new research debunks trad views on nutrition

[MaryJanet]

A fly curtain was a ubiquitous sight in most Australian shops until the 90s when air conditioning and automatic doors became widespread.
It's just hanging strips of plastic. It's probably useless v foxes being plastic, butiIt's effective against flies.
They are still available online or easily made.
R
Great idea for a chicken coop

My concern is wild birds (pigeons) and I need something that will keep them out of the run while allowing chickens through. There's food in the run, so I'm not yet convinced the chain curtain will work, but it seems like the best option at this time. Treadle feeders + chain curtain might be sufficient.

 

[RoyalChick]

I made something similar to give Bernie some privacy when I created the bigger nest box area for her.
I was wondering about something similar for the pop door to reduce drafts when it gets really cold - but I couldn’t quite figure what material to use. The nest box one is a cut up vinyl tablecloth from the 1970s, it works for its purpose but I don’t think it would do anything about drafts.

 

[BDutch]

..it works for its purpose but I don’t think it would do anything about drafts.
View attachment 3671728

If you could make a treadle door -like the mechanism in the treadle feeder- that works two ways, and is open as long a chicken stands on the threshold (make it wide)? You need to create a mechanism that works immediately if a chicken steps on de threshold. It should open/slide the door. I can imagine something like this can work .

DIY treadle feeder for inspiration.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/building-a-treadle-chicken-feeder.47900/

 

[RoyalChick]

If you could make a treadle door -like the mechanism in the treadle feeder- that works two ways, and is open as long a chicken stands on the threshold (make it wide)? You need to create a mechanism that works immediately if a chicken steps on de threshold. It should open/slide the door. I can imagine something like this can work .

DIY treadle feeder for inspiration.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/building-a-treadle-chicken-feeder.47900/

Creative idea!
I think I will probably not go that direction. For the few days a year when it is so cold that I worry, I can always close their little door entirely. It just means they will be bad tempered with me until I let them out in the morning!

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Creative idea!
I think I will probably not go that direction. For the few days a year when it is so cold that I worry, I can always close their little door entirely. It just means they will be bad tempered with me until I let them out in the morning!

Your whole flock will be giving you the stink eye.

 

[Krugerrand]

NAFLD Has Become a Health Emergency Among Children
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2023/10/31/nafld-health-emergency-children.aspx
(requires providing email - PDF of page attached)

Linked video:

Fatty liver disease used to be a disease seen almost exclusively in the elderly, primarily heavy drinkers. The first documented cases of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) didn’t come until I was in medical school in 1980.1 At the time, the researchers described it as a "hitherto unnamed liver disease of unknown cause."

In June 2023, scientists proposed rebranding NAFLD to "metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease," to highlight its relation to other metabolic conditions such as diabetes. What connects all metabolic conditions is that your body is not converting food to energy in an efficient manner.

In the video above, independent health researcher Jay Feldman investigates the true causes of NAFLD. This is Part 2 of an eight-part series. It’s like a master’s course on NAFLD, as he goes over virtually everything you could possibly want or need to know about it. If you or someone you know is currently struggling with NAFLD, I strongly encourage you to view all eight episodes.

In the featured episode, he explains why fructose is NOT the main culprit as commonly thought, how your liver produces fat from both fructose and dietary fats, and how impaired energy production in your mitochondria results in NAFLD.

 

[Mason Farm and Ranch]

According to Tim Spector, Food for Life: the new science of eating well, Jonathan Cape 2022: xiv
Myths that have benefited the food industry and which we should now dispel include: all calories are equal, low-calorie foods are good, high-fat foods are bad, artificial sweeteners are healthy, high levels of processing are harmless, and food and vitamin supplements are as good as real food.

Spector is Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King's College London, and honorary consultant physician at Guy's and St Thomas' hospitals. These are all world class institutions. He is writing about human diet and nutrition, but much of it applies to chicken diet and nutrition too.

For example, that UPFs (ultra processed foods) made up of many chemicals make us feel hungrier, over-consume, and increase risks of disease and earlier death. This applies to chicken feed pellets, which are specifically designed to achieve the first two, and don't care about the last two because the chickens that they are designed for are not intended or expected to live very long.

I do not expect those BYCers who trot out their tired dogmas on food, feeds, and fats, at any and every opportunity, to stop doing it, but their views are now being labelled as myths by people who really know what they're talking about, and have extensive evidence to prove it.

And the chicken feed industry is catching up with the human feed industry on these matters, so attempting to dismiss it as irrelevant won't wash either.
Edited to add: see e.g. the paper quoted in post #412 below.

Gird your loins. The 'commercial feeds' posse' is coming for you.

I can't agree more. I use local NON-GMO, soy-free feed. I sell eggs to people who couldn't eat eggs because of the crap in commercial feed that gets transferred to the egg.

I got a niche' market.

 

[KToddy]

Them fightin words.

Chicken skin, and the fat from beef and pork are my favorite parts of the meat.

I lost 80 lbs switching to a plant-free high fat/medium protein/zero carb diet. Also reversed a myriad of 20+ years of debilitating illnesses including Hypertension, pre-diabetes, IBS, hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s, psoriasis, depression, plantar’s fasciitis, sun-intolerance and more! #carnivore for life! (Like Maggie!)

 

[Mason Farm and Ranch]

I lost 80 lbs switching to a plant-free high fat/medium protein/zero carb diet. Also reversed a myriad of 20+ years of debilitating illnesses including Hypertension, pre-diabetes, IBS, hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s, psoriasis, depression, plantar’s fasciitis, sun-intolerance and more! #carnivore for life! (Like Maggie!)

I'mma need the deets on that diet.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

That diet is a lot harder than it sounds. It works great, but you have to keep eating a diet pretty close to it for the rest of your life or you risk gaining it all back and then some. Drink lots of water, watch for kidney stones and constipation that can lead to bowel blockage.

I lost 80 lbs switching to a plant-free high fat/medium protein/zero carb diet. Also reversed a myriad of 20+ years of debilitating illnesses including Hypertension, pre-diabetes, IBS, hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s, psoriasis, depression, plantar’s fasciitis, sun-intolerance and more! #carnivore for life! (Like Maggie!)

Congratulations You must be very proud of yourself, and are certainly feeling better.