When I first got hens, I didn’t understand how critical they would become to the entire system of my productive home. I just had that fresh-egg fantasy. You know the one: pastel-hued eggs in a Pinterest-worthy little wire basket. They would be laid by happy, fluffy hens and I would have omelets that were as ethical as they were delicious.
I’ve learned it’s more than just eggs. Way more. The chickens have become indispensable to my productive home and garden. They eat bugs and weeds and till soil. They generate the primary source of fertility for my vegetable garden. Their poop, composted with bedding and garden and kitchen scraps, saves me a ton of money on compost and fertilizer.
But three years ago, I was just thinking about enjoying the best, most ethical eggs possible. I started buying my chicken feed from a small, local, organic producer called Scratch and Peck Feeds and have been a very happy customer ever since.
As I’ve grown to observe the full role of the chickens in my garden, I think going with Scratch and Peck was one of the best decisions I could have made. My hens eat a diet free from GMOs or chemical herbicides or pesticides. The eggs we eat and the manure we compost for our vegetable garden reflects that. The input of high quality feed helps the whole cycle become healthier and stronger.
Meet Scratch and Peck
I reached out to the folks at Scratch and Peck Feeds and asked if they might want to come on board as a direct sponsor of NW Edible. I am beyond thrilled that they said yes, and I can share why I have been a customer of theirs for so long.
Scratch and Peck is a small family business, and shares the values that I and many of you do – organic production, support for local farmers and the importance of less processed foods (even for chickens!).
Here’s what you should know about Scratch and Peck Feed when you’re thinking about what to feed your flock:
- Every bag of feed is certified organic and independently verified as GMO-free by the Non GMO Project. Scratch and Peck was the first feed company in the United States to achieve GMO-free verification.
- All of Scratch and Peck’s feeds are soy and canola free. Some blends are also corn free.
- The grains and mashes used in the feed are not cooked, pelletized or reformed. Scratch and Peck’s feed is made with raw whole and cracked grains and peas. It looks like something you’d find in the bulk grain section of the health food store. Pelletized chicken feed, on the other hand, is a processed product where the grains and other feed ingredients are steamed, pulverized and run through an extrusion die. This is akin to how something like Corn Flakes are made.
- The bags used to package the feed are heavy paper and fully compostable, instead of the polypropylene used by most large feed companies. Let’s face it, unless you are opening an Etsy shop, no one really needs that many repurposed feed sack totes. I often use mine under bark as a natural weed block, or to cover up fallow beds in fall, like this (photo taken last November, long before Scratch and Peck became a sponsor):
- The grain used in Scratch and Peck’s feeds is grown locally by small farmers in the Pacific Northwest and milled in Bellingham, WA. I love that I support farmers in my backyard, not anonymous growers of giant soy and corn fields somewhere, when I purchase Scratch and Peck.
- Scratch and Peck’s chick starter is unmedicated. Scratch and Peck makes their feed for folks like me – involved small flock owners who are providing a healthy, clean, non-industrial environment for their chickens. They believe (and I agree) that in these conditions it is not necessary to preventatively feed animals anti-microbials.
- Scratch and Peck also makes feeds for turkeys, pigs and goats.
The Giveaway!
Time to make a tough decision.
Scratch and Peck is generously offering one lucky NW Edible reader their choice of either a Chick Starter Kit – which includes Chick Feed, Chick Grit and Diatomaceous Earth – or a 25-pound bag of Naturally Free Chicken Layer Feed.
To enter to win, leave a comment on this post telling me which prize you’ll pick if you win, and something you love about chickens that isn’t eggs. That’s it, one comment and you are entered to win.
Then, please check out the brand new redesign of the Scratch and Peck Website and make sure to like Scratch and Peck on Facebook or Twitter. (Say hi and tell ’em I sent you – they are very nice!).
Just in case you don’t win, between now and February 24th, Scratch and Peck is offering 10% off all products purchased on their website with the coupon code nogmos! (with the exclamation point).
Also, look, I’m gonna be frank about this: paying for shipping on something heavy like chicken feed can be prohibitively expensive. I get it. I strongly encourage folks to see if their local feed store is carrying Scratch and Peck. If they are, support your local feed store and buy there! If they aren’t, let them know you’d like to see the Scratch and Peck organic and GMO-free option available locally.
One entry per person. Contest open to addresses in the U.S. only. International readers, sorry but you are not eligible to win because of shipping costs. Contest open until Tuesday, February 11, 2014 at 8 PM. One winner will chosen at random. Winner will be emailed and have 24 hours to respond to claim their prize.
Good luck, and a huge thank you to Scratch and Peck for helping to keep the lights on around here at NW Edible!
0
I love chickens because they make me mindful of the food I am eating.
I wasn’t so sure when the Husband said he wanted to start keeping chickens. I said the only help I’d give would be to take pictures of them. Now it’s fun to go check for eggs and watch their antics.
I still say the best thing is the photography! 🙂
I would choose the feed.
I love my chickens because they are my first line of the composting cycle.
I would choose layer feed. I have to agree with you about the compost produced by the chickens! It has made a huge difference in our garden soil.
I got chickens last year after visiting friends of mine who had taken in some older hens when their original owners were being evicted. I loved watching their antics, had dreams of having a banging garden, so the poop would be a great asset, and the – eventual – eggs were just a bonus. (Still haven’t taught my canine friend to make breakfast!) But I think what I really appreciate most is that even on rainy or freezing days like today when I don’t want to get out of bed, I’m forced to go putter in the yard. The hens are also a total gateway – because I joined the local co-op to learn and buy feed, I found out about mason bees, top bar hives, ducks and quail… And rabbits. Last month I brought home some beautiful heritage breed rabbits who are turning the mounds of blackberry in our yard into fertilizer, and are just very enjoyable critters. I feel like this winter has been much easier on my mental health for having spent all that more time outside, chatting with them, fixing things on the coop/hutches, mulching the run, etc etc. I’d love for the hens to try Scratch & Peck’s layer feed.
I adore Scratch and Peck! I would love a bag of Layer Feed! My favorite part of owning chickens is the sheer hilarity of them. We call it “Chicken TV” around here. Watching them and all of their antics is the best way to cheer up a gloomy day!
Love this giveaway!
I would choose the layer feed for my girls and what I love about them is their personalities and how they allow me to pet them and how they will eat from my hand.
I love Scratch & Peck! If I win I would choose the layer feed. My chickens love it and it makes me feel good to feed it to them and to support such a great company. Congrats on having them as your sponsor! One thing I love about my chickens is how funny their personalities are, and that they are each an individual. It makes them so fun to sit and watch.
I would love a bag of layer feed. Previously I would have said that I love how relaxing it is to watch the chickens go about their day (except when they start digging up the strawberries!). But now I think the best thing is watching how excited my 9 month old is when we take him out to watch and interact with the girls. The look of glee and interest on his face is priceless, it’s Chicken TV for babies and adults!
I’d love to win a bag of the layer feed. My favorite thing about chickens is their snuggles. Mine are just like cats – they love to stretch out on my lap and purr!
i WOULD LOVE A BAG OF LAYER FEED. MY HENS ARE SUCH A JOY TO WATCH AS THEY FREE RANGE AROUND THE PROPERTY.
I would love the chick starter kit! I can’t wait to start our flock, for all the great reasons you mentioned above! Plus, I know my boys (1 and 3) are going to LOVE their new feathered friends. Chickens are cute, hilarious, and productive – what a great combo!
I would like to win the 25 pound bag. I love my chickens because they eat all my kitchen scraps up.
Layer feed! And what’s not to love about their poop?!
I would choose the Layer Feed. I love the different personalities of the chickens.
25 lbs of feed, please! My son and I live with our dog, cat and seven lovely hens. We love, love, love our chickens. My son wants to put “chicken cams” all around and make a movie about their antics!
What a tough choice! I would take the layer blend though. I’ve been looking for a non-GMO feed option for my girls.
I would go with the starter kit since I’m getting ready to move to where I can FINALLY have chickens. My favorite thing is all the different breeds, appearances and colors. So many interesting chickens out there.
Chick starter kit 😉 I love how much my boys love the chickens!!
I love watching them roam the yard and smile when I see my kittens and chickens roosting on the same perch before bedtime !!! My horses love the chickies too. I would love a 25# bag to improve my feeding habits. This has been great info !!
Layer feed, and what I love most about my chickens is how they take off running for no reason whatsoever – It’s so funny!
Layer for me please..
I love how my hens waddle around the yard and cluck and run toward me when I come outside 🙂
I’ve been using Scratch and Peck since I started raising chickens and never knew what a cool, family run, small business they are! Makes me feel even better about using them! I would love the bag of layer feed!
I love the tilling function on my chickens. I have a 50 ft roll of wire that I have been moving around to different parts of my garden all winter to allow the chickens to do their thing. It’s a perfect cycle….throw down some cover crop, wait until it sprouts and grows a bit, move the chickens and let them tear it up. Rinse and repeat for all my beds. Now I’m just trying to figure out what to do with them when my beds are all filled with veggies this summer!
Absolutely layer feed.
We just started our new batch of chicks and will have them on regular feed soon!
The best thing about chickens is chicken TV! I’d rather sit and watch them all day long instead of regular television, chores, working, you name it.
I would love the 25-pound bag of Naturally Free Chicken Layer Feed then I won’t feel so bad about building the fence around the Hugelkultur garden last weekend. The chickens LOVED it, and demolished it.
Thanks for the giveaway and another great article! I like that chickens give us a more sustainable, nearly closed loop system. Chickens have been on our to-do list for a few years, I’m hoping this spring will be the year. If I win, it will have to be the year 😉 I would love to try the Starter Kit.
I’d pick the 25lb bag ’cause if I get a new hen this year it will be a started pullet. We only have room for one more and I don’t feel like firing up chick starting energy for one lonely little peeper!!
I love that there are a bunch of chicken-havers on my block, and you can hear them cackling to each other up and down the street on nice summer days. It’s such a nice rural sound to hear in the city, and I think it must encourage my birds to lay when they hear others doing egg-song!
I would love the 25-pound bag of feed — I love that we don’t waste as much food having chickens – they eat a lot of our scraps and slightly aged produce that we don’t get around to eating. I also love when our chickens are free ranging and I go outside and end up with 15 chickens following me wherever I go, thinking I’m going to feed them!
Chick starter, please. Need to add some young blood to my flock soon. I have raised chickens since I was in elementary school and I’m older than dirt now, so can’t imagine life without them. The eggs are a bonus!
We would love the chick starter kit! We are just getting our first batch of chickens in March. I have always loved just watching chickens. I could (and probably will!) “waste” hours just watching them puttering around the yard eating bugs and stuff.
The chicken feed. We enjoy chickens because my children get to experience the joy of having animals and it gives them responsibly when they clean and collect the eggs
I would love the feed for our 3 ladies. Chickens are wonderful. Of course we enjoy their eggs, but it’s the ladies themselves who give us so much joy. As I check on them each morning they bring a smile to my face. Chickens have a lot of personality. They appreciated the water on this freezing morning and the fresh food. We try to take good care of the ladies. They are family.
I would love to win the layer feed! It is very hard to find non GMO feed in my area. This would be a surprise for my girls. What I love about my chickens is EVERYTHING…they are just a joy to have around and watch…kind of a stress relief and peacefulness watching them 🙂 Thanks so much for this giveaway…someone’s chickens will be very happy, hopefully mine 🙂
I too got chickens for the eggs and fertilizer, but what I wasn’t expecting was how FUN they are! Our 3 girls have quickly become beloved pets. We love to watch them interact and be silly in he backyard. I named the 2 Barred Rocks Cordelia and Ophelia (Cordie and FiFi) and my kids named our sweet Buff Orpington…Nugget. If I win the contest, I would love the bag of Layer Feed!
I’d love the chick starter kit! I’m going to get some chicks in a few weeks, this would be GREAT!
Chick starter kit, please
Would love a bag of your layer feed! My girls can’t wait to try it!
We had hens for a dozen years in Wisconsin, and one of their top functions was eating the leftover food scraps so I didn’t “have” to! When you’ve got kids, especially little ones, there’s so much waste and it’s so soothing (for the unreasonably frugal like me) to hand that over to happy hens–it feels better than just composting it. It was also cool when my 10 year old impressed her classmate (who lives on a farm in southern Washington) with her chicken catching skills.
We moved to Portland this past fall and thus if I won I’d like the chick starter kit, as we’ll be starting over, hopefully soon!
I love my chickens personalities. They would love the layer feed!
I would choose the Starter kit. Our town is now allowing 3 chickens per household. We’ve created a nice organic ecology in the back yard, plenty of healthy bugs for them to eat.
I would pick the layer feed. What I love about chickens..other than eggs…is their craziness when throwing in certain items of food…they look like little rugby players! Makes me laugh every time.
I would love to win the Starter Kit (have new chicks arriving in April.) Our chickens get me up every morning, no matter the weather!
Hey Erica, I had the same dream and love my 8 hens. But I got a really bad infestation if poultry mites that DE didn’t touch and ended up desperate using a toxic powder. I notice the mites are coming back (I also host a lot of wild birds and I suspect they might be bringing them)I’m reluctant to use the straw bedding in my garden or compost now, in case of traces of the toxin killing insects etc in my soil. Any thoughts/help? I’m in Aoteatoa/New Zealand by the way, and I love your blog.
I would pick the layer feed. I love that chickens all have a different personality. Some even come when you call their names.
I would chose the starter kit! Any excuse to raise more chicks! I love how entertaining my hens are! Never a dull moment!
I would pick the Starter Kit since I do not have any chickens yet but hope to get them this spring once my husband has built the coop/henhouse (after, he has fenced my garden and finished the garage renovation). Hmm… what I like about chickens their poop can be used as fertilizer.
I would love to try the layer feed. I’ve been wanting to try Scratch & Peck pretty much since I got my last giant batch of chicken feed. My favorite thing about my ladies is the pure entertainment and hilarity that they bring to the day. They crack me up pretty every morning. Not at all a bad way to start the day (especially when it’s fricken freezing out there).
I would choose the starter kit since I’m getting new chicks in the spring. I love having chickens. They are a joy to be around after a long day at work. I love coming up my driveway and seeing them happily scratching under their favorite tree. They run to greet me along with the dog. Nothing like relaxing with my small flock before starting dinner.
I’d like the layer feed! I love that chickens do so much more than just lay eggs! Eating my scraps, making my compost….turns me into a better human being!
The layer feed!