The first is precisely why I grow my own birds and supplement what they get, so the meat and eggs are the healthiest I can grow.
Certified Organic prohibits animal by-products. As I feed ocean fish daily, and the waste from our butchering, I'll never be certified organic.
But the feeding (or not) of animal by-products to poultry stopped in the mid 90's with the onset of Mad Cow. The regulations regarding adding animal by-products to poultry feed became prohibitively expensive for mill owners. I believe they had to have separate facilities for it. (This might be incorrect, as I've not found a firm reference for it, but was told by a mill owner.)
Because chickens have limited ability to make needed amino acids/proteins, and because some of these amino acids/proteins are not available in grains, it means most poultry is being fed poor grade feed.
I found that once I fed GOOD organic feed (yup, there's poor stuff out there) and daily sufficient protein, a lot of the problems I'd been dealing with just stopped.
I now educate as many chicken owners as I can about nutrition and the feeding of animal protein.
Just catching up! I make a point of feeding my chickens meat regularly - especially during the winter when they can't get as much of their own. I actually watch for good meat and especially liver for the "b" vitamins and feed it 3-4 times a week.
I also soak or ferment all of their feed that has grain to reduce the phytic acid content so they have a chance to digest more of the nutrients. Sprouting whole grains. I almost NEVER feed dry grains that haven't been soaked, fermented or sprouted.
(I guess my chickos are lucky...and so are we when we have their meat and eggs!)
The first is precisely why I grow my own birds and supplement what they get, so the meat and eggs are the healthiest I can grow.
ReplyDeleteCertified Organic prohibits animal by-products. As I feed ocean fish daily, and the waste from our butchering, I'll never be certified organic.
But the feeding (or not) of animal by-products to poultry stopped in the mid 90's with the onset of Mad Cow. The regulations regarding adding animal by-products to poultry feed became prohibitively expensive for mill owners. I believe they had to have separate facilities for it. (This might be incorrect, as I've not found a firm reference for it, but was told by a mill owner.)
Because chickens have limited ability to make needed amino acids/proteins, and because some of these amino acids/proteins are not available in grains, it means most poultry is being fed poor grade feed.
I found that once I fed GOOD organic feed (yup, there's poor stuff out there) and daily sufficient protein, a lot of the problems I'd been dealing with just stopped.
I now educate as many chicken owners as I can about nutrition and the feeding of animal protein.
Just catching up! I make a point of feeding my chickens meat regularly - especially during the winter when they can't get as much of their own. I actually watch for good meat and especially liver for the "b" vitamins and feed it 3-4 times a week.
ReplyDeleteI also soak or ferment all of their feed that has grain to reduce the phytic acid content so they have a chance to digest more of the nutrients. Sprouting whole grains. I almost NEVER feed dry grains that haven't been soaked, fermented or sprouted.
(I guess my chickos are lucky...and so are we when we have their meat and eggs!)