Chicken ration and nutritional composition of the egg

Hello,

How does chicken ration affect the nutritional composition of the egg. I understand that by adding fish oils you can increase the omega fatty acid content of an egg but what of the standard composition? If rather than using a standardized layer ration you made your own with perhaps a barley or wheat base how would this affect the eggs nutritional composition?

Should the homemade layer feed be sampled and tested for it's composition?

Just curious how to best go about building a ration while still respecting the nutritional standards and bird health.

Thanks in advance.

Jen

Hello and

If the hen is only just getting enough nutrients for her own continued survival and a little extra for production, (being the typical formula commercial layer feeds supply so as to be economical) some hens will put very little into the eggs to retain better health, while some other hens will put most of it into the eggs and therefore burn out prematurely and die young with heightened risks of disease. It depends on her genetics mainly. Also depends on your budget and your purpose for having chickens.

Here's the standard nutritional content of raw eggs.
Quote: The nutrient profile of whole raw Australian hen eggs and the contribution these nutrients make to Recommended Dietary Intakes (RDI) for key nutrients is shown in the following table.
Nutrients

RDI*

Per 100g

Per serve
2x60g eggs
(104g edible portion)








%RDI
Energy (kJ)

8,700

559

581

7%
Protein (g)

50

12.2

12.7

25%
Fat (g)

70

9.9

10.3

15%
Sat fat (g)

24

3.3

3.4

14%
Mono fat (g)

n/a

5.1

5.3

n/a
Poly fat (g)

n/a

1.6

1.7

n/a
Cholesterol (mg)

n/a

383

398

n/a
Carbohydrate (g)

310

1.3

1.4

0%
Sugars (g)

90

0.3

0.3

0%
Sodium (mg)

2300

136

141

6%
Potassium (mg)

2800 (f), 3800 (m)^

133

138

4-5%
Magnesium (mg)

320

12

13

4%
Calcium (mg)

800

47

49

6%
Phosphorus (mg)

1000

200

208

21%
Iron (mg)

12

1.6

1.7

14%
Selenium (µg)

70

39

41

59%
Zinc (mg)

12

0.5

0.5

4%
Iodine (µg)

150

41

43

29%
Thiamin (Vitamin B1) (mg)

1.1

0.12

0.12

11%
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) (mg)

1.7

0.5

0.5

29%
Niacin (mg)

10

<0.01~

<0.01~

n/a
Vitamin B6 (mg)

1.6

0.05

0.05

3%
Vitamin B12 (µg)

2

0.8

0.8

40%
Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) (mg)

5

2

2.1

42%
Folate (µg)

200

93

97

49%
Vitamin A (Retinol) (µg)

750

230

239

32%
Vitamin D (Cholecalciferol) (µg)

10

0.8

0.8

8%
Vitamin E (Alpha-tocopherol) (mg)

10

2.3

2.4

24%
Omega - 3 fatty acids (total) (g)

0.89 (f), 1.46 (m)^

0.17

0.18

12-20%
Short chain Omega-3s (ALA) (g)

0.8 (f), 1.3 (m)^

0.06

0.06

5-8%
Long chain Omega-3s (DHA/DPA) (mg)

90 (f), 160 (m)^

110

114

71-127%
Omega-6 fatty acids (g)

8 (f), 13 (m)^

1.37

1.42

11-18%
Lutein (mg)

n/a

0.38

0.40

n/a
Zeaxanthin (mg)

n/a

0.13

0.14

n/a
Lutein + zeaxanthin (mg)

n/a

0.51

0.53

n/a
Biotin (µg)

30

<8~

<8~

n/a
Fluoride (mg)

3 (f), 4 (m)^

<1~

<1~

n/a
Chromium (mg)

0.2

<0.01~

<0.01~

n/a
Copper (mg)

3

<0.02~

<0.02~

n/a
Manganese (mg)

5

0.023

0.024

0%
Molybdenum (mg)

0.25

0.012

0.012

5%
Vitamin K (µg)

80

<2~

<2~

n/a
* Food Standards Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. Reference Values for Recommended Dietary Intakes on Food Labels, Standard 1.1.1, Schedule Column 3 and Daily Intakes,
Standard 1.2.8, Table to subclause 7(3) ^ National Health and Medical Research Council. Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand, 2006.
Adequate Intakes (AI) ~ Limit of Quantification
Quote: Quote:
I wouldn't worry about testing homemade feed if it's a hassle to do so. Most people don't ever get it tested yet manage to strike upon a good feed for their animals and conditions, but it does take some time and learning. If you learn the basic nutrient profile they need and ensure you supply it, you (and they) should be fine.

Here's the general nutrient needs...

Quote: Nutrient Requirements of Growing Pullets a
Age (wk)

0–6

6–12

12–18

18 to 1st Egg
White-Egg Layers
Body weight (g)b

450

980

1,375

1,475
Protein

18

16

15

17
Arginine

1.0

0.83

0.67

0.75
Lysine

0.85

0.60

0.45

0.52
Methionine

0.30

0.25

0.20

0.22
Methionine + cystine

0.62

0.52

0.42

0.47
Threonine

0.68

0.57

0.37

0.47
Tryptophan

0.17

0.14

0.11

0.12
Calcium

0.90

0.80

0.80

2.00
Phosphorus, available

0.40

0.35

0.30

0.32
Brown-Egg Layers
Body weight (g)b

500

1,100

1,500

1,600
Protein

17

15

14

16
Arginine

0.94

0.78

0.62

0.72
Lysine

0.80

0.56

0.42

0.49
Methionine

0.28

0.23

0.19

0.21
Methionine + cystine

0.59

0.49

0.39

0.44
Threonine

0.64

0.53

0.35

0.44
Tryptophan

0.16

0.13

0.10

0.11
Calcium

0.90

0.80

0.80

1.8
Phosphorus, available

0.40

0.35

0.30

0.35
a Requirements are listed as percentages of diet. Nutrient levels should be adjusted to meet specific strain requirements, level of feed intake, and body weight and skeletal development.
b Average body weight at end of each period.
Quote:

White-Egg Layers
Protein

18.8

16.7

15.0

13.6

12.5
Arginine

0.88

0.78

0.70

0.64

0.58
Lysine

0.86

0.77

0.69

0.63

0.58
Methionine

0.38

0.33

0.30

0.27

0.25
Methionine + cystine

0.73

0.64

0.58

0.53

0.48
Threonine

0.59

0.52

0.47

0.43

0.39
Tryptophan

0.20

0.18

0.16

0.15

0.13
Calcium

4.12

3.67

3.30

3.00

2.75
Phosphorus, available

0.31

0.28

0.25

0.23

0.21
Brown-Egg Layers
Protein

22.5

20.0

18.0

16.4

15.0
Arginine

1.06

0.94

0.85

0.77

0.71
Lysine

1.05

0.93

0.84

0.76

0.70
Methionine

0.45

0.40

0.36

0.33

0.30
Methionine + cystine

0.89

0.79

0.71

0.65

0.59
Threonine

0.71

0.63

0.57

0.52

0.48
Tryptophan

0.24

0.21

0.19

0.17

0.16
Calcium

5.00

4.44

4.00

3.64

3.33
Phosphorus, available

0.38

0.33

0.30

0.27

0.25
a Requirements are listed as percentages of diet.

Click to expand...

Quote:

Linoleic acid (%)

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00
Potassium (%)

0.25

0.25

0.25

0.15

0.15
Sodium (%)

0.15

0.15

0.15

0.15

0.15
Chlorine (%)

0.15

0.15

0.15

0.13

0.13
Magnesium (mg)

600

500

400

500

500
Manganese (mg)

60

30

30

20

20
Zinc (mg)

40

35

35

35

45
Iron (mg)

80

60

60

45

60
Copper (mg)

5

4

4

?

?
Iodine (mg)

0.35

0.35

0.35

0.035

0.01
Selenium (mg)

0.15

0.1

0.1

0.06

0.06
Vitamin A (IU)

1,500

1,500

1,500

3,000

3,000
Vitamin D3 (IU)

200

200

300

300

300
Vitamin E (IU)

10

5

5

5

10
Vitamin K (mg)

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

1.0
Riboflavin (mg)

3.6

1.8

2.2

2.5

3.6
Pantothenic acid (mg)

10

10

10

2

7
Niacin (mg)

27

10

10

10

10
Vitamin B12 (mg)

0.009

0.003

0.004

0.004

0.08
Choline (mg)

1,300

900

500

1,050

1,050
Biotin (mg)

0.15

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.1
Folacin (mg)

0.55

0.25

0.25

0.25

0.35
Thiamine (mg)

1.0

1.0

0.8

0.7

0.7
Pyridoxine (mg)

3

3

3

2.5

4.5
a Requirements are listed as percentages or as units or mg/kg of diet. Assumes an average daily intake of 110 g of feed/hen/day.
b Adapted, with permission, from Nutrient Requirements of Poultry, 1994, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy Press, Washington, DC.

Click to expand...

If you live in a hotter area, less heating grains like oats, corn etc can be a better idea. Colder area means more fats and carbs are needed generally and more heating feeds like oats, corn, etc will help. Many grains are no longer what they were due to selective breeding and/or genetic modification though. Many cultivars of corn are too high in sugars and too low in other nutrients now, far from the life-sustaining feed it used to be, and pearl barley used to be alkaline but is now acidic, for two examples.

Your hen's breed type and family line determines what feed she should be on to some extent, but generally speaking the better the diet, the better their life quality and longevity, overall health and productivity too. That said, some commercial lines like Isabrowns can be more productive on poorer diets, but they of course do suffer for it and die before even hitting their true prime in most cases.

Many people feed wheat or corn or barley alongside layer pellets/crumble, it will generally be helpful, especially the wheat since corn is no longer what it used to be in nutritional profile... But my chooks aren't too keen on wheat and it's been positively correlated with some gastrointestinal disorders. My chooks love millets of all types but especially white french, black sunflower seeds, barley, whole rolled oats, stuff like that. Most chooks, given the chance, will make pasture and animal protein, with some seeds and grains, their only feed.

If in doubt, experiment. It's important that you have a good source of protein and multi vitamin/ mineral mix available, while you experiment with base feeds such as grains, seeds, pasture, forage etc, so they can adapt without developing malnutrition. A desperate chook might fool you into thinking your feed is great, since when they're running very short on nutrients they can just start eating like crazy and you could be forgiven for thinking it's the quality or type of the food prompting it.

Many chooks don't have much instinct about what to eat. If they were raised in cages without free ranging, and on pellets or crumble, you can generally assume they lack the sense to balance their own diet. They may learn, but some may die in the process, and there's always those that won't learn. More instinctive chooks can be presented with an array of nutrient sources and be relied on to choose wisely and in timely fashion, but cage-bred and reared, and pellet/crumble/very artificially fed chooks, can be like junk food fiends and given a choice may imbalance their diet severely by eating too much of one thing, such as mealworms or greens.

Generally, most chooks conventionally raised (on commercial feeds) are desperately craving two things: animal proteins, and natural oils. The pellets are often vegetarian, basically, and the oils provided are often hydrogenated or synthetic which will never support nor allow true health. Providing cold pressed extra virgin olive oil regularly, even just adding it to their feed or drizzling it on bread crusts, can really assist them on that score... Also, it's an old bit of folklore I've found to be true that hens with olive oil in their feed don't get eggbound. I've never had a single case despite having some very high risk individuals who should have become egg bound. I've raised many hundreds of chooks over years without any issues with eggbinding or prolapsing etc. The natural raw oils keeps every mucosal membrane of the body lubricated and supple, and all the cardiovascular system flexible and able to easily dilate or constrict as needed, so many issues are avoided with a little preventative assistance via diet.

Most commercial chook foods are plant based but since most chickens simply do not do as well on vegan diets, in future I hope to grow insects for them, beetle larvae, maggots, mealworms or the likes, because I've been experimenting for years with finding the right diet and they don't maintain the same standard of health without animal protein sources. Doesn't matter how otherwise great the feed is.

There's many different chook diets out there, many home-mixed, some recipes are published on this forum as well as on other sites... You can pick and choose, and experiment. What works for some hens, some conditions, some people, doesn't work for all. I'd recommend experimenting and reading up more on the subject because it's not that simple in practice. Super-simple in theory. One thing that's been as simple in practice as in theory for me, though, has been using garlic, preferably raw, as coccidiosis control. I've never had any chick mortality to disease, in large part thanks to that.

I have multiple different genetic lines in my flock and some don't do so well on the diet the rest thrive on, generally these are outcrosses to bring in new blood. Pellet/crumble reared chooks and their first generation crosses are never as good as those I raised on more natural foods, I find, they're always feed inefficient and poor doers. Diet has multi-generational impacts. It's stuff to keep an eye on and learn about for sure.

Just because someone publishes their super-awesome chook-diet recommendations doesn't mean you're going to get the same results on it. Feed quality varies widely by season, breed of plant, producer, soil it was grown in and weather and fertilizer conditions etc... And so much more, and that's not even counting the harvesting and storing conditions either on farm or at the retail outlet, the genetics and gut microbiota of your animals, etc, which all interacts to produce the final results... Many places sell moldy or rancid grains. If the corn you see is translucent, not opaque, it's rancid, for example. Cracked grains lose nutrient levels pretty quickly once cracked.

Best wishes.