Question about something I read

[Chicken Salad]

In the July/August 08 Countryside Magazine (pg 12) someone wrote in about how it's cheaper to raise your own eggs (no brainer there). He also says:

"I have goats now, and layer feed has too much copper in it so the chickens get goat ration, cracked corn and sweet feed. The goat has about the same protein, and I am getting the same number of eggs this winter without a light in the henhouse as I have had in previous years with a light on."

Has anyone ever heard of that before - that layer feed is copper heavy? That you give chickens goat ration and they lay through the winter?

 

[Guitartists]

I have heard that chicken feed will make your goats ill because of the copper levels in it. The other part...

 

[chicken_boy_Kurt]

Um... we couldn't give our sheep goat feed because it had too much copper in it, goats need copper (I know they need some mineral that sheep can't have). I am pretty sure that goat feed has more copper than chicken feed.

 

[NYREDS]

Seriously, think about it, feed companies have labs, scientists and some of the big ones even have experimental herds/flocks of their own. Why then would feed manufacturers, and your post sounds like it's all of them since it doesn't name one, make a chicken feed that wasn't good for chickens?
Oh, BTW, I can ABSOLUTELY assure you it's NOT cheaper to raise your own eggs than it is to buy them.

 

[luvmychicknkids]

I don't know anything about the feed question, just wanted to ask, since when has raising your own eggs been cheaper? Better tasting, more nutritious, I know the hens are treated right, but CHEAPER? Not even close.

 

[Chirpy]

I have heard that chicken feed will make your goats ill because of the copper levels in it.

Goats need copper... sheep cannot have copper.

I'm reading my Layena pellets tag and find copper sulfate is the third to the last item on the list. It's not listed in the percentages at all. So, yes there's copper in there but it's pretty minute. I have no idea if copper is bad for chickens but this is a good thread to have gotten me thinking and doing some research.​

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
That ain't no lie! My hens are just starting to pay for their own feed. To pay us back for their coop they'd have to live and continue laying for about 30 years.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

There are lots of things a body needs to be healthy, that are toxic if ingested in too high an amount. Copper, iron, zinc, etc. The minimum amount that is required to be healthy and the amount that is toxic, is not the same for all species.

In general, I would say that layer feed does not have too much copper in it, it has too much copper in it for goats. If he's saying that he thinks layer feed has too much copper in it for layers, then he's entitled to his own opinion. A lot of research has been done on the nutritional needs of chickens and the formulation of chicken feeds, though. I'd need to see a controlled study on that, before I'd believe it. Plus, a lot of different things can effect laying.

I would really like to see the ingredient lists for the chicken feed he was using and the goat feed he's now using. I'm wondering if there was something else in the formulations that made a difference, rather than the copper levels. Maybe it has a better amino acid profile, since he was diluting the protein in his layer feed with other foods that were high in carbohydrates.

 

[kinnip]

It's cold and I'm not digging around the feedroom to prove it, but I'd bet money that goat feed has more copper in it than layer ration. Goats need a lot of copper!