Raising Chickens Organically

[Chris09]

I just think it's gross lol, using animal byproducts.

I can get better protein from soy or alfalfa and don't have to pay, what was that, 80 bucks? For 50 lbs? No thanks, I can't afford that. That's where the high cost of bagged feed comes in.

Not to mention, I don't know where these fish or cattle or pigs came from, and I'm pretty sure unless it's from my own cattle, it won't be organic.

They get their natural protein in the bugs and legumes they normally eat, so to me "natural" and "organic" would be sticking with what they eat "naturally"; I have never seen a chicken eat a cow lol, unless it's my leftover steak

You may think its gross using animal byproducts but most omnivores giving the chance eat what we call a animal byproduct before they eat the meat, chickens included.

So you don't pay for your Soy and Alfalfa seed or fuel for the tractor or combine, what about wear and tear on the tractor and combine what about the man hours planting and harvesting? This all adds up and in the end your soy and alfalfa you are paying for.

As I stated in my post the fish meal that I quoted a price for was 100% organic.....

Chickens will eat anything that doesn't eat them first, if a bovine drops dead in a field and the chickens find it they will peck and eat at it.

 

[shortgrass]

You may think its gross using animal byproducts but most omnivores giving the chance eat what we call a animal byproduct before they eat the meat, chickens included. 

So you don't pay for your Soy and Alfalfa seed or fuel for the tractor or combine, what about wear and tear on the tractor and combine what about the man hours planting and harvesting? This all adds up and in the end your soy and alfalfa you are paying for.

As I stated in my post the fish meal that I quoted a price for was 100% organic.....

Chickens will eat anything that doesn't eat them first, if a bovine drops dead in a field and the chickens find it they will peck and eat at it.

That's just fine and dandy; I've seen them eat dead frogs that are all crispy from being baled too lol, doesn't mean I will waste 80 bucks on fishmeal for the chickens ROFL, its not worth it. I put fish meal on the ground for the crops; the wee chooks get cheap stuff like corn and alfalfa and free leftover wheat stuck in the combine that the elevator won't take because of too much chaff, essentially using what I would normally throw away


They're my compactors, not my money pit

And it's gross lol, I assume you store the fishmeal and know how horrible it smells Can't keep the cats away from the storage bin with the stuff in the there ha-ha.. Nah, feather meal yes, bonemeal yes, bloodmeal no, beef suet no. And it would have to be CERTIFIED ORGANIC, not just 100% "organic". I'll pay for something that I won't lose my certification over, but its iffy with things like that; certain things are not allowed, AT ALL, in certified organic animal production.

They can have the bones when processing is done. Leftovers, lol, not prime cut

Eta; if I lived closer to the ocean and fish were something that I had a lot of leftovers from, you betcha they'd get byproduct; I'm not against it. I just won't pay out of pocket for it for mere chickens

 

[cchin]

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

In all honesty I never paid attention to what was exactly in the food we were buying. At our local feed store there are two types, organic and non organic. The organic is 4x the price so I just assumed it was the best for them, silly I know but these are our first chickens. lesson learnt.

We do provide them with scratch, oyster shells and lots of vegetables throughout the day to keep them busy. For now I think with my lack of experience its best to keep them on the food that has shown to improve their health.

The whole pecking at each other and such for a lack of protein makes sense. They used to do that all the time, was a reason I think maybe some were missing so many feathers. A chicken died in the coop a few months back and they were actually pecking at it when we found it. They also used to try and eat their eggs which has resolved now.

Thanks again for all of your input I really appreciate it!

 

[grannyh6]

We raise our chicks organically and have not had any trouble. We suppliment with organic grains such as oats millitt and peas. They do real well and lay every day. We started out with one brand of feed and had the same trouble you had. We just switched organic feed and have done fine ever since.

 

[Leigti]

I agree that animal protein is best, but what conventional feed has animal protein??? You all talk as if conventional feeds are full of it and they are not. I have fed organic & never had a problem with feathering or anything else.

I feed two brands that are organic and have animal protein. Scratch and pack and H and H. Neither one of them is available locally so I mail order it off Amazon. You can also order it directly from the company's.

 

[lcertuche]

Wow, $250 for 25 pounds of feed! That's and incredible price. Right now I am feeding mine chick starter. They free-range during most of the day. Years ago when I had chickens I would throw a few handful of oats, wheat, and corn in the evening to keep them tame. I think free-range provides most of what they need. Even in the winter here in Arkansas we have plenty for them to eat. I also give them our food scraps. I want my chicks raised as natural as possible but I'm not selling meat or eggs so the 'organic' label probably wouldn't interest me.

 

[ksmith2006]

Like many of you, I also tried to raise chickens organically. The limiting factor was the high cost of obtaining organic feed. There was none locally and I had to ship it in. I just couldn't make any money and the birds didn't do as well. I was able to dramatically improve the performance of my birds by giving them an all natural nutritional supplement Avia Charge-2000 in their water. The label stated that it contained hydrosylated fish protein. I found that this is in amino acid and simple protein form. Very easy to digest and this worked great. The birds loved this in their water. The birds did great, but the high cost of shipping in organic grain, still didn't leave much "meat on the bone".

 

[Folly's place]

If an amino acid supplement helped, their base diet was deficient. Not a good story. Mary

 

[ksmith2006]

This is not an amino acid supplement. My point was the need for animal protein. The complex fish proteins are broken down to simple proteins and amino acids. These are highly digestible and will provide needed protein in a highly available form.

 

[Folly's place]

Then it's amino acids, right? Mary