Guest guest Posted February 8, 2002 Report Share Posted February 8, 2002 <snip> >Most chickens in small flocks as well as factory >farmed are given medicated feed. Sorry, this isn't an accurate statement about small flocks. The only time they are fed medicated feed is when they are chicks. Sharon in Vermont Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2002 Report Share Posted February 8, 2002 Lierre: >>Most chickens in small flocks as well as factory >>farmed are given medicated feed. Sharon: > Sorry, this isn't an accurate statement about small flocks. > The only time they are fed medicated feed is when they are chicks. Sharon, I don't think this is universally true, although it might be regionally true or something. We used to raise our own chickens (50-100 per year) until about 8-10 years ago when my father retired completely from farming. He was always complaining about not being able to buy the grower ration (chicks get starter ration, grower was fed until butchering) without medication from our local feed and fertilizer co-op. He switched to grinding his own mix for our flock for awhile because of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2002 Report Share Posted February 8, 2002 We raise our own chickens. To get away from this problem, we used to feed our new chicks duck crumbles. They can not put the medication in because it will kill the ducks. The last few years we have gone straight to our own mix and get them out as quick as possible and has been working great. Shari ----- Original Message ----- From: Kroyer ' ' Sent: Friday, February 08, 2002 10:14 AM Subject: RE: Asian market fowl Lierre: >>Most chickens in small flocks as well as factory >>farmed are given medicated feed. Sharon: > Sorry, this isn't an accurate statement about small flocks. > The only time they are fed medicated feed is when they are chicks. Sharon, I don't think this is universally true, although it might be regionally true or something. We used to raise our own chickens (50-100 per year) until about 8-10 years ago when my father retired completely from farming. He was always complaining about not being able to buy the grower ration (chicks get starter ration, grower was fed until butchering) without medication from our local feed and fertilizer co-op. He switched to grinding his own mix for our flock for awhile because of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 9, 2002 Report Share Posted February 9, 2002 Sorry, , but this misinformation has been bothering me all afternoon. Under normal conditions layer rations, the kind used by small flock owners to feed productive hens or birds ready for slaughter, are not medicated. The eggs and/or meat just wouldn't be usable. I just don't want the people who read this list to get the impression that small flock, free-ranged chickens are fed medicated feed. I guess it's like grass-fed dairy or meat products, you just have to ask questions about how the animals are maintained before you decide to buy. I raise my own chickens, too. Sharon > Sharon, > > I don't think this is universally true, although it might be regionally true > or something. We used to raise our own chickens (50-100 per year) until > about 8-10 years ago when my father retired completely from farming. He was > always complaining about not being able to buy the grower ration (chicks get > starter ration, grower was fed until butchering) without medication from our > local feed and fertilizer co-op. He switched to grinding his own mix for > our flock for awhile because of it. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 9, 2002 Report Share Posted February 9, 2002 --- In @y..., " vermont_gardening " <chefsam@v...> wrote: > I just don't want the people who read this list to get the > impression that small flock, free-ranged chickens are fed medicated > feed. I guess it's like grass-fed dairy or meat products, you just > have to ask questions about how the animals are maintained before > you decide to buy. If the flock is actually free-range, they're much less likely to have undesirable things fed to them. Small-flock and free-range are nowhere near synonomous, however. Many small flocks are free-range, but many are also not free-range. Ours were kept in a large old shed with screen doors and opaque south facing windows...definitely not free-range. We talked about it many times, but the logistics of protecting the chickens from animals (both wild and domestic), protecting the garden and crops from the chickens, etc was more than some of the family wanted to take on. Our area was almost entirely small to medium mixed purpose farms, and while free-range ducks and geese weren't that uncommon, free-range chickens were extremely rare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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