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I was going to post this to alernative animal feeds but thought a new subject line would be more appropiate.With all the different concerns expressed on this formn about what is in food we eat I have not seen any comments about what is in the feed we give to our animals.

Do you just go to the feed store and ask for feed for your animals or do you read the labels and wonder what kind of animal byproducts and other grains are in it?.............................JAY

-- JAY (JAY@TOWNSQR.COM), December 17, 2000

Answers

Interesting you should ask as same subject came up on another board. I haven't checked this out yet but look at http://www.triquestboergoats.com/feedtag.htm

-- Marsha /GA (CaprisMaa@aol.com), December 17, 2000.

I have been trying to stay away from feeds with animal byproducts but it is not always easy. I also avoid feeds with synthetic protien. I have seen some feeds with 10% protien that use a synthetic protien and it has made me wonder what exactly is in this feed if they can only get 10% useing synthetics. Must be sawdust and poultry droppings.

-- Mark in NC Fla (deadgoatman@webtv.net), December 17, 2000.

Hi Mark, Wouldn't "sawdust and poultry droppings" be considered natural. Synthetic I would assume to be manufactured by some chemical process. My cousin owned a turkey factory a few years ago and claimed he sold the feathers to pet food manufactures; when ground into a powder and added to their product they were listed as: Protein added.

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), December 17, 2000.

Shoot I can't pronounce the additives they put in human food much less livestock. I know there is a lot of stuff in there that we probably wouldn't be happy about. If I'm not mistaken isn't britain having so many problems with 'mad cow disease' because of the different animal byproducts they are putting in their feed? I also seem to remember reading somewhere that a while back they were putting arsenic in chicken feed to make them eat more! Even if the label on your feed sack lists ingredients you can pronounce it probably has a great deal of pesticide residue. Kinda makes you stop and think. Can't really prove it but I kind of wonder about the connection between the food we eat and what seems to me a really elevated rate of cancer in our country.

-- Amanda in Mo (aseley@townsqr.com), December 17, 2000.

Amanda, You're right about mad cow disease. Sheep are the carriers, it affects (and is in) their brains. When they are butchered their brains and other "products" are ground and put into feeds for protein (just like the turkey feathers). I think the only way around this is to mix your own feeds. I make my own mix for my goats, and will eventually do so for my cows and chickens, just haven't found a good "recipe" yet.

-- Julie (Julieamc@excite.com), December 17, 2000.


Julie:

A slight clarification on BSE. At first scientists thought BSE was triggered by sheep carcasses which had scrapies being used in animal feed. They were probably right, but... BSE is now starting to show up in France and other countries in herds which hadn't received any feeds with animal byproducts. Thus, scientists are now scrambling to find other links/causes.

As noted in another post, Feeds and Feeding by J.B. Morrison contains a number of different feed mix recipes for most livestock. Problem is finding a place which can mix them together for you; although a bucket of this, two buckets of that, etc. hand mixed would work on a small scale.

Check backissues of Countryside for classified ads for used book sellers. I am pretty sure I got mine through Daniel Hill in Dixmont, ME (207-234-2315 - don't hold me to area codes since they change so often). Other places I have used are Good Earth Books in Evansville, IN (812-963-3960), Robert Gear in Greenfield, MA (413-337-4844)and Lancaster and Simpson (somewhere in MN) (612-490-1132). I have had excellent service from all four.

Feeds and Feeding is well worth whatever you have to pay for it. At one time it was considered to be 'the Bible' in the livestock industry.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 18, 2000.


The book recommended by Ken is an excellent one."Feeds and Feeding" was written by F.B.Morrison and there are several copies available at abebooks.com.

-- JT Sessions (gone2seed@hotmail.com), December 18, 2000.

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