To soy or not to soy - that is the question!

[Egg Blues]

I actually had a customer that bought my eggs because they are allergic to soy, and store bought eggs give her a reaction...but mine (fed soy free) didn't.

Unfortunately, due to cost of soy free feeds, I have reverted back to a 'limited soy', i.e. buy locally available organic feed and mix with ordered/shipped soy free organic ...but the person can no longer eat my eggs. I wish I could accommodate them, but the price difference is outrageous (about triple the cost) Considering I have approx. 80 chickens, I couldn't afford it for 1 doz. every other week. I do feel bad, though, about her not being able to get eggs anywhere anymore.

I suppose there's no way to feed a few of the hens differently, i.e. in isolation from the others, and raise your price per egg to accommodate the costs? Would your customer be willing to pay more for this benefit?

 

[bgmathteach]

I suppose there's no way to feed a few of the hens differently, i.e. in isolation from the others, and raise your price per egg to accommodate the costs? Would your customer be willing to pay more for this benefit?

Unfortunately, I am not set up to be able to keep a few separate like that

 

[Egg Blues]

I see. I do find it interesting that the customer is unable to eat the eggs if the hens are fed soy. According to @U_Stormcrow the chickens' stomach is able to completely neutralize gluten, for example, so that the eggs would have no trace of it.

Did the customer try them, and have a reaction? or was the customer simply afraid of even risking it? Obviously, it's not something you would want to push them on...I'm just curious. My family has suffered considerably with allergies, too, so I understand them. I'm allergic to soy, but soybean oil, for example, is generally pure enough for me that I have no issue (allergies are to proteins), and I don't usually have much issue with a limited consumption of soy anyhow. If the customer would risk anaphylaxis, it wouldn't be worth trying--but many allergies are not serious, just troublesome (headache, skin rash, asthma, cough, itchiness, pain, swelling, etc. are all common symptoms, but are survivable).

Certain things like soy, wheat, and milk are hard to avoid these days due to them being in virtually all processed foods. For example, soy sauce typically has _wheat_ in it, and bread nearly always has milk. If having a source of soy-free eggs was desired, I think it would be awfully hard to find, for the reasons you've noted. And eggs are a good source of vitamin B12 and have detoxifying properties.

Well, you don't have to feel bad--you're not obligated to accommodate everyone's peculiar needs. I do, like you, feel bad for them though.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

The "problem", such as it is, is that when you go to the Allergist (assuming you go to the allergist - lots of people self diagnose), they don't tell you what chemical compound you are alergic to (usually), they tell you what food - so you can't then do research to determine if someone has studied wether that particular compound is one that makes it intact into the bloodstream of other creatures which consume it, and thus pose risk to you.

Of course, identifying the food to be avoided "shellfish, soy, etc" is adequate for most people, most of the time - we have options. LOTS of options. But it makes it much harder if you have to consider where else it may find its way into the food stream, beyond routine cross-contamination. There, the lack of specificity doesn't help answer those questions.

 

[Egg Blues]

The "problem", such as it is, is that when you go to the Allergist (assuming you go to the allergist - lots of people self diagnose), they don't tell you what chemical compound you are alergic to (usually), they tell you what food - so you can't then do research to determine if someone has studied wether that particular compound is one that makes it intact into the bloodstream of other creatures which consume it, and thus pose risk to you.

Of course, identifying the food to be avoided "shellfish, soy, etc" is adequate for most people, most of the time - we have options. LOTS of options. But it makes it much harder if you have to consider where else it may find its way into the food stream, beyond routine cross-contamination. There, the lack of specificity doesn't help answer those questions.

Allergies are always to proteins. This is because an allergy involves a reaction from the immune system, and the immune system will not react to such things as water, individual amino acids, carbohydrates, or lipids. Some foods may have multiple proteins of an allergenic nature, but many foods have a particular protein that is problematic. With soy, there may not be a special name for its protein, but you might look for "soy protein isolate" and see what you find with that. With milk, casein is the protein, and it is often combined with other compounds to make food ingredients in processed foods, such as calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate, etc. I have never learned the name of the dominant soy protein, if such a word exists (probable).

 

[NatJ]

Allergies are always to proteins. This is because an allergy involves a reaction from the immune system, and the immune system will not react to such things as water, individual amino acids, carbohydrates, or lipids.

Some people use the word "allergy" to mean "food I cannot eat because it causes some physical bad effect," and some of those do have trouble with non-proteins. Obvious example: lactose is a sugar that causes trouble for some people.

I am not saying this use of "allergy" is correct, but I am saying it happens. So a person who says they have an "allergy" to a food may actually react to a non-protein but use the wrong word to describe it.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

while others who believe they have fish or shellfish allergies are actually highly sensitive to the bypdroducts of various dinoflagellates present in the waters (and sometimes consumed by) the creature(s) to which the person believes they are allergic.

 

[Folly's place]

When it comes to fish and shellfish, it actually doesn't matter about why, because the consuler has no control or idea what those critters were eating...
Glad I'm not allergic to them though.
Mary

 

[U_Stormcrow]

When it comes to fish and shellfish, it actually doesn't matter about why, because the consuler has no control or idea what those critters were eating...
Glad I'm not allergic to them though.
Mary

well, there are proteins in the animals themselves which are ALSO allergens. Parvalbumin in fish, which is why some with fish allergies are more alergic to whiteflesh fish (cod, catfish, etc) than tuna or salmon - because its much more present in white meat fish than red. True Shellfish allergies are often, but not always, tropomyosin.

 

[babyratt]

Afternoon friends!

I'm new to this whole chicken life and I myself eat non gmo organic with little soy - so why would I not want the same for my chickens? I know this is a hot topic and I've read lots of threads on here but I can't seem to find research on the gritty of yes or no for soy feeds. I did find a non gmo organic feed that contains soy but as long as it's not genetically modified the quality of the soy isn't as bad.
I have to order the feed if I decide to go with a non gmo non soy feed, I can't find any at stores close to me.

I would love to hear everyones opinions/suggestions/rationale behind what you do!

Enlighten me!

Sweet babies! Chickens, people, dogs and pigs are omnivores. Chickens are the tiny descendants of dinosaurs. Give them real food!