How does Organic feed vs non-organic feed for chickens affect the Egg quality?

[nuthatched]

Do you mean regular corn chicken scratch? We haven't tossed any of that to our flock yet because people on here seem to advise against it. But I have been curious to try it as an afternoon treat for them.

Chicken feed. Chicken scratch or corn is not a complete ration, it's a treat.

 

[nuthatched]

Most organic feeds have a slightly less impressive nutrition panel than even mediocre "normal" feed. Considering the massive amounts of red tape, constant government oversight and hoops that anyone seeking to put out their products under organic label has to jump through, I get the impression that most crops are already organic and non gmo, since gmo crops are actually not as common as one is lead to believe. There're organic pesticides and fertilizer, slightly "better" but they have to use much more of it fir the same result

 

[K0k0shka]

There's no difference, it's just a personal preference. Even egg color is no longer an indicator of "better" eggs, since the food industry figured out they can add marigold extract to tint mass produced eggs' yolks more orange. So now the store-bought yolks and my backyard yolks are the exact same color. And even if they weren't, it's just color and it doesn't directly equal better nutritional quality. My chickens don't free range and get treats very rarely, because they are prone to obesity. In the summer I cut them greens from the yard, but in the fall-winter-spring, they only eat poultry feed, so not much difference from what the chickens laying eggs for the grocery store eat. So I can't imagine my eggs are really that much better, except that they are cruelty free and fresher. So what people are saying/imagining tastes so much better about homegrown eggs, isn't really anything about the quality or nutrition per se, it's just the freshness. And the peace of mind that the hens are living a better life. That's pretty sweet, too.

 

[Folly's place]

Agree!
And whether organic or not, it's about the nutrition profile and freshness (by mill date) of each bag of feed.
Mary

 

[Perris]

you might find this interesting:
"Patrick Holden [is] the interviewee, in a conversation with Dave Chapman who runs Long Wind Farm in Vermont, in the US. A committed advocate of nourishing foods grown in healthy soils, Dave is co-director of the Real Organic Project and a member of the Policy Committee of the Organic Farmers Association.
Dave and Patrick share how they each came to be involved in the organic movement along with their hopes and frustrations in view of changes to standards. Speaking from the US, Dave reflects that, “Until very recently, almost all the organic standards around the world essentially agreed with each other... Now [in the US] we have organic CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) of chickens, of cattle… We have hydroponic berries, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers being certified as organic – things that would be unthinkable in the world standards.”

For the full conversation, see
https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/po...istory-and-evolution-of-the-organic-movement/

 

[Krux5506]

I don't imagine there being a taste difference. I feed mine organic because whether I'm raising chickens or growing a garden I'm trying to produce things that I'd "rather" have. I mean sure I could probably have a super mega garden if I showered everything in miracle grow, but simply put that's not what I'm looking to do. My chickens aren't much different in that respect.

If I was all about paying the .89/dozen price tag for the cheapest eggs at my store then I certainly wouldn't even take on the burden and expense of raising chickens for eggs. Basically I can't think of one hobby that I've gotten into with the intent of saving money. Even if I'm selling eggs its basically just to offset the associated costs of raising them, there's certainly no profit for me.

 

[BDutch]

How does Organic feed vs non-organic feed for chickens affect the Egg quality?

The eggs of organic chickens do not contain residues of poison.

Chicks that get organic feed grow more slowly at the start but they grow better after a week than the GMO chicks. After a few week the organic chicks are healthier.
I have posted somewhere else about a research the Louis Bolk institute / Wageningen university conducted (small group).

Organic means to me more than just my own eggs and chickens. I don’t want yo contribute in GMO agriculture where they are poisoning the soil. And I don’t want to contribute in taking down rain-forests.

 

[BDutch]

Most organic feeds have a slightly less impressive nutrition panel than even mediocre "normal" feed. Considering the massive amounts of red tape, constant government oversight and hoops that anyone seeking to put out their products under organic label has to jump through, I get the impression that most crops are already organic and non gmo, since gmo crops are actually not as common as one is lead to believe. There're organic pesticides and fertilizer, slightly "better" but they have to use much more of it fir the same result

In my country the resellers are obliged to mention what ingredients are from GMO cultivation. All the feed I can find in my country is :

• with GMO soy and corn or
• organic or
• recycled from food waste (often has plastic residues)

The feed industry here imports lot of GMO cultivated soy and corn from Brazil (from former tropical rainforests).

The amount of protein in the poisonous GMO feed often has more proteins than the organic feed. But the breed/hybrids they use in the organic egg production is a breed/hybrid that is a bit different from the ones they use in the batteries/ stable kept factory farming. Its seems the organic hybrids profit best with a type of layer feed with less proteins.

 

[Chickenberg Goldenegg]

I don't think organic vs non-organic would have much of a flavor difference. It just wouldn't have some leftover pesticides and herbicides. Not that I know how much of that transfers from chicken to egg.

 

[nuthatched]

I don't think organic vs non-organic would have much of a flavor difference. It just wouldn't have some leftover pesticides and herbicides. Not that I know how much of that transfers from chicken to egg.

It doesn't. There are organic pesticide and herbicide, and they are only slightly safer.