Pellets, organics, and grains and the big debate

[Nambroth]

Well I'm pretty certain that they haven't been pelletizing food for more than about 50 years or so. That doesn't really make much of a dent over 5,000 years. At what point does an animal loose it's ability to digest foods? What was done in order for these birds to not digest grain? I certainly don't understand. I give my birds mealworms as a treat daily. They forage and get bugs and worms. I don't see a whole lot of people feeding their chickens meat products. Fish meal in some recipes but when is a chicken ever going to get a chance to eat fish? I know they will eat mice and frogs and the like if they are given the opportunity.

I think you may be missing some important information. The wild ancestors of chickens surely ate protein in the form of insects and sometimes small animals, as you mentioned, but they also were not laying 200+ eggs per year as our modern birds do! Thus the addition of protein such as fish meal to chicken feeds.
Before we had formulated chicken feeds, backyard farms in the old days had far less egg production, but they chickens were still given scraps (which sometimes included meat products), were often fed dairy leftovers, etc.
Protein is also extremely important during molt, as feathers are made of protein.

Like you, I want to shift back toward a more natural and old fashioned way of living, but I also know that my chickens need dietary help to make all of the eggs that we ask from them... if I want them to live more than a few years.