Organic?

I was faced with a question today that I hadn't given any thought to before. "Do you want organic or non-organic?" Well, right away my mind was racing and trying to formulate the correct answer for that question.  According to television, restaurant menus, grocery stores, and advertising in general organic is the healthy choice. My thought obstacle was that I was just getting food for my chickens. Do they care about organic? Does is taste better? Will they be healthier? Have I been a bad pet owner because it never occurred to me that I would have an organic option. All I have ever really looked for in ingredients was whether or not the chicken food I was buying had been chemically engineered or included medicated corn.

I guiltily said, "non." Then walked back to my car wondering "Have I made the right choice?" The feed guy had already loaded my two bags of feed into the car and I wondered if I should change my mind. I asked him what the difference was and he stumbled over his answer and finally told me it was the price and then personal preference. Once he told me the cost was twice as much I decided my chickens have happily enjoyed "non-organic" for four years. They seem happy enough to me, so I should quit worrying.

Reasons to choose organic food:

• Chickens are being raised as food
• Selling the Eggs. Organic eggs sell for more, about $4 per dozen
• You believe that organic is the only way to go

I do like to give my chickens some fresh foods that I think will make up for the non-organic food I feed them. My chickens get kitchen scraps like vegetables, fruit, a little bread, and fish.  They are on the opposite side of the fence from my garden, so it's easy for me to just throw things over. I've been tossing them raspberries, kale, dandelions, and grass lately. Once my garden starts growing they will get some squash and tomatoes.

While researching, organic vs. non-organic, I found some people make homemade organic chicken food. I don't think I'm motivated enough for that. Just in case you're as curious as I was about what's involved in making your own chicken food, check out this link http://www.buzzle.com/articles/organic-chicken-feed.html.