I'm toying with the idea of making my own chicken food mixture using organic materials only, direct from the farms they were raised on. A big bag of processed organic pellets is about $35, so I guess that would be like feeding Solid Gold or something higher end like that. That gets me thinking about feeding raw (produce) instead of pellets and scratch. Pellets are very convenient, but I know the birds crave insects and fresh greens (and sometimes meat-they snuck up onto the patio where the cow hide is drying and ate ALL of the muscle and fat scraps I had stripped off.) I can't wait for the Farmer's Markets to get back in gear, but until then, here is a great place to look for local producers. They even ship:
http://www.localharvest.org/
This pretty much sums up how I feel about growing food animals:
http://blog.rollingdogranch.org/rolling_dog_ranch_animal_/2011/02/humanely-raised-pet-food.html
I say go for it. You know what you're feeding your chickens that way and they'll be so much happier and healthier.
ReplyDeleteMy Mom tries to get as much local stuff as she can. She buys eggs from a lady who's chickens have the run of her farm and eat mainly organic food. She has to go out and find the eggs that some of the chickens don't lay in their coop but they taste so much better than store-bought eggs! They are worth the extra buck or two.
Home grown eggs taste so good and are prettier as well. Way to go your mom.
ReplyDelete