Topic of the Week - Organic/Natural Chicken Keeping

[Folly's place]

Sorry if I came over as rude, that's not my intent.
And @Cat Ballou has clarified things a bit, also helpful. The scratch, mealworms, and especially the molasses are still too much, unless in very small quantities.
Mary

 

[Perris]

I'm sure it wasn't your intent, but it would be better if you told us about your organic / natural chicken keeping instead of finding fault with those who do answer the question posed by the thread. And if you don't keep your chickens organically or naturally, why do you feel entitled / qualified to judge those of us who do?

 

[Cat Ballou]

Sorry if I came over as rude, that's not my intent.
And @Cat Ballou has clarified things a bit, also helpful. The scratch, mealworms, and especially the molasses are still too much, unless in very small quantities.
Mary

Great example of how democracy is 2 wolves and a sheep deciding what’s for dinner. I’d rather feed my chickens a variety. Some people would rather feed everything in a pellet ration. Personally I feel as though that’s having kids and just feeding them bags of Doritos. Thankfully the Author of natural law made it impossible for you to compel me to conform to what you prefer.

 

[ChickyWhicky]

I like to consider my flock is living a very natural lifestyle. I do not feed organic, they get an all flock feed available 24/7. They get 1 cup of scratch thrown out on the days I remember to do it. They get vegie/fruit scraps and whatever else they want to pick out of the compost pile. They free range on 2 acres (plus some... thanks neighbors) from dawn til dusk. The coop opens at dawn & closes after dusk. I keep the coop clean and dry, deep deep deep litter. I havent had to treat for mites or worms yet. I keep fresh water available, but they love to drink from the gutter spouts (or puddles...or the dog bowl). They basically do whatever they want and just roam around doing chicken stuff. I dont provide much guidance (if any) or interfer with their daily activities. Very minimal input from me.
To boil it down, I give them the essentials (food, water, shelter) and they decide the rest. I let them be chickens and dont fuss over anything. Works for us. I have a healthy flock & get lots of eggs from my girls.

 

[Pghelp]

I followed this thread when it was new a few years ago and went back and read the responses again since it revived. My choice is to only feed organic or at the least non-GMO. My family eats the eggs from my flock and eventually someone may eat their flesh. Coming from a family with a varied history of several types of cancer there’s no other choice at my house. Corn and soy are two of the crops that are most likely to be treated to be Round-up ready and, to me, that’s the same as serving up Round-up on my table. Not planning to debate or disparage anyone here, but these are the choices I’ve made for my flock and my family.

I use Scratch N Peck Grower feed, yes, I know it’s more expensive, and my flock gets fresh garden greens twice daily. I used to let them free range but the cats, raccoons, and hawks have made that too risky.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I've really enjoyed reading through this thread.

Ordinarily I would not feed organic, but when given a "flight" of chicken food samples, our flock overwhelmingly chose Dumor Organic Layer crumble. It seems to have the same backbone as most feeds (corn, soy, wheat) and is competitively priced at TSC.

The only natural pest preventative we use is First Saturday Lime. It works on the same principle as DE, but it SUPPOSEDLY safer. Who really knows. We're all just doing our best, right?

 

[BDutch]

- Do you feed organic feed (and where do you purchase it)?
Yes, I buy it at the mill. They buy it from a large factory for organic feed. The organic is a little more expensive but not much if I buy a whole bag of 25 kg. The normal GMO feed at the pet, animal and garden shop is only 12% less expensive.
Our garden is poison free too.

- WHY Do you feed organic feed?

1. Because it's way better for the environment. In normal feed they use GMO soy and corn from Brazil (all the feed producers do use this where I live) . Furthermore lots of rainforests have been cut to grow unhealthy and heavily poisoned crop.
2. It's healthier food for my chickens because its free of poison. And it's healtier for my husband and me too.

- WHAT do you use to help prevent and treat parasites naturally?
Keep my chickens healthy. Good food without poisons, free range time to eat greens and get to some exercise. I don't keep the sparrows out of the run, so there is always a hazard they bring something unwanted into the coop/flock. On the other hand, I don't buy new chicks but hatching eggs if I have a broody and want a few more chicks.
I use diatom (as a paint in the cracks too) a scents like tobacco and lavender in the nest-boxes.

 

[Rose_adamaj]

I feed only organic. I plant things for my flock and use no chemicals.
I use DE human grade.
I have never needed to worm. I have not had any problems with parasites.
This is the ingredient list of the feed I use.
@Perris I would love your opinion on this feed.

Ingredients: Organic Peas, Organic Barley, Organic Wheat, Fish Meal, Organic Oats, Organic Alfalfa Meal, Organic Flaxseed, Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Silico Aluminate, Dried Organic Kelp, Active Dried Yeast, Organic Sunflower Oil, Monocalcium Phosphate, Salt, DL Methionine, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Menadione Dimenthylpyrimidinol Bisulfite, Riboflavin Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenic Acid, Niacin Supplement, Choline Chloride, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Manganese Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Organic Vegetable Oil, Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation product, Dried Bacillus licheniformis Fermentation product, Dried Bacillus subtilis Fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation product, Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast culture.

Guaranteed analysis: Crude protein (min 21%), crude fat (min 4.2%), crude fiber (max 4.4%), ash (max 9.1%)

 

[Perris]

I feed only organic. I plant things for my flock and use no chemicals.
I use DE human grade.
I have never needed to worm. I have not had any problems with parasites.
This is the ingredient list of the feed I use.
@Perris I would love your opinion on this feed.

Ingredients: Organic Peas, Organic Barley, Organic Wheat, Fish Meal, Organic Oats, Organic Alfalfa Meal, Organic Flaxseed, Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Silico Aluminate, Dried Organic Kelp, Active Dried Yeast, Organic Sunflower Oil, Monocalcium Phosphate, Salt, DL Methionine, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Menadione Dimenthylpyrimidinol Bisulfite, Riboflavin Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenic Acid, Niacin Supplement, Choline Chloride, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Manganese Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Organic Vegetable Oil, Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation product, Dried Bacillus licheniformis Fermentation product, Dried Bacillus subtilis Fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation product, Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast culture.

Guaranteed analysis: Crude protein (min 21%), crude fat (min 4.2%), crude fiber (max 4.4%), ash (max 9.1%)

It looks like a high quality processed feed Rose. Do you let your flock free range to forage for bugs, plants, fungi etc. to eat too?

 

[BeeHappee]

I use Hilands Naturals feed, which is organic, and I buy it at a small, family owned farm store called Dawson Gap.
I haven't ever had a problem with internal parasites, but I once thought I did, and I used DE in their feed. You can also sprinkle it through their feathers for external parasites and ticks, and sprinkle it through their bedding for mites.

It helps to have a good dust bath in your coop. They will naturally bathe in the dirt getting it right down to their skin which suffocates external parasites. Its part of their natural grooming process. It also helps to add dried herbs that not only deter pests naturally but also provide additional nutrition to your hens. Herbs to add include oregano, bay leaves, and others. The dirt can be right from your garden, not clumpy and never clay. You can make an area to fill with them dirt or use a kitty pool or large old tires depending on the size of your flock. It also helps to add ash from fireplace or burn pit to the dirt. You want to keep adding to the dust bath too keep it full for them. Once one starts, they'll all want to join in the fun so before long you won't have to worry about mites, lice or external parasites. They love dust baths so your hens will be happier with one and happy hens lay more eggs. I hope this helps.