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GlennT
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Reged: 09/24/02
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Loc: Texas
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Organic chicken feed
03/09/03 08:05 AM
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We have 15 happy chickens that love to be picked up and petted. I have an opportunity to sell our excess eggs, but the health-food store insists that any commercial feed be organic. Our chickens are free-range, but I do supplement with oyster shells, layer mash, and scratch. I can only identify two sources for organic chicken feed in Texas--one 168 miles away and the other over 300 miles away. We really don't have facilities or space to grow our own feed. Any suggestions?
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egon
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Loc: Nova Scotia,Canada
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Re: Organic chicken feed
[re: GlennT]
03/09/03 08:57 AM
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Can you sell privetly ?
Egon
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Argee
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Reged: 09/12/02
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Loc: Northern Michigan
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Re: Organic chicken feed
[re: GlennT]
03/09/03 03:26 PM
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You can't get more organic than "free ranging" them. What do they want you to do, feed them certified bugs?
The layer mash is the only thing that comes into question. What it is treated with?
Argee 
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Fawteen
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Loc: Maine
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Re: Organic chicken feed
[re: GlennT]
03/10/03 06:27 AM
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I can sell every egg I produce out the door. My birds free-range and get commercial layer pellets, and folks that buy a dozen of my eggs swear they'll never go back to those anemic, watery store-bought things again.
Disadvantage, of course, is that somebody has to be home to sell them, but perhaps you could get the word out that you'll be there Saturday mornings, or whatever.
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RichZ
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Loc: Cambridge, New York in beautiful Washington County, next to Vermont
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Re: Organic chicken feed
[re: GlennT]
03/10/03 07:42 AM
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When we first got our chickens, we also tried to find true organic chicken feed. Although it does exist, it's hard to find, and much more expensive than other chicken feeds. We free range our chickens, but we do still have to give them feed, even in the spring and summer. And in the winter, here in upstate New York, once it snows, they have to be kept in the henhouse, so all they eat is chicken feed.
We use Agway Laying Pellets for the adult birds. It isn't organic, but it doesn't have chemical additives and preservitives and is not medicated like some of the other feeds. We sell eggs both privately, and to our local health food store. Once most people buy our eggs, they don't want to go back to supermarket eggs. Our yolks are bright orange and more firm, and they just taste better. We have no trouble selling eggs, and we intend to increase our flock this spring.
But...you'll never get rich selling eggs. We sell ours for $2/dozen. If you go to organic feed, I don't know if there will be any profit margin at all. If you can get Agway Layer Pellets, take the ingredient label to the health food store and show them, it is not medicated and has no perservatives. That may convince them.
Rich
"What a long strange trip it's been."
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GlennT
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Loc: Texas
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Re: Organic chicken feed
[re: egon]
03/10/03 07:53 AM
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Although we live in a rural area 8 miles from town, our acreage is part of a subdivision and the deed restrictions prohibit us from conducting any kind of a business from our home. I should mention, too, that the restrictions prohibit pigs and churches. Figure that one out. I could sell privately if I would deliver; my wife's health has been such that I didn't want to get into that, at least up to now. I have been giving our surplus eggs to the local food pantry and I guess I may continue that and consider it part of our charitable contributions. We're only talking about a few dozen eggs per week, so it's not a significant loss of revenue. Thanks for the advice.
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egon
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Re: Organic chicken feed
[re: Argee]
03/10/03 08:17 AM
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Free ranging does not mean " organic " in the commercial aspect.
There are inspections and tests required to determine the land has been free of chemicals, even fertilizers, for a certain period of time.
Egon
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egon
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Re: Organic chicken feed
[re: GlennT]
03/10/03 08:20 AM
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Glen:
Another possibility may be to sell through another store that does not need organic certification.
Or can you sell at the organic store under a label like Free Range but not certified organic.
Egon
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Boondox
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Loc: Northern Vermont
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Re: Organic chicken feed
[re: GlennT]
03/10/03 12:43 PM
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Glenn -- I'm with Egon on this one. There is a market for free-range eggs for all the reasons RichZ stated. We've never had trouble selling ours, and it frees us from the organic nightmare.
Pete
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DFB
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Reged: 09/12/02
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Re: Organic chicken feed
[re: GlennT]
03/10/03 01:42 PM
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Its interesting, the timing of your question comes right after a new change in the organic regulations.
From what I've read recently the organic community is outraged over Section 771 of the recently passed Fiscal Year 2003 Consolidated Budget Bill. According to the current "news releases" this provision permits farmers to raise their livestock on non-organic feed and still label the products as "organic"
As worded, Section 771 of the Fiscal Year 2003 Consolidated Budget Bill would not enforce the 100% organic feed requirement for certified organic livestock operations unless organically produced feed is commercially available at no more than twice the cost of conventionally produced feed. It was signed into effect on Feb. 20, 2003.
This changes the National Organic Standards that were implemented in October 2002, which clearly stipulates that any meat or poultry product labeled as organic must be fed a 100% organic ration. Currently there are efforts underway to try and repeal this change. Here's some recent news links on this.
organic trade association
thegreenguide
DFB
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AndyF
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Loc: Phelps, NY
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Re: Organic chicken feed
[re: GlennT]
03/10/03 09:00 PM
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In order to sell "Organic" you will need to comply with the federal standard. The standard mandates a heck of a lot more than just what you feed your chickens while you are selling eggs. If you want to certify that your eggs are organic, check with your local cooperative extension for a contact with the organic certifying group in your state. They can tell you what the rules of the road are. If your sales are less than $5,000 while you don't have to be certified, you are expected to follow the USDA standard.
It's a lot simpler if you're just selling a few eggs to sell them as locally raised rather than claiming that they are "organic". Another thing to check if you are selling to a store is whether your state has any regulations regarding packaging, labelling and handling for eggs.
Recently, there have been some Republican initiatives to gut the organic standard, but these are facing opposition from companies and groups as diverse as Tyson to tree-hugging environmentalists. It's likely that this first round of challenges to the standard will not be fully enacted and that the standard will be maintained as written at least for this year.
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fenneran
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Loc: Staunton, VA (Shenandoah Valley)
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Re: Organic chicken feed
[re: AndyF]
03/11/03 04:58 AM
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One of our local farmers sells from his house and he puts a label on the carton that says:
Fresh Brown Eggs
Mixed-Unclassified
No Drugs, hormones or chemicals
Biologically Friendly - Loose-housed hens
He never says "Organic", but you get the idea.
-Frank
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Stoneheartfarm
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Reged: 10/10/02
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Loc: West Central Michigan
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Re: Organic chicken feed
[re: GlennT]
03/11/03 11:13 AM
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You might want to see if the food pantry will give you a receipt that you could then tax deduct. Not quite the same as cash, but this time of year, every little bit helps.
Steve
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