Omlet Smart Autodoor - New in box

[Uma]

Hi all,

 

I have been feeding my girls the Garvo mash for months now as the older girls were porrly and this really made a difference. I have since lost two of the older girls and have one remaining with my Orpingtons. However, I only just discovered that the soya used in garvo is GM sourced and I feel really unhappy giving it to them now.

 

Does anyone have any like suggestions? I think I could go for pellets now as it was always the older three who were very fussy, and the Orps seem to like anything. Also I am getting some ducks so would be good if I could feed the same to both. But I don't want their condition to go down. So any suggestions?!

 

Many thanks,

 

Uma

[Redwing]

Many chicken feeds contain GM soya, Garvo are actually very open about it while other manufacturers are not.

 

I think Smallholder contains no GM though, Fancy Feed and Marriages are good brands too so worth checking their ingredients as they may be GM free

[Jenthelibrarian]

Both Smallholder and Dodson & Horrell are GM-free and approved by the Vegetarian Society. [Layer's pellets]

 

The Smallholder bag also says 'drug free' and 'non-hexane extracted', FWIW.

 

I'm happy for my chooks to eat bugs and so on that they find in my garden, but I don't want them eating processed bits of animal product or GM soya, which is why I tend to buy these brands. And, above all, the girls eat them

 

I recently read that in the USA chicken feathers are processed into animal feed - don't know if that happens here but I'm not keen to feed that that sort of thing to my hens

[good_egg]

The omlet feed (think marriages make it) is organi and the soy is GM-free. My girls seem to like it, small pellets and nicer poo - but have been wondering about trying Garvo as everyone raves about it.

[Redwing]

I have fed Garvo for over 2 years now and my birds have not imploded from being fed it and win prizes (where condition plays a major part) so I dont feel too inclined to change feeds

 

When this arguement came up a while back I contacted Garvo for further information and chose to keep feeding it based on the information they provided (which was very balanced) I think people are unncessarily suspicious of GM ingredients

 

Personally I would rather use a feed where the makers are completely honest about every single ingredient than others which are a bit more secretive, I've found plastic in pellets made by a company that boasts purity

[merlina]

The best (imho) way to avoid GM is to stick to organic or Soil Association approved feeds

 

I wouldn't feed GM to my chooks; don't want anything GM in my garden and I certainly don't want to eat eggs with a GM component

[Chortle Chook]

I don't mean to be dim, but what is the issue with GM? I know lots of people say it is bad but I've never quite worked out why when we humans seem to genetically modify most things by breeding carefully (or not so carefully) including chickens, ducks, dogs and most garden plants including flowers and vegetable seeds etc. etc.

[Jenthelibrarian]

I don't mean to be dim, but what is the issue with GM? I know lots of people say it is bad but I've never quite worked out why when we humans seem to genetically modify most things by breeding carefully (or not so carefully) including chickens, ducks, dogs and most garden plants including flowers and vegetable seeds etc. etc.

 

There are many issues with GM, some of them biological some political. A quick 'google' for 'why are GM crops bad?' will raise many of them.

 

For me the primary objection is control that huge multi-national agrochemical companies have over food production. Just one example is selling seed for crops that are modified to be sterile themselves, ie farmers must buy new seed each year not save seed for the next season.

GM crops are produced for corporate profit. Some farmers whose conventional crops have been contaminated by GM material have found themselves obliged to pay fees to biotech corporations (which have patented the GM

material) or face legal action.

There are also issues with non-plant genes being used in food crops - traditional breeding of plants doesn't allow this. Once these genes are 'out there' there is no going back.

 

I am a great believer in science and in progress and I'd love to see ways of ensuring food security for the whole world, but as it stands I don't think that GM is the way to do this.

[Lavenders_Blue]

Well said Jen Selective breeding is one thing, and I don't object to this, but GM and everything that goes with it is something quite else and it doesn't sit happily with me.

[Uma]

Thanks all, I think I will go back to marriages organic layers for now.

 

For me, although I respect the openness that garvo have on this matter, I still do not want to support GM at all. I don't buy anything else GM and won't eat anything GM either, so I was really upset to discover this. I also don't feel like we know enough about the impact of this on our bodies in the long term. It really unsettles me and its seriousely not a good thing for the planet at all-see above reasons.

 

So yes, back to marriages I go.

 

Uma x

[Chortle Chook]

Thanks Jenthelibrarian for your explanation. I'll look into it more carefully and in the meantime will probably return to Omlet feed (which is, I think, Marriages).