Best source of protien to get high Omega 3 eggs

[SW31]

I give mine pure beef hamburgers, cause in France they are just beef, when my supermarket heavily discounts them. I cook them, cut them up, make into small pouches and then put them in the freezer.

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Changing the Fatty Acid profile of the eggs come from the fatty acids in the feed not the protein.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Like produces like. The best source of Omega 3 fatty acids are animal proteins. The same is true for vitamin D3 a very very important vitamin for chickens. So if the best source of the most important nutritional elements is animal proteins doesn't it make sense to feed the source of those nutrients, ie. animal proteins?

 

[coop410silkies]

I have 10 one year old Wyandottes, all very healthy and productive layers. I feed the best Layer feed I can find which for me is Modesto Mills Soy/Corn Free pellets. I liked Scratch and Peck Soy Free Layer but was throwing away too much fines from the S&P. I was supplementing their feed with vegetable greens every day in the belief that they would increase the Omega 3 in the eggs.

After doing some research, I found that this was not the best approach. Chickens are in nature Omnivores and seek out both animal and vegetable sources of protien. So I wondered why all the mass produced chicken feeds were only grain based. I also wondered why most people recommend feeding vegetable scraps to increase Omega 3's when vegetable protien has only ALA Omega 3 which is poorly utilized in humans. We (people) benefit most by intake of Omega 3's from animal source protien such as fish especially salmon or high fat fish and organ meats such as liver, heart and brain, although cholesterol is more of a concern with these sources. (Now science is saying this may not be true, but that is another discussion for a different time).

So I began looking around for other sources of high Omega 3 to supplement my chicken feed with instead of vegetables. It seems the best source I could find without feeding raw fish which is both expensive and difficult to store and feed because of the mess. I found what I think is a good solution and would love some feedback from people here.

I have started adding dry cat food to their feed. The problem wit cat food is that there are a wide spectrum of what is available from outstanding to really bad. I decided on a brand available near me called Orijen. I mixed the fish and meat variety's together and supplement about 5% of their diet. It has no added sodium, about 40% protien from a variety of fish and organ meat from animal sources and about 2% Omega 3 which is DHA which is better for us and should result in a healthier egg. I have been doing this for about a week with no loss of production and the droppings are healthy (no diarrhea).

I think I may continue doing this all year and would love the hear comments of either approval or dissaproval with some reasons why. Should I only do it during cold months or during molt and not all year? If I add this form of Omega 3 should I stop feeding vegetable scraps since the feed is all grain based with vegetable protien? Is the cat food bad for chickens in some way I am not aware of? It is a high quality cat food with no added sodium, but still it is cat food and feels a bit wierd.

Do you agree with this or disagree. Thanks for your responses.

Scotty, I agree! I free-range my hens (with roosters), and I, too, have noticed their enormous appetites for meat protein; like you, I have wondered why more feed companies - and more flocksters have not noticed or reported on this. I believe feed companies quit using animal proteins in their herbivore feeds in response to the "mad cow" disease scare; I think the reason catfood is not approved as a supplement for chickens is that it is high in taurine and said to be not so good for our poultry. That said, I should also add that I have an aged flock down in my field that seems to thrive on the cheap catfood I set out for my feral cat; the chickens love it. I sometimes add it to feed for my other free-ranged flocks with no apparent ill affect. For about a year now. I raised a group of chicks that routinely fled their coop to seek out and feed on the higher-protein catfood. Go figure. After their first year, they stopped being compulsive about it. So yes, my experience says cat food is OK for chickens - as a supplement. My only problem with it is that it attracts raccoons. I also supplement with meat scraps, liver, extra eggs, BOSS, insects, mice and mice pinkies, mealworms, zoophoba, etc. etc. Buy crickets in bulk online, put a bagful in the fridge (to slow them down), then feed them out when they're immobile. You can keep crickets alive and feed them omega rich foods to "gut load" them and make them more nutritious. Superworms (Zoophoba), too. Collect earwigs. My chicks free-range on grasshoppers and grubs. Mix blood and cooking broth into your chicken pellets, even old hamburger; the smelts and sardine are great, especially for omega-3 - if you can find them. My birds get diarrhea from gorging on eggs and meat, but I don't think cat food has this affect. If I have to keep my chooks cooped up for any length of time, I supplement with clumps of grass. Good luck and keep up the good inquiries.