Where do you buy organic ingredients?

WildflowerJLH

Songster
9 Years
Mar 28, 2010
336
4
121
The Mythical State of Jefferson
For mixing your own organic feed? I am not looking for general answers. I am more interested in specifically where YOU buy each ingredient and how much you pay (per pound?) I know that some of these might be local to you, but that is helpful to me. Maybe you buy something at a type of store that I have not thought to look for feed ingredients at!

I am working towards making my own feed. Right now, I buy Magill Ranch Cascade Grower and cut it with other organic grains. They get goodies like yogurt, eggs, and leftovers to keep their protein intake up. They also have free range of the yard.

Organic is really important to me, up to the point that it becomes cost prohibitive. If you have a similar mindset about organic, please let me know which items you compromise on, due to availability or cost of an organic ingredient.

Thanks!
 
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Tough call.. Yes I am of similar mindset. I make my own feed, everything is organic except the Black Oil Sunflower Seed. I buy in farm country, at a Seed and Feed place. In the midwest we have MOSES
http://www.mosesorganic.org/
They have lists of suppliers and resources. Check to see if you have something like that as a resource.

I can find certified organic grains in bulk as low as 12 cents a pound. Key word is bulk. I buy a ton of various grains at a time. (If you are small scale, google search threads on BYC lots of people buy some ingredients at bulk organic grocery stores and such.)


Be mindful of the nutrient and protein content of what you add to your formulated feed. Scratch type grains are generally lower protein than your feed, which can hurt your birds productivity.
ON
 
Thank you so much for your response! I am very cautious about the protein content. When I started cutting the feed with grains, I went back to the starter for the extra protein. Right now, I only cut it by about 30%. The starter is 20%, so that still leaves my protein level at 17.6% if the grains come in at 12%. They should come in slightly higher, though. Right now, I am mixing oat groats, wheat, and barley. Darn chooks refuse to eat whole oats!

ON, would you mind sharing a ballpark idea of what you spend per pound for the feed you make?
 
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Hmmm.. For the feed I have on my BYC page.. It costs roughly $0.32 per pound. (Fish meal, Flax and field peas are expensive.) If I went to organic soy, I could drop the price, also if I used more than 10% corn in the mix, would lower the price.

I think I am going to do a batch of cheaper feed for Freedom Rangers this summer.. I think I can be at around $0.22 per pound.

With the whole oats, you could try sprouting them or even soaking overnight.
ON
 

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