Healthy Snacks = Biggest Health Problems?

[Disheygirl]

Looking for the experts to weigh in. What are the things you'd think people overfeed the most, which can also cause the biggest health issues?

Example: someone feeds their 14 hen flock a balanced layer feed with free choice calcium. For treats each day, they get a total of a cup of grub bugs, four scrambled eggs, and some lettuce/dandelion greens/clover/whatever greens I pluck from around the yard. Is that too much protein? Too much calcium? What are the "healthy snacks" that are rich in certain vitamins or minerals that people probably over feed which can, in turn, cause the biggest health problems (besides obesity)?

I'm asking for myself, but I'm also curious if there's a consensus. I know most people say just to provide the layer feed, but my chickens disagree wholeheartedly; I also don't want to kill them with accidental kindness - send them into renal failure. TY!

 

[Folly's place]

I think that the best thing to do is feed an all flock feed with higher protein and then oyster shell in a separate feeder, unless you are doing an 'all in, all out' flock, where birds who aren't laying eggs are eliminated.
For most of us, we have birds in lay, birds molting, and old ladies who hardly lay any eggs at all. Not to mention pullets, cockerels, and roosters.
Layer feed was designed for smaller breed laying hens in confinement, who ate nothing else, and moved on by their second year, at the latest.
Protein is the most expensive ingredient, so minimum % was best for this purpose.
Some breeds really can't handle extra fat, for example Orphingtons, BTW. Your treat is nice, but it is maybe too fatty? So okay, but unnecessary.
Thank God I no longer have to figure out rations!
Mary

 

[Weeg]

Anything green, fresh, beneficial is a healthy snack. I honestly dont even consider fresh snacks as treats, and don’t group them in the treat category. Whatever they dilute they add back in.
Grubs are a different story. They have little nutritional value, d sad I I keep them at 10% if the diet.

 

[aart]

Whatever they dilute they add back in.

Not necessarily.

 

[Weeg]

Not necessarily.

To clarify, they certainly don't add nutrients back in 1:1. But they do add back in nutrients. Plus, I'm a beliver in balance overtime. I raw feed my dogs, and that means that you dont have to have every single meal perfectly balanced. You feed the right amount of nutrients throughout the week so that you hit the nutritional mile stone by the end. I know dogs are completely different than chickens, but if they forage and get all kinds of bio available vitamins and minerals throught the week, then eat a commercailly balanced feed the rest of the week, they are likely getting balance over time. I honestly think in the world of animal nutrition doesn't need to be quite as spot on and perfect as believe it to be.
But, that is simply my opinion backed by dog food research, which is completely different than poultry.

 

[Folly's place]

Hens producing eggs frequently are actually high performance animals, and their nutritional needs are well understood and management matters to them.
High performance in dogs, think about racing sled dogs, for example, or working military dogs, or bird dogs in competition, not the same as most pet only dogs. Also, marathon runners vs. the rest of us!
Mary