Where to get good layer feed?

[psycoforsilkies]

Hello N-H chooks
the feed I use is really good, it is non soy, non gmo, organic, and is always fresh a friend of mine Has it milled www.HandHsoyfreechickenfeed.com April Howington they also ship, It is the best quality I have found

 

[Chicks Galore3]

Hi,

I'm wondering if your aunt has an corn allergy? If she does then there are feeds out there that are corn free. If she is simply afraid of GMOs (everyone should be) then there are feeds that are also GMO free. Please note that not all "organic feeds" are GMO free - they should be but there are "loop-holes" in the classification of "organic" that can be used by the manufacturer. In some cases it simply means they do not add antibiotics to the product!

In NH I can free range except during the winter months. Even w/out snow the ground freezes so we have to feed the chicks. I have been feeding them the Green Mountain Organics pellets but will be changing that soon. Why? Because they contain (all non GMO) wheat (gluten allergies), soy (another allergen), and fish meal (yet another allergen & can contain mercury) - none are necessary to raise healthy chickens! Non GMO corn is the least offensive but there are still people out there that are allergic to corn or do not want GMOs in their food. Corn could be easily replaced by sunflower seeds but are more expense and not subsidized like corn. So I give my chicks sunflower seeds which are higher in Omegas instead of corn.

I've been doing a lot of research on poultry feed lately and find that the best feeds are out on the West Coast. Currently working with my feed store supplier to improve his feed selections and he is more then willing to help which is great! I'm just doing the research...

Bottom line is I have customers w/allergies the most serious Celiac disease. She cannot eat my eggs but buy them for her family because she gets ill because of the "wheat". I have another who is sensitive to "soy" (known to cause man-boobs and breast cancer - organic or not - only Asians can process soy properly).

The hunt is on for an organic soy-wheat-fish meal-corn free feed. I have found one that is minus all but the corn produced on the West Coast. They use non-GMO corn so it is far safer then what I am using not but not perfect!

Please remember your feed goes into the eggs. If your feed contains ingredients that people are allergic to they won't be able to eat them no matter how "fresh" they are or this will get ill! If your feed contains GMO ingredients you have defeated the purpose of raising your own chickens - all you have eliminated is the antibiotics.

My customer who is Celiac pays $5/doz. at a health food store otherwise she cannot eat eggs. I have read that it takes 2 weeks before "soy" comes out of the eggs once the chickens diet is changed. I'm still looking for how long it takes for wheat to come out of the egg and am hoping it is the same time frame. She has agreed to be my "guinea pig" - if she can eat my eggs - anyone can (I hope)!

That is my goal... a truly organic egg and I'm sure my chickens will be very happy with their more natural diet!

Wow. is all i can say. you sure know what to do! She is not allergic. non of my family is. I do know the 'what goes into the egg is what you eat' part. What is the first step in researching good feed, and where to get it?

P.S.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm.... good idea. ChickensAreSweet. MY family is into healthy eating to. My mom makes her own whole wheat bread, and we always eat a whole loaf fresh out of the oven! Do chickens like bread?

Chickens LOVE bread!

 

[Chicks Galore3]

good! I also heard they like a hot oatmeal mash in the winter. True?

 

[NH-Chooks]

Hi psycoforsilkies,

Thanks for the link and had a quick look. Their feed has wheat in it but they stated that they can make custom feed. I've written to them to see what they come up with since they are a mill they have the ability to change ingredients.

I am finding that the "mills" are much more flexible then the large producers like Green Mountain or Blue Seal which are popular here.

I'll keep you posted should I hear back from them!

 

[Chicks Galore3]

oooooh cool! I might have to shoot them a message to!

 

[NH-Chooks]

Hi Chicks Galore3,

Not sure I "know what to do" but am learning a lot through this research!

So it appears your aunt is worried out the GMO factor. That should be an easy fix. If the feed your are using now is "Organic" then there should be no GMO ingredients in it. So check the label of your current feed and look at the list of ingredients.

If you are not using an organic feed check the label and if it does not state non-GMO anywhere you might have to go to the manufacturer's website to verify that they use all non-GMO ingredients. If their website doesn't state anything then give them a call. They should be willing to put you in touch with someone there that knows.

As for "researching good feed" - I just started searching using different word combinations like organic wheat-free/soy-free/etc. and looked for the label of ingredients. Some have the ingredients posted others do not. The ones who don't I just give them a call and they send me their label via email.

You can usually find a link to their distributors on the feeds home page to see if they have anyone in your area.

Reading through some of the sites and clicking on their research is how I found out that organic may not be as organic as WE think of organic.

Hope the above helps!

Oh... have you ever watched "chicken football"? I read on one site that chickens like tomatoes so I had some grape tomatoes in the fridge and decided to try it on them. I threw out a handful and one of the chicks managed to grab one then all the others began chasing her - totally ignoring all the other tomatoes still on the ground. It was funny to watch this process until all the tomatoes disappeared!

*Please note: Edited today based on Cindy's post - thanks again Cindy... I don't want to mislead anyone!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

good! I also heard they like a hot oatmeal mash in the winter. True?

Yes, oatmeal is great...make sure in order to avoid crop burn that it is warm, not hot. They also love some plumped soaked raisins.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Hi Chicks Galore3,

Not sure I "know what to do" but am learning a lot through this research!

So it appears your aunt is worried out the GMO factor. That should be an easy fix. If the feed your are using now is "Organic" then you have a 50/50 chance that there are no GMO ingredients in it. So check the label of your current feed and look at the list of ingredients. If the label does not state non-GMO anywhere you might have to go to the manufacturer's website to verify that they use all non-GMO ingredients. If their website doesn't state anything then give them a call. They should be willing to put you in touch with someone there that knows.

However if you are not using Organic feed now you are probably feeding them GMOs and antibiotics. Again this should be on the label of the package it comes in so check it out.

As for "researching good feed" - I just started searching using different word combinations like organic wheat-free/soy-free/etc. and looked for the label of ingredients. Some have the ingredients posted others do not. The ones who don't I just give them a call and they send me their label via email.

You can usually find a link to their distributors on the feeds home page to see if they have anyone in your area.

Reading through some of the sites and clicking on their research is how I found out that organic may not be as organic as WE think of organic.

Hope the above helps!

Oh... have you ever watched "chicken football"? I read on one site that chickens like tomatoes so I had some grape tomatoes in the fridge and decided to try it on them. I threw out a handful and one of the chicks managed to grab one then all the others began chasing her - totally ignoring all the other tomatoes still on the ground. It was funny to watch this process until all the tomatoes disappeared!

If the feed is certified organic there cannot be more than a small percentage of non organic ingredients in it. It's something like 5%. Organic feed does not have to say non GMO, as it is part of the organic standards to not use GMO. Don't know why you would have a 50-50 chance of organic being GMO. It is a good idea to contact the manufacturer and ask how often they test for GMO tainted ingredients.

 

[NH-Chooks]

"If the feed is certified organic there cannot be more than a small percentage of non organic ingredients in it. It's something like 5%. Organic feed does not have to say non GMO, as it is part of the organic standards to not use GMO. Don't know why you would have a 50-50 chance of organic being GMO. It is a good idea to contact the manufacturer and ask how often they test for GMO tainted ingredients."

Hi Cindy,

Sorry for the confusion and I should have stated using not organic vs. organic as I don't know what is being used at the moment. Having sorted that out please keep in mind there are different types of Organic certifications so not all organic products are created equal. All these things add up to what is really in your feed.

I spoke with a mill guy the other day and noted that he didn't have fish meal in his feed. He flat out told me fish meal is never organic but it is in many "organic" feeds, right? This mill has other organic certifications besides the USDAs so they are held to a stricter standard. So you might say that "fish meal" falls in the 5% of non organic ingredients allowed by the USDA.

I guess the bottom line here is you have to do your own research and decide for yourself if your feed is "organic" enough for your needs. To assume just because it is labeled organic and by your own admission "If the feed is certified organic there cannot be more than a small percentage of non organic ingredients in it. It's something like 5%." then to me that is not truly organic feed. Makes me wonder what that 5% is...

Here are a several interesting sites I have found for anyone who interested in researching organic food labeling, etc:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/chicken-labels/#axzz1nIuZaY7h

http://www.ota.com/news/press/186.html

http://www.organic.org/articles/showarticle/article-201

http://www.naturalnews.com/029677_organic_labels.html

http://www.greenpromise.com/food-nutrition/organic/buyer-beware.php

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/nop

Thanks for the post Cindy as it helped me focus on the difference between regular vs. natural vs. organic; and the certifications and labels a bit more. I learn something new every day!