Organic feed does not use pesticides or herbicides in its grain crops, making this form of nutrition usually more costly than non-organic options.
Making organic chicken feed yourself is an ideal way to save money while providing your flock with healthier nutrition. Furthermore, by doing it yourself you can avoid unnecessary additives like antibiotics used to prevent and treat coccidiosis, hormone disruptors, and endocrine disruptors – saving both money and eliminating additives altogether!
Contents
Pesticides
Organic chicken feed is composed of grains grown without pesticides and other ingredients like peas, flax meal, fish meal and crab meal. Furthermore, this type of feed must be free from antibiotics and growth hormones as these could pose risks to a flock’s health by making them susceptible to diseases and infections.
Organic is an increasingly popular option among home flock owners. To qualify as organic requires adhering to stringent regulations that prohibit synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers; plus it must be free from GMOs, antibiotics and growth hormones.
There is good news: it is possible to find both organic and non-GMO chicken feed. Kreamer Feed’s organic feeds, for instance, are USDA certified organic and Non-GMO Project Verified; free from corn, soy and other low-cost fillers found in other brands’ offerings; made in the US using locally farmed grains certified as organic; rich with proteins and lysine content to support your flock’s performance;
GMOs
GMO refers to genetically modified organisms (GMO), or any organism with DNA altered through recombinant gene technology. Organic feed cannot contain GMO crops as the process used to create organic grain cannot use recombinant DNA technology.
While GM strains have allowed farmers to increase egg production, their development has also caused significant welfare problems for chickens. Hens that must produce 285 or more eggs annually suffer skeletal fractures as constant egg production deprives their bones of enough calcium.
Organic chickens have long and productive lives thanks to organic chicken feed free from GMOs, made with grains grown without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or irradiation – and free from hormone disruptors, antibiotics or coccidiostats – drugs used to treat or prevent infections in poultry.
Antibiotics
When looking at chicken products with “USDA Organic” or “No Antibiotics Added” claims, this indicates they were raised according to USDA organic regulations throughout their lives – however this does not ensure no antibiotics were used during production or hatchery processes.
An effective way to ensure that your poultry does not come into contact with antibiotics is to create their own homemade feed. You can do this by mixing together grain, seeds and other ingredients into one container that can be stored in a cool area – plus this method may save money, since commercial organic feed can be quite pricey.
Homemade feed can also be an ideal choice for people with flocks of less than 10 hens, especially if they use organic ingredients in their recipe to benefit the health and welfare of your birds. Furthermore, by doing it yourself you’ll avoid pesticides and synthetic chemicals commonly found in commercial feed.
Hormones
Many chicken brands claim not to use hormones in their feed, yet since 1952 the FDA and USDA have made it illegal to add hormones to poultry or pig feed, any label stating no hormones is simply false advertising.
Hormones used in livestock to increase size and weight would likely be broken down by their digestive tract before becoming ineffective. Hormones are used in order to promote rapid growth.
Organic non-GMO chicken feed contains no hormones and provides healthier eggs and meat from hens fed these types of diets. Organic feed is produced and collected more naturally so as not to pollute soil, water or wildlife in that region; additionally it does not contain synthetic pesticides or antibiotics which means less risk of diet related health issues occurring among your hens. While organic food requires additional labor cost for production, its benefits far outweigh this additional expense.
