (not organic) and green mountain organic feed here in vermont, both good choices i think

 

[SueSteeves]

Actually, I believe the difference is PRICE and TOXIC RESIDUE. It really drives me crazy when the "experts" come out and say "there is no nutritional difference between conventional and organic produce." True, a conventional strawberry and an organic strawberry are both going to contain the same vitamins, but the conventional strawberry also contains pesticides. No thanks. My sister works for a doctor in a cancer clinic. He describes it this way when people balk at his suggestion to eat organic-take your lettuce, grab a can of RAID, spray the lettuce. Now, rinse it off and make your salad. No?

Wow! What great way to put it! I have been going back and forth on wether or not to switch my girls to organic feed, but it is a tough call since it is double the price. I garden using all organic methods and my girls free range in the garden for half the day......it is just hard justifying spending $32 on 50 lbs of feed when my bank account usually hovers around the low double digits between paychecks.​

 

[gale65]

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I'm not abejita but my uneducated guess is a giant schnauzer.

 

[latebloomer]

that was my guess, what a cutie.

 

[Noymira]

Quote:
Wow! What great way to put it! I have been going back and forth on wether or not to switch my girls to organic feed, but it is a tough call since it is double the price. I garden using all organic methods and my girls free range in the garden for half the day......it is just hard justifying spending $32 on 50 lbs of feed when my bank account usually hovers around the low double digits between paychecks.

This is exactly what I've been battling with as well! Our local organic feed is $24 per 50lb bag, vs. $11 per 50lb bag of the local non-organic. We buy as much organic produce for ourselves as we can (mainly the dirty dozen and anything that's close to non-organic pricing) and I have no problem spending more for organic and natural food for my daughter, even if that I means I go with less to stretch that food budget. I hope to be able to buy the local organic feed soon, but until then the local non-organic is a good second choice.

 

[twentynine]

Under- educated or over- educated, doesn't matter.

I have kept chickens off and on for over 30 years, all manner of breeds, you name it I have had it laying eggs on my place. These are some of the very simple observations I have made regarding chickens and feed.

Chickens will eat anything when they are hungry, you can not starve a hungry chicken if he has food in front of him/her, they will eat any kind, pelleted or mash, cheap or expensive, organic or off the shelf. If they don't eat it, they ain't hungry.

I have feed my chickens the end all be all super healthy feed that cost and arm and a leg, they ate it and layed eggs. I have fed my chickens right off the shelf Purina, Dumor, and a few other local brands, thay ate it and layed me eggs. I have supplemented their feed with whatever I could find, fresh fish, green stuff, high protien, low protien, they ate it all and layed me eggs.

The point I am trying to make, is some of these "cafe" brands of super duper holistic-organic-nonsoy-corn free feeds are more for the satisfying of the owner, rather than the satisfying of the chicken. You have the money and it makes you feel good, go a head and buy it. But in my opinion I have never seen as much as one iota of difference in the condition of my hens when they are fed super duper or off the shelf. The important thing is they get all they want, along with all the fresh water they can drink, stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Just like fishing. You guys and gals know what I am about to say. You go into your loacl sporting goods store, and the shelves are lined with 72 different colors/sizes of the very same fish bait. Well many of those colors/sizes are designed to catch more fishermen, than fish. Now take that same idea and transfer it to chicken feed, we got vegetarian, animal byproducts, holistic, organic, soy free, corn free, how many of these types of feed are to feed the owner's feelings, instead of the chicken?

 

[latebloomer]

are folks who are choosing to not feed their chickens soy worried about the effects of soy on the chicken, or on the planet?

 

[ChickenAl]

Twentynine, I will agree that most of the packaging and offerings are aimed at the sensitivities of the buyer. The chicken may not be able to tell the difference, and maybe there is little difference in the feed itself, but the owner has the ability to research and feel comfortable with what they decide is best. I use organic because of the pesticide/herbicide issues. Eliminating them from our own food sources is a good idea to me. With foodstuff imports from China filtering in, and no way of knowing what was sprayed on them, organic is one way to reduce the toxic load.

Yes, it is more expensive to buy organic, and not everyone can afford or wants to go that route. For me, I think that anything that is sprayed on food that can kill pest or weed cannot be any good for us, or our feathered friends. Just an opinion, but for now I feel comfortable spending the extra money.

The feed store owner said to me, "cheap feed ain't good, and good feed ain't cheap." Might be a marketing line on his part, but I tend to agree.

 

[latebloomer]

Quote:
Wow! What great way to put it! I have been going back and forth on wether or not to switch my girls to organic feed, but it is a tough call since it is double the price. I garden using all organic methods and my girls free range in the garden for half the day......it is just hard justifying spending $32 on 50 lbs of feed when my bank account usually hovers around the low double digits between paychecks.

This is exactly what I've been battling with as well! Our local organic feed is $24 per 50lb bag, vs. $11 per 50lb bag of the local non-organic. We buy as much organic produce for ourselves as we can (mainly the dirty dozen and anything that's close to non-organic pricing) and I have no problem spending more for organic and natural food for my daughter, even if that I means I go with less to stretch that food budget. I hope to be able to buy the local organic feed soon, but until then the local non-organic is a good second choice.

if you're talking about Poulin, i think it's a great second choice; we're lucky to have them locally