TerryO
In the Brooder
- Feb 15, 2016
- 6
- 4
- 17
There is a lot of pseudo-science here. People who believe that if you feed a chicken fat they will be fat, and if you feed them more protein you will get more lean muscle. If you feed a chicken too much fat, carbohydrates or fat they will get fat.
Chickens' bodies are much more sophisticated than that. 3 cups of corn give a human the recommended daily allowance of protein. Proteins are recyclable in the body of the chicken as well as you. In the 50s biologists assumed that because your body is mostly protein and water you must need a lot of protein. The real research found that your body only takes in and loses about a gram of protein per day. Any that you do not use will be turned to triglycerides and then deposited as fat. Your body breaks down the proteins in your body into amino acids and then makes them into the kinds of protein you need to repair your body. Same with chickens,
Hens that are not getting enough calcium will lay thin-shelled eggs and will rob the calcium from the bones of the bird but egg production. Certainly not good. So oyster shell or some other form of supplement might be needed depending on your water and the foods the chicken can encounter daily. Corn only has 11.6 mg of calcium per cup and your laying hens need 344 times that amount or 4 grams per day. Other than that corn is packed with nutrients. Is very balanced in both vitamins and minerals. There is no such thing as hot food vs cold food. There is enough and not enough. Just like if you, if you eat a sugary snack that digests quickly insulin, will come to the rescue You feed less corn than many other grains.
You can feed your chickens nothing but corn. If they start getting too fat in your opinion give them less. If eggshells start getting thin then the food they are getting free range does not have enough calcium. By all means, start giving them and adequate source of calcium.
Check out this analysis of corn which is a super food for chickens.
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5687/2
Chickens' bodies are much more sophisticated than that. 3 cups of corn give a human the recommended daily allowance of protein. Proteins are recyclable in the body of the chicken as well as you. In the 50s biologists assumed that because your body is mostly protein and water you must need a lot of protein. The real research found that your body only takes in and loses about a gram of protein per day. Any that you do not use will be turned to triglycerides and then deposited as fat. Your body breaks down the proteins in your body into amino acids and then makes them into the kinds of protein you need to repair your body. Same with chickens,
Hens that are not getting enough calcium will lay thin-shelled eggs and will rob the calcium from the bones of the bird but egg production. Certainly not good. So oyster shell or some other form of supplement might be needed depending on your water and the foods the chicken can encounter daily. Corn only has 11.6 mg of calcium per cup and your laying hens need 344 times that amount or 4 grams per day. Other than that corn is packed with nutrients. Is very balanced in both vitamins and minerals. There is no such thing as hot food vs cold food. There is enough and not enough. Just like if you, if you eat a sugary snack that digests quickly insulin, will come to the rescue You feed less corn than many other grains.
You can feed your chickens nothing but corn. If they start getting too fat in your opinion give them less. If eggshells start getting thin then the food they are getting free range does not have enough calcium. By all means, start giving them and adequate source of calcium.
Check out this analysis of corn which is a super food for chickens.
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5687/2
