Organic vs. Regular chicken feed...input?

[flickerloo]

I realize this thread is a little old but I am still new and this is something I have been debating for a couple weeks. My chicks aren't even here yet but we bought just the regular chick growth/starting crumbles because that is what the feed store offers them and I was unsure if they could get tummy upset from a dramatic change in food (like dogs and cats can). But I was thinking of switching them to the organic layer formula when they were old enough. I have 5 chicks coming but I'm thinking that I will only have 3, since we are only allowed 3, but I ordered 5 incase we lost one or two. So I think spending an extra $10 on feed won't be too hard.

My question is if you feed the organic feed than technically don't you have to feed organic scraps to them too? Also do they eat less of the organic compared to regular feed? They really won't be getting much free range time, just time in their run, because of town laws they can't be allowed to free range. So the bulk of their diet will be pellets and whatever scraps I give.

Scraps don't have to be organic unless you were aiming to be certified organic. The only real issue with switching food that comes to mind is maybe a couple days where they refuse to eat much. But they are chickens, and they will eat when they get hungry. When I got my hens, and I got them from people who fed them regular pellets, I gave them Scratch and Peck mash grains. They did not object at all to the sudden change and much better rations.

One thing I do recommend is picking greens for them.... especially dandelions. They love dandelions!

 

[Domanique Fan]

I don't use chemicals in my garden, and any pesticide that says to wear gloves mask and goggles scares the hell out of me. Even as a child and growing a garden I didn't use chemicals, my neighbor did, guess who had bigger crops with less bugs? Me! I've been debating this about my 4 week old barred rocks on whether to do organic feed or not, my reason for raising them is to have healthier eggs to eat, I'm raising meal worms as well as other worms to feed them on occasion, they will also have thrown in their run cut grass, weeds, food scrap, trimmed plants and what ever bugs they find. I'm beginning to feel that giving them organic will be worth it. I'm planning on using their manure as compost and who knows if these chemicals will survive the compost process.

I know this is sorta of topic, well more of a segue. I will give my two cents worth on organic feed in a minute. I noticed RevMichael commented on chemical residue. I wanted to weigh in from read knowledge and personal experience. it is known that modern petro-chemical fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides remain in soils active for a couple of years and their constituents can remain even longer. I can attest to this first hand. I am fortunate to live in a rural area that has a small farming operation that free ranges cattle and runs a dairy. With permission from the owner I would collect some of their cow manure. Now as a routine I do not add manures to my garden until they are composted. And I am really lucky for that habit.
Unfortunately one of the farmers supplying this dairy with supplemental hay had sprayed 2-4D,a persistent herbicide. Now as such it stays in his soil for 2-4 years (yes even after the weeds come back, immune to the herbicide). No big right its in the soil, well.....its also in the grass and hay. Then it passes through a cows gut and voila. IT'S Still There! Another lady who simply turned the manure out on her garden patch in fall found out that spring that it was. It killed or deformed her seedlings that year and the next.
We composted our manure and for Two Years, not weed one in the manure! But lets put this into perspective, a total of three years and some more. That's what it took for this "safe" herbicide to break down to a point where it was no longer lethal to plants. So as a personal lesson we buy as much as we can local organic, then local, then organic at the store.
We have every intention of eating the eggs from our chickens and we want them to be local and organic. Its a personal choice, sure but for our long term health and theirs. We will continue to buy and feed organic.
So in closing we are pro organic, local and home grown. And like revmichael we intent to compost our manure and feed our chickens produce from our garden. Which is also organic and a bit beyond. We don't spray, we let nature take it's course. With a little planning and help from us.
And my observations are mostly anecdotal. It is simply a choice of inputs whether you choose organic or conventional inputs. we simply chose organic and so it will be for our chickens. From organic starter, to organic grower, to eventually organic grower.

 

[chicken-town 32]

Name of thread says it all...

Leaning toward organic, but totally undecided at this point. They are currently on organic starter.

Mo

 

[ONSTAD1]

Quote: I went all organic. Much more expensive, but worth it in my opinion

 

[dsstroyer]

$28 per bag of organic layer

 

[yeswehave8]

I also have limited knowledge with chickens, but I am very picky what goes into my family, so I am selective about what goes in our girls. They still aren't laying yet, we are hoping any day now, but they have been fed organic feed since we brought them home. I used a premade organic ($36/ 25 lbs w shipping) at first, but I started mixing our own. It is definitely more expensive from the beginning, but I was able to make 2 huge batches of feed... maybe 100 lbs+... and I still have lots of oats and corn for the next batch. Every ingredient is organic, so I can't wait to see (and taste!) their eggs. Our produce is either local, from our garden, or organic, too. I feed them table scraps of mostly produce odds and ends.

 

[Summre]

I'm in Bethlehem PA and I'm looking for an organic feed supplier. Can you tell me if your source is still available? Thanks.