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| Organic vs. Non-organic chicken layer feed |
*Let me start this post out by clarifying that I am not trying to start a debate or lecture about an already "beat to a pulp" topic. My intentions are just to visually show the difference when it comes to organic chicken feed verses non-organic processed chicken feed. When it comes to our birds, I believe you can only get out what you put in, so why not put in the best?
Organic feed is just what it says it is, organic. It has been developed without the use of pesticides and fertilizers. It is fact that when an animal eats a feed that contains fertilizer and pesticides, it stores in the body and it consumed by the end user. What I find most interesting about organic feed is that I can visually see what it contains. There is a mixture of cracked corn, barley, oats, etc. It smells delicious, to say the least. The protein content is about 16% which is comparable to non-organic layer feed.
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| Organic chicken layer feed |
Non-organic chicken layer feed has a totally different texture and smells a little weird (in my opinion). It is clear and without question processed and contains some sort of fillers. I have read on other sites, some or the processed feeds actually may contain a plastic coating or filler. This feed is more readily available and also costs about $16.00 for a 50 pound bag opposed to $24.00 for a 40 pound bag of the organic feed. This works out to almost double the cost and may not be in your budget, escpecially if you have a lot of birds.
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| Non-organic chicken layer feed |
At Our Little Coop, we feed our laying hens the organic feed and the quail non-organic. I choose to do this mainly because they are my pets and I love to spoil them, but more importantly, the whole reason we keep chickens for eggs is so WE KNOW WHAT IS "IN THEM". Cheers! ~ Kevin
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I just switched to organic feed, Natures Grown Organics too! I was so impressed by how it looked. I am new to keeping chickens and this is what I always thought chicken feed shuold look like. Do you use their Scratch also?
ReplyDeleteHi Kim! currently we do not use their scratch but want to. Kevin gives them the Happy Hen treats and sun flower seeds.
DeleteAre you able to find this at your local farm supply? We live in Southern Idaho and the idea of "organic" doesn't seem to be real big here. I will have to look at our local feed supply the next time I buy feed and see if they carry any organic brands and compare prices. I think we pay about $17 for a 50lb bag and we are currently feeding 6 laying hens and 2 chicks.
ReplyDeleteOur local feed mill doesnt carry organic either. :-( We have to drive about 45 miles to Chicago (I know, right?) to get it. about once a month.
DeleteYikes! The closest "big city" is 45 minutes away from us and it's still tiny. I'm sure ordering it online would make it so expensive that it puts it totally out of reach. It's really too bad. We are on a list at our local grocery for a "compost box" which is usually a few large boxes of fruits and veggies that are no longer fit to sell, according to them. We typically get those every few weeks and so the chickens get a semi steady stream of goodies that way. There are just too many critters where we live to let them free range.
DeleteVery nice post! Thanks for posting side by side photos to really show off the difference. I didn't realize organic feed would look that drastically different than the non-organic. I like the idea of organic feed but the cost can certainly be prohibitive... not to mention locating it anywhere nearby! But now seeing just what it looks like makes it seem worthwhile.
ReplyDeletethe local mill produces organic feed and scratch. Our feed is in pellet form and our scratch looks a lot like your organic feed, but with sunflower seeds. For whatever reason my chickens don't care for the black sunflower seeds in the scratch and now its all OVER my yard. The local blue jays and sparrows love it though!
ReplyDelete