What does organic mean? Organic means that chickens are raised without any antibiotics whatsoever on feed that was grown without any pesticides or non-organic fertilizer. It really has little to do with the treatment of the chickens, though the regs are changing somewhat.
There is an USDA Certified Organic label that can be used by farms that have paid the big bucks and waited 3 years to be certified "Organic" by the USDA. They figure it takes 3 years for any non-organic residue from previous use of pesticides to be leached out of the land. Last time I checked, earning that "Certified Organic" label cost from $400 to 1,000 a year.
Because I have such a very small business, I am exempt from going thru the certification process. The regs allow those of us who sell less than $5,000 a year of organic products to use the organic term. A good story about how all that works is here: http://www.allbusiness.com/food-beverage/food-beverage-regulation-policy/10063180-1.html.
Anyway, the only time I can say my eggs are totally organic would be in the summertime, when the birds fend for their own on the farm every day - they eat seeds, grasses, bugs, even frogs, toads, snakes (apparently a great delicacy among the chicken folk). I don't have to supplement them unless it looks like they are not getting enough - then I give them "Natural" scratch grains from Purina - which means it is all grain and fruit, no animal by-products. A lot of feeds have things like feathers ground up in them, and other lovely things. Not that there is anything wrong with feathers - they help to make a great compost, but as food, eh, I don't know.
This time of year, my birds still eat grass on the ground, hay from my own hayfields, and the Purina Natural scratch grains. They also get leftovers! They love leftover veggies, casseroles - just about anything, but I never feed them leftover chicken casserole!!! You can, but to me, that's just not right!
Some use the the term "all natural" for their chickens and/or eggs - that only means that they are on a vegetarian diet. Only chickens are NOT vegetarians, they are omniverous, like humans. I find that the more insects, worms, snakes, frogs, etc., that my chickens find, the more wonderful their eggs are.
There is an USDA Certified Organic label that can be used by farms that have paid the big bucks and waited 3 years to be certified "Organic" by the USDA. They figure it takes 3 years for any non-organic residue from previous use of pesticides to be leached out of the land. Last time I checked, earning that "Certified Organic" label cost from $400 to 1,000 a year.
Because I have such a very small business, I am exempt from going thru the certification process. The regs allow those of us who sell less than $5,000 a year of organic products to use the organic term. A good story about how all that works is here: http://www.allbusiness.com/food-beverage/food-beverage-regulation-policy/10063180-1.html.
Anyway, the only time I can say my eggs are totally organic would be in the summertime, when the birds fend for their own on the farm every day - they eat seeds, grasses, bugs, even frogs, toads, snakes (apparently a great delicacy among the chicken folk). I don't have to supplement them unless it looks like they are not getting enough - then I give them "Natural" scratch grains from Purina - which means it is all grain and fruit, no animal by-products. A lot of feeds have things like feathers ground up in them, and other lovely things. Not that there is anything wrong with feathers - they help to make a great compost, but as food, eh, I don't know.
This time of year, my birds still eat grass on the ground, hay from my own hayfields, and the Purina Natural scratch grains. They also get leftovers! They love leftover veggies, casseroles - just about anything, but I never feed them leftover chicken casserole!!! You can, but to me, that's just not right!
Some use the the term "all natural" for their chickens and/or eggs - that only means that they are on a vegetarian diet. Only chickens are NOT vegetarians, they are omniverous, like humans. I find that the more insects, worms, snakes, frogs, etc., that my chickens find, the more wonderful their eggs are.
ha my mate and I used to lift up rocks. Chooks go ballistic with all the fun creeping under them.
Chickens eat snakes? Bugs I understand, but snakes? Frogs & toads? Exactly how does a chicken gag down a toad? The toads I’ve seen will cover your hand. Perhaps it is those latent T-Rex genes (insert vision of giant chicken roaming downtown)…
BBB
They’re small, to be sure, BBB, when the chickens for the the frogs and toads.
And the snakes aren’t huge, either, but 30 chickens descending on a snake can take it apart pretty quickly.
It’s not a pretty way to go.
[’Rican Hillbilly Alert]
When some one back home feels out of sorts, like he doesn’t belong where he is and doesn’t fit in, we say:
“Me siento com cucaracha en baile de gallina”
I feel like a cockroach in a chicken’s dance.
[/’Rican Hillbilly Alert]
Ya know, that what I like about this blog, ya learn something new everyday. All this time I had thought that chickens were , you know, chicken? And come to find out that they vicious killers of amphibians and reptiles.
BBB
Well, as a person who does not care much for snakes, I think it is pretty cool that they eat them - I even had a bunch kill a snake that kept striking at them - they always jumped out of the way!
I watched a program the other night about turkey farming.
It was noted that the turkey feathers are sold for feed! Said they were made of protein so could be processed.
Weird. I guess a use can be found for pretty much everything.
I put all the feathers that are laying around in my compost piles, they are great for that, and don’t attract varmints to the piles.
I’m also discovering that people who tie their own flies buy feathers - I’m seriously thinking about doing that.
I’m beginning to believe that the only way I’ll ever break even, or, gasp, make a profit with the farm, is to try out every possible avenue for what I produce, short of selling my critters for food. That I refuse to do, they are our pets.