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  • From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Homestead] Poultry, organic
  • Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:42:27 -0700


On Jan 31, 2008, at 10:27 AM, Clansgian AT wmconnect.com wrote:

The first line of defense, of course, would be to grow your own. Baring
that, buy from the people who are actually growing it, people you know well
enough or are open enough for you to see that it is orgainic and free-range. Only
if those fail, look to the label. And if you are stuck with relying on the
label, you are rolling the dice.

All true.

I have talked to a couple poultry meat and egg producers in the south- central Missouri area. While they do their best, they both stated that it is nigh impossible for them to produce meat or eggs using only organically-grown grains. All of the commercial grain sources require large bulk purchases before the price is low enough for the poultryman to make a profit. Providing proper storage facilities for these quantities is out of the question for them. That part of the world tends to be rocky, poor soil on which grains do not do well, so there is also the issue of distance/transportation/energy waste.

Likewise, when I am keeping my own hens, I have thus far been unable to find organic feed at any reasonable price. Until I grow my own grains I am eating eggs that may well be less organic that what I can buy in a store. The best I can do is to provide so much pasture, kitchen scraps and garden waste that they eat very little of the purchased, non-organic feed at the end of the day. Feasible in summer, impossible in winter.







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