URGENT! Chicken layer feed has "dead animal bodies" in it?

[mississippifarmboy]

Quote:
Yep.

Yep X2

 

[wingsofglory]

The only layer brand at my only local feedstore in Hawaii listed "discarded bakery goods" as a main ingredient. The mental picture of old Wonder Bread and doughnuts was not appealing. Anyway, so now I know where old bread goes.

 

[Neil Grassbaugh]

Quote:
I doubt that a response to this is forthcoming.

 

[danischi24]

When I first read this topic, I thought "and here I've always called it meat". Then I decided not to get involved but couldn't resist in the end. AR groups get my back up. Anything in too large an amount is bad for you & that includes "humaneness". Anything can be pushed beyond common sense.

 

[Neil Grassbaugh]

Quote:
But if you fed them old bread or donuts would you call that a "treat"?

 

[mistymeadowchicks]

I'm going to toss in my 2 cents. In NC (or at least this region), the rendering plants will not accept an animal euthanized w/ sodium pentobarbitol. There have been some issues w/ disposal of horses that the 'renderer' would not accept; we actually now have several vets that will "euthanize" w/ a 22. I doubt many responsible feed mills would risk their clients' lives (or the accompanying liability) by using dangerous or even questionable products. [Anyone remember the Ky racehorse deaths from moldy feed? $$$!]

Second, while I was buying feed last week at a local, small mill, the owner & I had a related discussion. They now offer an "all natural" layer feed, so I asked what was different from their "regular" layer bland. The answer: the regular has FISH MEAL for protein! I specifically asked about slaughterhouse by-products. He said after the mad cow problem, what can be fed to food animals is very restricted/ regulated; most mills, including them, are BSE certified (I think that's the right term) so they have to follow strict guidelines. And in his opinion, a mill w/ any sizeable clients will be BSE certified out of financial necessity. I really don't have a problem w/ fish meal (or porcine for that matter)--my chickens LOVE this feed & seem to be thriving on it (or maybe it's the the mice that my cats leave for them!)

As stated by others, read the label (& ask questions if you can find a knowledgeable person) and don't believe everything you see or hear. Truth is not required in advertising!

 

[wingsofglory]

To Neil - Yes, I feed them homemade bread and cornbread and commercial Ezekiel bread for treats. (I eat the cookies and stuff

The discarded bread products as a main ingredient made me worry about the amount of chemicals and preservatives and bromine and margarine and stuff also in bread.

 

[elizabethbinary]

Quote:
Maybe you should call the company and ask which bread shops they get their bread from. I know around here it's considered a great deal if you can get a bakery to give you scraps in return for eggs (for the bakers personal use, illegal to use in shop oi).... because who knows, maybe the feed place is getting it from a semi-decent source. Never hurts to ask anyway.

 

[Donner]

Quote:
One point on the chicken poop thing. In Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens it references a study where chickens on deep litter that scratch in there litter aka feces and shavings required fewer vitamins and were healthier due to the Vitamin B in the litter or something like that. So, there is some argument that an animal ingesting some poop is not a bad thing.

 

[GallusGal]

On the matter of eating poop: A common misconception is that B12 is produced by animals which is why we find it in meat, but this isn't technically true. B12 is produced only by bacteria. Many animals' intestines contain bacteria species that synthesize B12, but that B12 is inaccesible as it is not produced in the parts of the GI where absorption occurs most. In the case of herbivores that are not ruminants, the ingestion of cecotropes - special feces rich in these bacteria - is essential to obtaining adequate B12. That being said, chickens are omnivores and do not produce cecotropes tmk - but injesting fecal bacteria can still provide a source of B12. So technically, there is nutritional merit to feces in feed as the above poster mentioned.

That being said, I suspect it is far more profit motivated than health motivated (is there a cheaper nutrient source out there than poop?), and I'm not sure that feeding feces from countless other birds kept in industrial farming conditions is necessarily a wise practice. Especially in the age of increasingly virulent food borne pathogens, most of which are feces-based. Perhaps feces used in feed are subject to some kind of sanitization, but I would think if they killed the bacteria, they'd also reduce the B12 benefits - and we are increasingly seeing nasty, resistent, spore forming bacteria that defy traditional decontamination anyways. Either way, I'm glad poop isn't on the list of most non-industrial feed - I'm sure they eat plenty of their own poo pecking around for food, and if they're munching anyone's turds I'd prefer it be their own.