Peckish for Natural Feed

Check out this new antibiotic- and animal protein-free poultry feed.

August/September 2008
By Troy Griepentrog  
Poultry
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Homestead Poultry Feeds are now available.
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Even if your poultry roam free for a natural diet of pasture and bugs, you need a little feed to round out the menu. Hubbard Feeds recently announced a new product line, Homestead Poultry Feeds, which contains no antibiotics and no animal proteins. The lineup consists of six products: chick starter, grower for meat birds (chickens and turkeys), a ration for egg layers, duck and goose feed, turkey starter and a concentrate for mixing with your own grains to produce a balanced feed. In addition to grains, vitamins and minerals, the feeds contain Opti-Remedy, a blend of essential oils (oregano, thyme, cinnamon, capsicum and fruit extract) and organic selenium to boost immunity and maintain health.

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Chickens raised for meat can eat the grower ration, FastGrow, until they’re butchered. FastGrow also can be used for starting heavy-breed egg layer chicks. You can find ingredient lists and feeding directions for each product here. The Web site provides a recipe for mixing the concentrate, Chick-En-Egg, with corn for use as a starter, grower, developer or layer ration for chickens. But if you raise grain other than corn, Hubbard will formulate a mix that works for you. You can find a dealer here, or your local feed store can contact Hubbard to get information on selling the feed.

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2 Comments

  • Shaun 8/25/2008 6:13:25 PM

    We were thrilled to see this article, and then, after special ordering chick and turkey starter, shocked. When we got home we found "medicated" stamped in green ink on both labels.
    This feed is medicated with amprolium, which is not an antibiotic, but IS a medication. This was never mentioned as an ingredient on the website. Several phone calls later, we discovered this feed comes both medicated and unmedicated. In some areas of the country the unmedicated feed is readily available, however, that was not the case for us. A minimum order of 2 tons was needed for each of the feeds, per their regional sales rep.
    After speaking with the main office in MN, we were able to get the mill to provide us with the Fast Grow feed, unmedicated, and they provided us with the recipe to add their Chick-en-Egg to make our own turkey feed. We will use Fast Grow as the only starter for our heavy breed heritage chicks.
    So, be sure if you order Homestead feeds, that you are able to purchase the unmedicated feeds. Hubbard is replacing our medicated feed at no cost, but it cost us a week's delay and a bit of a headache.

  • Nodo 8/5/2008 8:45:37 PM

    I'm trying to convince my wife to get a few fowl, and pasture feed them. However her Uncle tells her that pasture fed flocks are more susceptible to Bird Flu. When I asked him to prove this he baulked. Does anybody have any #'s or facts, government or university studies would be nice

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