I know it's hard to believe, but on Monday I spotted a craigslist ad for pullets, and I called. She had eight, and I bought them all. They're two weeks old now, and today is their first day in the tractor, still in their cage. The kids are loving having chicks to torture enjoy again. Tuesday, I found them lined up in the dollhouse. They've also taken rides in the back of the tricycle and in the MegaBlocks wagon.
I went out yesterday and bought soy-free feed. If you look at the ingredient list of generally available feed, it lists "vegetable protein" at the top. I don't know why I didn't realize this was soy earlier. But, I've finally come to my senses, and we are now spending twice as much on feed as we used to. To us, the price is small compared to the risk of female cancers, bone cancer for my son, or even infertility. And, after comparing how the different feeds look, the new, "whole food" stuff makes the old feed look like kibble. Should I also mention that the main protein in the new feed is fish meal, which shoots the Omega-3 content of the eggs way up?
As toxic as soy is, I encourage my readers to read food labels and try to eliminate soy from our diets as much as we possibly can. It's everywhere, so this is almost impossible. But, just in case this all sounds foreign, you thought soy was a health food, and New Mommy must be crazy; this is a good two-minute read to get one started thinking about the soybean's makeover to a "health food." There are plenty of follow-up articles below the bullet points.
Soy Alert from the Weston A. Price Foundation
P.S. I almost forgot our biggest news with the Silkies. Mrs. Tableson came out of brooding, and we got our first egg in a month and a half from them. When I saw the beautiful, orange yolk, I sighed. Do I even need to tell you that I love chickens? I know-- I've lost it. :P
I went out yesterday and bought soy-free feed. If you look at the ingredient list of generally available feed, it lists "vegetable protein" at the top. I don't know why I didn't realize this was soy earlier. But, I've finally come to my senses, and we are now spending twice as much on feed as we used to. To us, the price is small compared to the risk of female cancers, bone cancer for my son, or even infertility. And, after comparing how the different feeds look, the new, "whole food" stuff makes the old feed look like kibble. Should I also mention that the main protein in the new feed is fish meal, which shoots the Omega-3 content of the eggs way up?
As toxic as soy is, I encourage my readers to read food labels and try to eliminate soy from our diets as much as we possibly can. It's everywhere, so this is almost impossible. But, just in case this all sounds foreign, you thought soy was a health food, and New Mommy must be crazy; this is a good two-minute read to get one started thinking about the soybean's makeover to a "health food." There are plenty of follow-up articles below the bullet points.
Soy Alert from the Weston A. Price Foundation
P.S. I almost forgot our biggest news with the Silkies. Mrs. Tableson came out of brooding, and we got our first egg in a month and a half from them. When I saw the beautiful, orange yolk, I sighed. Do I even need to tell you that I love chickens? I know-- I've lost it. :P
Comments
Heather
I think you're touching on a part of the problem with soy; it is a plant hormone: (phyto)estrogen. Fermented soy in small amounts, like miso, tempeh, or natto, are fine. But, eating copious amounts of unfermented soybean products like soy milk or tofu is like taking estrogen shots.
Another problem with soy is that it is extremely high in phytic acid, which blocks absorption of nutrients and creates huge nutritional gaps. From this angle, I don't think organic would make a difference.
The last, and perhaps fundamental problem with soy is that it was not a part of the traditional, disease-free diets observed by Dr. Price, even in Japan. The vibrant, 100+ year-old Japanese people that he observed lived primarily on a diet of fish, not tofu.