Organic chicken feed has always been the most reliable food you can feed your flocks. However, the market has been so saturated nowadays with a lot of products with questionable quality that could pose a danger to the health and development of your birds.
Organic Chicken Feed comes highly recommended because research has shown that for decades, manufacturers have been adding harmful contents such as antibiotics, hormones, and now genetically modified Organisms (GMOs) to animal feeds to scale up production.
Even though some of those practices such as growth hormones in chicken feed have stopped, the GMOs still remain a huge, controversial issue that is not likely to go away anytime soon.
For context on how widespread the growth of GMO plants is, estimation has it that 85% of all soy grown in the US is GMO, that has been equated to 58.6% worldwide.
This practice has been found to bear some serious health implications not just for the chickens alone, but also for humans who consume them, which is why you should be more than interested in the kind of food that goes into the system of your flocks.
Whether you’re raising those beauties for eggs or meat or simply prefer to keep your chickens as backyard pets, selecting the best Organic Chicken Feed for them could go a long way to determine how successful you turn out.
That said, with more than enough choices available in the stores, narrowing down your options could sometimes prove an overwhelming task, but in reality, it’s just a matter of making a few important considerations.
To help you make the best decision for your flocks, this article has broken into bits and pieces everything you should know about Organic Chicken Feed and also gives you a sneak peek into five products we considered good for you.
What Is Organic Chicken Feed?
Organic Chicken Feed is feed that has been certified free of additives such as hormones, pesticides, antibiotics, synthetic fertilizers or any other unnatural substances.
It’s expected that every feed that carries the label of Organic Chicken Feed must have gone through the rigorous standards put in place by the USDA for organic products.
As simple as this may sound, it is by no means an easy endeavor as the process of producing Organic Chicken Feed is both labor and capital intensive. This is so because the crop used must be grown naturally without any traces of GMOs.
Apart from the organic seed, the land on which they’re grown must also be certified organic just as the farmer must also obtain an organic certification before they can grow and sell the product as organic.
The absence of pesticides during production of Organic Chicken Feed means that human labor is more intensive because the crop needs to be tended to naturally for good results. And, the end product must be processed and transported separately from conventional food.
Essence Of Organic Chicken Feed
It is on record that chickens were the very first bird domesticated by humans, and the quest to find the best feed for them has been on for years now. While many solutions have cropped up along the way, most of them remain unsafe, which puts Organic Chicken Feed as the safest option so far.
We know it may sound somewhat ridiculous to force this belief on you, as the decision to use Organic Chicken Feed or non-GMO chicken feed rests solely in your hands. However, it’s important to emphasize that the quality of meat and eggs you receive from your chickens will be largely influenced by what you feed them.
The basic essence of Organic Chicken Feed therefore, is to provide the adequate nourishment and nutrition that’s appropriate for your flock to enable them to perform in the manner that meets your desire.
A lot of things have evolved since the early days of chicken keeping, but one thing that has remained unchanged is the desire of every chicken keeper to provide their birds with the best chicken feed available for a healthy flock and maximize their investment.
Whether you’re raising chickens for eggs or meat or simply prefer to keep your birds as backyard pets, selecting the best organic chicken feed for them could go a long way to determine how successful you turn out.
Achieving this desire requires some considerations such as determining your chickens’ life stage and the intended purpose. This is necessary because feed reserved for chicks usually contains a different nutritional profile compared to chicken food formulated for adult hens.
Another factor you should also take into account before choosing an Organic chicken feed is whether you’re raising your girls as meat birds or for eggs. This will help you select the appropriate product that could get the job done.
You should also consider the type of feed that’s most suitable for your chicks. This can be done by examining the texture and content of the feed, as well as other extra features.
Chickens don’t live by feed alone, they also enjoy being given a treat. So, to get the best out of your flock, consider supplementing the Organic Chicken Feed with extras like greens, oyster shells, insects, and worms. This is all the more important if your chickens don’t have the liberty to free-range.
Best 5 Organic Chicken Feed Products
1 Kalmbach Feeds Organic Harvest 17% Protein Layer Chicken Feed
Kalmbach Feeds Organic Harvest 17% Protein Layer Chicken Feed is arguably the best you can get in the market. This USDA certified formula has a 17% protein content as well as Vitamin D and Omega-3, the two nutrients that help your chickens to produce high-quality and nutritional eggs.
Whether your hen is just getting into laying age or has been producing eggs for months, the Kalmbach formula is specifically designed to boost their egg-laying chances.
This feed comes in crumble-style and as such things may get dusty while you try to serve your hens.
That aside, the Kalmbach feed, which is only available in 25-pound bags, is a rich blend of probiotics, enzymes, and prebiotics to help fortify your chickens’ immune and digestive health.
Pros
- USDA certified
- Specialized layer feed
- 17% protein
- Contains vitamin D
- Omega-3
- Supports your chickens’ immune system and digestion
Cons
- Dusty
2 Eggland’s Best 19% Protein Organic Starter-Grower Crumbles
The Eggland’s Best 19% Protein Organic Starter-Grower Crumbles offers a 100% vegetarian and pasteurized feed that guarantees your chicks a healthy and strong growth.
This hormones, steroids, and antibiotics-free formula is most suitable for farmers who are more interested in increasing the number of their flock.
The 19% protein content, combined with vitamins A and B5 will help to build up your chicks’ immune system to fight off illness and also boost their overall health and growth.
The Eggland’s Best 19% Protein Organic Starter-Grower Crumbles comes in two sizes to cater to your poultry size, but it’s also an expensive product compared to other brands of the same size.
Pros
- 5- or 32-pound bags
- 19% protein
- Pasteurized
- No hormones, steroids, or antibiotics
- Contains vitamins B5 and A
- 100% vegetarian
Cons
- Costly
3 Scratch and Peck Organic Grower Feed
This Scratch and Peck Organic Grower Feed is specially designed to satisfy the nutritional needs of chicks, ducklings, and goslings between 2 and 5 months.
Very rich in minerals, vitamins, and Omega-3, this formula will provide the necessary support your flocks need to navigate life in the early stages.The grainy nature of the feed also means it lasts longer than your usual pellets or crumbles.
The Scratch and Peck is certified by the USDA as an organic chicken feed that’s totally free of GMO ingredients, corn, or soy products. You can get it in two different sizes of bags that suit your flock sizes.
The Scratch and Peck formula is a grower feed meant to support the growth process of your chicks, which means it lacks the nutrients and minerals needed for hatchlings or adult birds.
Pros
- Formulated for chicks, ducklings, and goslings
- 25- or 40-pound bags
- Non-GMO
- USDA certified
- No corn or soy
- Contains omega-3
- Whole grains are longer lasting than crumbles or pellets
Cons
- Expensive
- For birds between 2 and 5 months old
4 Eggland’s Best 17% Protein Layer Mini-Pellets Chicken Feed
The Eggland’s Best 17% Protein Layer Mini-Pellets Chicken Feed is a vegetarian formula specially designed for farmers who are not open to the idea of feeding their chickens meat-laced food.
Compared to some other brands in the market, this product contains 25% less saturated fat and it’s pasteurized to fend off bacteria from your flocks.
The Eggland’s Best 17% Protein Layer Mini-Pellets Chicken Feed is suitable for egg-laying chickens and has no hormone, steroids, or antibiotics content but the 17% protein and Omega-3 oils combine to offer your chickens a healthy, balanced diet.
This formula is strictly designed to cater to chickens, so it’s not advisable to give ducks, geese, quails, and other birds in your flock.
Pros
- Vegetarian formula
- 17% protein
- 25% less saturated fat
- Omega-3
- No hormones, steroids, or antibiotics
- Formulated for egg-layers
- Pasteurized
Cons
- Intended for chickens only
- Some chickens don’t like the texture
5 Mile Four 16% Organic Layer Chicken & Duck Feed
The Mile Four 16% Organic Layer Chicken & Duck Feed is a USDA certified formula with 16% protein content and free of soy, corn, or GMOs or any unnatural recipes.
This feed will strengthen the bone of your layers as well as help them maintain a healthy egg production. It is specially designed for chickens and ducks.
The Mile Four formula, beside fortifying the internal organs of your flocks, will also help them maintain glossy feathers.
That aside, the Kalmbach feed, which is only available in 25-pound bags, is a rich blend of probiotics, enzymes, and prebiotics to help fortify your chickens’ immune and digestive health.
Pros
- USDA certified
- Specialized layer feed
- 17% protein
- Contains vitamin D
Cons
- Dusty
Homemade Organic Chicken Feed
In case you’re looking to prepare your organic chicken feed by yourself, either to save money or for whatever reason, don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.
Here’s a homemade organic chicken feed recipe that you can easily put together with little or no stress.
This recipe is truly organic and the ingredients are so nourishing that your chickens will get all the nutritional benefits they need to stay bouncing.
That said, it’s not an easy task to lay hands on organic and non-GMO grains, therefore you should be ready to do the work, which might cost a little financial toothache, but nothing should be too much for the health of your chickens.
- 5 pounds of corn
- 5 pounds of split peas
- 5 pounds of wheat
- 2 pounds of oats
- 2 pounds of barley
- 5 ounces of fishmeal
- Tablespoon of mineral salts (not for free-range)
- Crushed eggshells
Benefits of Organic Chicken Feed
Using Organic Chicken feed as the source of meal for your flock comes with a lot of advantages compared to conventional feed.
Organic Chicken Feed is known to contain the natural ingredients to provide the nutrients that both your young and older chickens need for good health and development.
Feeding your chickens can be likened to the GIGO (Garbage in, Garbage out) concept in computer science and mathematics whereby the quality of the input determines the quality of the output.
Whether you’re raising for eggs or for meat production, your chickens would only produce according to what they’ve been fed, which is why you can’t trade rich, quality feed for any other thing.
While the immediate health implications of GMOs are still unknown, experts have expressed fears that the long-term effects may be so damaging to the human body.
Although companies that manufacture these GMO products have argued otherwise, claiming they are safe with no side effects, the jury is still out to know how true these claims are.
As the debate between organic chicken feed and GMOs feed rages on, more people have become conscious of the nature and source of the food they consume.
The ongoing debate on which is a safe option between organic chicken feed and GMOs has awakened more people’s consciousness to the source of the food they consume as more people tilt toward the former.
Therefore, whether you’re an adherent of a strictly organic diet or you only intend to sell your eggs and meat to customers who do, you should look for organic chicken feed that is labeled non-GMO for good results.
Health implications aside, the chicken market is so saturated right now that it’s almost impossible to figure out what a naturally grown chicken tastes like.
If you’ve not been privileged to taste birds grown using organic chicken feed before, chances are you may never appreciate the natural taste of eggs and meat.
Organic chicken feed doesn’t only guarantee that your ladies will turn out healthy, it also means that the meat and eggs will carry a natural flavor you can’t get anywhere.
Conclusion
We can’t emphasize enough that the decision to choose either organic or other types of chicken feed for your poultry rests solely in your hands. Your farming purpose and the market you hope to serve might also play a major role on what you settle for at the end of the day.
However, if you’re the type that places a premium on the health and safety of your flock, and found GMOs feeds too compromising, you can choose from any of our organic chicken feed picks for a trial.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Organic chicken feed is a better option for you chickens because it doesn’t contain harmful substances that could pose serious health concerns to your flock and ultimately, to the consumer.
Using Organic chicken feeds eliminates the fear of your birds consuming animal by-products, pesticides, unhealthy chemicals, and fillers that constitutes inhuman or unethical practices.
Chickens don’t live by feed alone, they enjoy variety to their consumption. These feathered critters have voracious appetites and are always willing to eat just about anything.
If you want to spice up their consumption, cooked beans, corn, leafy greens, non sugary cereals apples, berries and other fruit vegetables are good choices.
While it’s in your best interest to provide your egg-producing chickens the best quality feed to maximize their capacity, you don’t need to break the bank to achieve this.
Egg chickens need a lot of protein intake to produce quality and nutritional eggs, and using premium laying mash or pellet, along with fresh fruit treats can be very beneficial.
Chickens also enjoy vegetables, meal worms and other healthy treats to remain productive and all these can be sourced naturally by your birds if you free range.
Meanwhile, the same can’t be said for poultry birds where foraging isn’t allowed, so you need to check the market for the feed that contains the needed nutritional profile for your egg-producing chickens.
It’s true that chickens can peck on anything in sight, but there are some foods that should be kept far away from your birds, or else you might expose them to danger.
It’s never a good idea to feed chickens food scraps with high concentrations of fat or salt. Also, never feed your flock rancid or spoiled food.
To be specific, the following food shouldn’t be fed to your chickens under any circumstances; raw potato, avocado, chocolate, onion, garlic, citrus fruits, uncooked rice or uncooked beans.
BESTSELLER NO. 1
BESTSELLER NO. 2
BESTSELLER NO. 3
BESTSELLER NO. 4
BESTSELLER NO. 5
