"vegetarian fed" store eggs

[nsanywhere]

mine are "vegetarian fed" - I'm a vegetarian, and I feed my chickens. done!

 

[The Lisser]

Melissa

 

[Dogfish]

Okay, so how do they get calcium to their chickens, being vegetarian fed? If you answer oyster shell, well, isn't that an animal byproduct in the truest form of that term? An animal made that exoskeleton/shell, and lived in it.

Limestone is a source of calcium, 80-90% of which is made up from the skeletal fragments of marine organisms. Natural I understand, vegetarian I don't. (Not trying to make anyone upset, just pointing out the issues, as did the original poster)

Had a vegan counselor at the YMCA camp I cooked at for a summer. Militant vegan at that, who berated people on eating meat, "How can you serve meat to the kids!!!" , and so on.

One day she asked if we could make jello as a desert. I obliged, being a nice guy. Even made sure she had seconds. She didn't say thanks. The next morning, while complaining about us serving scrambled eggs, sausage, and cheese to kids, I showed her teh box of Knox gelatin, and said "See that little cow on the label?" "They rendered his fat and bones down into a concentrated liquid which was filtered and strained, then freeze dried and powdered." She didn't complain about the food after that.

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Calcium is easily supplied by anything dark green and leafy. Also calcium is the matrix that keeps beans shaped like beans. so maybe soy or another legume is the calcium source? Years ago they taught us in nutrition class that a handful of almonds or a cup of spinach has more available calcium than milk.

 

[Dogfish]

Excellent answer! I do wonder where most vegetarian egg producers get their calcium from. Would vegies be an efficient way to get that much calcium to chickens? An ounce of oytser shells vs. an ouce of beans/kale/corn?

 

[suburbanminifarm]

Mee too! I'm a vegetarian and I feed my chickens every day of course! Thanks OP! Now I know my hens are vegetarian fed!

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
Oyster Shell isn't the only sores of Calcium.
Most Laying Feed and Layer/ Breeder Feed with added Calcium use Calcium Phosphate (Feed Grade Lime).
I have never used Oyster Shells as a Calcium additive, always used Calcium Phosphate (Feed Grade Lime) it is cheaper in price and can be found at any good feed mill that mixes there own feed..

Chris

 

[speckledhen]

I purposefully look for layer feed that contains animal protein, which is why I don't buy Layena (in addition to the higher price). The ones I use have protein from porcine products, not chickens. Chickens are natural omnivores. When Purina and others jumped on the vegetarian bandwagon, many began experiencing feathering issues and feather picking in their flocks. I even supplement mine with salmon and tuna once or twice a week. ""Naturally-raised" chickens would certainly not be vegetarians.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
Well I feed Purina coz my birds do well on it.

They are free range (within my yard of course, not truly "free" but whatever). I WANT them to eat all the bugs snakes and mice they can catch, but I'm not too keen on mysterious over-processed animal by-products. I don't have a problem with "vegitarian feed" coz it's just the supplement to their *real* diet out there in the yard.

 

[greathorse]

I have spent most of my career working in the Natural and Organic food industry (retail). These terms we are throwing around on here are words, terms and concepts I was/am deeply involved in at many levels. Animal welfare, grass fed, free range, organic, factory farming and on and on are issues that are top of mind in many of the consumers in this industry.

Many of these terms have been born out of consumer demand and a market place that is poised to meet the demand of the niche consumer. I find no harm in this and it is the way of our economy supply and demand. Far too often I believe my industry was too quick to judge the large farmers that provide the bulk of the food for America. It is not wise, in my opinion to be judgemental about this industry, it has its place, as does the niche marketplace.

To this day I am not comfortable with the term factory farm. I believe there are some elements of agriculture that have a factory like, or high production driven system in place. These large farms, in my mind serve a distinct and valuable service for a huge portion of our population. The words I am really really uncomfortable with are the ones that imply or state that animals on any farm are in fact "tortured". I believe only the sickest individuals (and they do exist) conciously mistreat animals. I have been on countless farms, both large and small, I have been in countless processing plants both large and small, and in none of these places did I see animals being mistreated for the sake of mistreating them. Some may argue that they would be more comfortable with more space, but those folks have the option of voting with their dollars, and purchasing from small local producers or as in the case of some of us here, we produce food for ourselves.

Frankly one of the saddest farms I spent time on was an organic chicken Farm that had crude growing practices in place and the chickens looked terrible, but had plenty of space outdoors. The industry has improved greatly from those days.

I choose to honor most ag systems for what they do. I believe there is a place for small niche farms, I hope that demand continues to grow. I believe there is a place for larger ag systems and believe they serve a great purpose. I think there is much each can learn from the other, if all can get past the judgemental way most of us like to think.

JMO

Edited to add. I think I confused this thread with the one about the controversial farming conditions. If Mods have the ability to move it to that I would be grateful. Sorry for the brain melt.