Free feed from snack factory what do you guys think of it?

There is a snack factory that makes stuff for quaker oats and other snack food companys, I can get tons ( I mean tons each sack weighs about 500 LBS ) of stuff that did not make the cut, Mostly corn and oats based snack cakes and cookies, there are also just oats and stuff, it is assorted and all mixed together, I know a lot of farmers do mix it with there cow feed and pig feed and what not, It is free and I tried it today and everyone here seems to like it, I will not feed it as a sole rations but I was wondering what you thought of it as a filler and snack. Thanks

Personally I would avoid anything with corn in it because I expect most of it is GMO. So far no oats are GMO as far I can tell. If there is a product which is 100% oats, it might be ok to feed, but not if it has any fillers or sweeteners, which are probably corn.

http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/database/plants/39.oat.html

I do feed my birds flock raiser in the winter time, This would only be used as a scratch for them, Not as a full on feed. GMO is used by Quaker Oats in there foods?

Here is the sack,



Here are some of the birds eatting it.

Garbage In = Garbage Out, imho. What kind of oils, preservatives, sweeteners, etc. are in these?

This just came up on the Keeping A Family Cow forum (feeding bread) and one person lost a goat from acidosis - the food messed up its reumen acid/alkaline balance (more sweets/carbs makes it more acid and kills off the bacteria that digest the grass) Another said their animals stopped wanting to eat it after just a little while.

I used to like to recycle more than I do now, I used to get a thrill out of repurposing free stuff. Now I'm more thinking about the overall impact on the whole system and lots of free things or things you *could* recycle don't add as much as I'd like, and add a fair amount of risk due to being overprocessed or too unnatural for the system. I like grass and forage for my animals, bugs, etc. and as little processed as possible, even if they WILL happily eat it. My kids would happily eat cookies instead of bread, too.

I would think the biggest "problem" would be the quantity.

Unless you have lots of chickens, 500# would get stale/moldy before they could finish it.

That 'problem' could easily be solved by composting it...might be a good candidate for bokashi.

I have plenty of animals to feed it to, I also give bags to friends, Like I said I get as much of this stuff as I want, A lot of farmers around here use it for cows goats pigs sheep and so on.

Free is good. This can supplement high nutrient food such as lambs quarters that you let the birds forage (or chop and drop into their enclosure). In my experience with hens, they are really good at sussing out what's good to eat and what's not good to eat when given a variety of items to choose from. Whatever they don't eat becomes food for the critters in the soil. . .

If it is going to the landfill take it.
Make bio-char out of it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXMUmby8PpU
Grow mushroom on it.
Make compost out of it.
Feed to worm to feed your animals.
Feed to fish to feed other animals.
Feed it to non-edible live compost/manue animals.
Feed it to your edible animals.
Feed it to animals that you "raise" for other people.

You have options my friend, pick one or all, just dont send it to the "landfill"

Are you talking about personal consumption or feed for livestock?
I think that it if the stuff is not suitable for human consumption, it would not be suitable for livestock which would in turn serve human consumption.
As a feed supplement, it might not be so bad. I would not be interested in raising critters exclusively on this stuff.

Worms would tear that stuff up. Compost it, feed the worms, the worms convert it into a fine soil amendment, run it through some plants, then consume the plants. Put a few cycles of decomposition and reuse between you and the product. How much volume are we talking about? Tons per day, tons per month?

There is enough volume to use as a fuel to serve your heating needs.

I could prob get 3-5 Tons a week, Others get it also.

www.imakemygas.com

Make alcohol for fuel and then feed the distillers grain.

I would feed it to chickens and feeder pigs in the winter as a supplement, but not to a ruminate or breeding stock.

I hate to see food wasted, and support freeganism, but If you want healthy chickens and organic eggs..... gotta feed the hens organic grub. No GMO!

R. Scott best idea.... make fuel. i don't even like the idea of that stuff in my compost.... worms deserve healthy food too! LOL!