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Organic Feed

8K views 24 replies 19 participants last post by  Forcast 
#1 ·
What is your favorite organic layer feed? I free range my chickens all year but in the winter need to give them purchased feed as well. We do have an organic feed that we can buy here but it is very expensive - $25 for 20 lb bag. And I guess another thing is that I would prefer it to be non-GMO and I think most reg. feeds use GMO corn and soy etc. Any thoughts on the subject? Ideas?
 
#2 ·
Not sure what GMO would be in organic feeds. Most are created to make use of a pesticide. Short of growing your own you have to reconcile the higher cost with the higher value of the product and the fact the grower took a hit on yield a lot of the time. Buying in bulk is difficult but the only way I know of to off set per bag cost.
 
#3 ·
Wheat is an option for the feed base rather than corn. No gm wheat. But then there is no gm organic either, so it really shouldn't matter. Organic stuff is all about the premium, so trying to find cheap organic feed is not going to be easy.

Hard to help from Saskatchewan when you are in Oregon, but my only advice is to shop around as best you can, or try and find an organic directory for your state or such, and connect directly with some farmers? Also, do you want non gm, or organic, because there seems to be some confusion in what you are looking for maybe?
 
#4 ·
Around me I've seen organic layer feed for $25 for 35 pounds. Also, $35 for 50 pounds. More or less the same price per pound. I can also get 50 pounds of non GMO for $19. Regular layer feed is $11 to $15 for 50 pounds.

After saying all that, you need to decide what it's worth to you. We can't justify organic feed at all when most people buying or eggs just want local eggs from the farm. We'd have to about double our price per dozen to make the same. Non GMO would also be doable, but so far only one or 2 people have asked about that. We're in an area with a huge local food movement too. We actually just had a customer ask about organic and soy free which definitely isn't feasible do to costs.
 
#5 ·
I only raise a few chickens to supply eggs for myself and family. The organic feed that we have local is not GMO free (the corn) but there is a feed mill about 25 miles from me that I will call and check on. You would think that something grown organically would be GMO free also but that isn't always the case sadly. GMO seed may have been used although grown organically.
 
#8 ·
I only raise a few chickens to supply eggs for myself and family. The organic feed that we have local is not GMO free (the corn) but there is a feed mill about 25 miles from me that I will call and check on. You would think that something grown organically would be GMO free also but that isn't always the case sadly. GMO seed may have been used although grown organically.
If it's USDA Certified Organic, no GMO seed was used. There is a small potential for some trace pollen from a neighboring field to introduce a trace amount of GMO genetics to the crop, but it would be less than 1%
 
#9 ·
Kalmbach Feeds commercial brand is widely available in this area at almost all the feed elevators. They have Organic, and non-gmo options.

Personally I buy a local feed called simply Naturals Feed. Its non-gmo and the mill will make me soy-free. At a fraction of the cost, it's good quality and I prefer it over Organic certified that is available here.

Grahams Organic Feed is also available through TSC or Family Farm and Home stores, although I think the quality is poor, and the price is steep. It's a lot better price than the other Organic certified feeds from those stores, though.

We also have a local mill that does certified Organic- Raub Raye (sp?) farms, and they will do soy-free as well. But The quality of their feed I find is comparable to the Naturals Feeds, which is far cheaper priced.
 
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#10 ·
When I had chickens I bought wheat and oats from a local farmer, as well as some corn. I got sunflower seeds from TSC. I put it out and they ate as they chose. Once spring kicked in they stopped eating the oats. As they could forage more and more they got less and less seeds and grain until they foraged only.

Buying locally guaranteed that what I was buying had been grown that summer. You can also ask what has been sprayed on it.
 
#12 ·
Do you have any friends that raise chickens? Ask them where they get their feed. We formed a small feed co-op with fellow homeschoolers in the area and get non-GMO feed shipped to us 3 times a year from a farm about 5 hours away. By combining our order, we save a ton on shipping and layer feed came to $16/50lbs (including shipping). It is not organic but the quality beats organic layer pellets at TSC (which are $25/40 lbs).

Since you mention you only have a few hens, would it be worth it to mix your own by buying organic grains from places that sell bulk grains (like Azure Standard, Honeyville, Breadbeckers, etc.)?
 
#13 ·
Not that this will help you much, but we get out layer feed locally. There is a farmer near us who grows crops specifically for making organic animal feed. He drops our order off to another closer farm every three weeks in big plastic tubs. But we use New Country Organics for our rabbit feed. They do have a chicken feed, but I don't know if there are any distributors in your area, we are lucky that there is a woman who carries the feed near our farm. I know you can always look into becoming a distributor for them. If you go through enough feed or have a few other local organic farmers in the area it might be worth it.
 
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#14 ·
Thanks Everyone!!! Organic feed at our local feed store that most people use is also $25 or $26 for 40 lbs. We DO have a feed mill about 25 miles from here where I used to buy food grade wheat for making bread. I am going to call and see what non-GMO grains that they have and mix my own since I only have 3 hens left now (lost another 8 year old one a couple days ago). They are mostly pets although I get an egg or 2 every other day still. I have a friend that has LOTS of different poultry and drops me off a dozen chicken, duck and turkey eggs each week. :) My hens are OLD ones that we hatched at school 8 years ago! VERY tame and I like to feed them healthy foods. :)
 
#15 ·
Thanks Everyone!!! Organic feed at our local feed store that most people use is also $25 or $26 for 40 lbs. We DO have a feed mill about 25 miles from here where I used to buy food grade wheat for making bread. I am going to call and see what non-GMO grains that they have and mix my own since I only have 3 hens left now (lost another 8 year old one a couple days ago). They are mostly pets although I get an egg or 2 every other day still. I have a friend that has LOTS of different poultry and drops me off a dozen chicken, duck and turkey eggs each week. :) My hens are OLD ones that we hatched at school 8 years ago! VERY tame and I like to feed them healthy foods. :)
All oats are non-GMO and rare that anyone would spray oats with anything. In some areas, Spelt is available for about the cost of oats. Right now I'm selling 50# bags of oats for $6.00 and 42# bags of Spelt for $5.00.
 
#16 ·
I make my own whole grain feed and sprout it, also for a small flock. I buy the ingredients from Azure Standard, which sells the best priced organic livestock grains I've seen. The mix varies some, and sometimes I buy cheaper bags of mixed scratch grains when they have them so occasionally there is another type of grain thrown in. But my general mix is 1 part whole corn, 1 part sunflower seeds, 1 part wheat, 1 part oats. A little more corn in the mix in winter. It's all organic. With whole grain sprouted feed you don't need as much both because more of the nutrients are retained and they don't waste any--I dump it straight on the ground and they eat it all. I mix in organic kelp meal (about 5%) and crushed egg shell/oyster shell free choice. You can add a nutrient balancer or something if you feel you need it.
 
#22 ·
I'm trying to figure this out for myself. I can't afford organic feed, an non gmo is very affordable. But I have been finding very conflicting info on weather it is really better for the environment or not. Why do you choose to buy non gmo?
As with many topics, there are two sides and sometimes what you think/feel isn't supported.
GMO is one of those topics. Getting enough info to make a choice is hard. There are many sites that appeal to emotions and not backed up by facts. I'll make a tiny dip into this topic.
Laboratories have been able to modify plant DNA to do two things. One is to resist glyphosate. The other has BT, an organic bacteria, found every where in soil, in the plant. It kills grubs the same way BT kills insects in your garden, except it is in the plant, not on it.
The BT in the plant isn't toxic to humans, just as it isn't toxic when spread on your organic garden. The resisting the effects of glyphosate makes No-Till farming possible. For years, farmers cultivated to remove weeds and accepted the loss of top soil caused by constantly working up the soil's surface. No-Till leaves the plant residue on the surface to help hold the soil in place. With No-Till, instead of constant weed cultivation, the fields are sprayed when the crop is small. This reduces the fuel needs and fewer trips means less soil compaction.
So, in my mind, GMO crops reduce soil loss, reduce insecticide sprays and eliminate the need for the toxic herbicides formerly used.
While these traits were created in a laboratory, other plants have adapted these traits all on their own. In nature, plant DNA changes all the time.
Please do not change what you do based on me. Just trying to offer some understanding to this hot topic.
 
#23 ·
Interesting thread for me. We plan on having just 6 Bantams for our small homestead. I'd want to feed them organically.
I have Red Winter Wheat vacuum sealed over 15 yrs ago in half gallon Mason jars. No sign of issues.
Now follow a slow Keto Diet so we won't be using.
Can I feed to the Hens as part of a DIY feed ?
 
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