Flax seeds??

[Chicken Man Dan]

If you want more Omega 3 in your diet, eat the flax seeds yourself rather than have the chickens process it for you.

 

[fowlsessed]

I never understood why people want to get the omega 3's second hand? Why not just add some flax seeds to your cereal or smoothies etc. It's not bad at all and you're getting all the benefits to yourself first hand.

 

[Spangled]

If you want more Omega 3 in your diet, eat the flax seeds yourself rather than have the chickens process it for you.

Exactly. That's what I do now. Cut out that extra work! I don't give it to the chickens. However, there was a poster or two that was going to be (or is) selling eggs and Omega 3 eggs are a good selling point. So that makes good sense. If I sold eggs, I'd probably feed a tiny bit of flax, too. But I'd also make sure they were out on grass and I'd grow them some purslane and other high Omega 3 veggies. Purslane grows like a weed ... because it sorta is one!

It can ever reseed itself if you're lucky. Or and people can eat it, too, if you grow the right type.

 

[Charlene]

Actually, there is a differnce between eating the flax seed yourself and feeding it to the chickens and then eating their eggs.

Basically there are many kinds of Omega 3's. And the one that has is supposedly very beneficial to us is DHA and is not in flax seed but chickens are able to take the alpha-linolenic acid in the flax seed and convert it to DHA. So, that is the reason to feed flax seed to chickens.

From Wiki:
The addition of flax and canola seeds to the diets of chickens, both good sources of alpha-linolenic acid, increases the omega-3 content of the eggs, predominantly DHA.[93]
The addition of green algae or seaweed to the diets boosts the content of DHA and EPA content, which are the forms of omega-3 approved by the FDA for medical claims.

 

[The Hen]

Not sure about in chickens, but in humans using flax SEED we don't get anything from the seed. It passes through because of the shell. It is better to use ground flax.

 

[smoothmule]

It should probably be noted here too that you should never soak flax seeds to feed.
http://www.understanding-horse-nutrition.com/flax-seed.html

Flax seeds can keep a Long time kept whole in a clean, dry environment. The meal goes rancid but not within seconds or minutes. It can be kept in the refrigerator, once ground, for a fair amount of time but begins to lose potency. If it's been ground, and gets damp, the chances for the cyanide to be released increases. Flax is not a necessary thing for chickens, why would anyone want to force it to be "useful" when there are much healthier, safer alternatives?

Fish is another good supplement but they don't need to live on fish alone either. It can be part of a balanced meal but how many of us here are scientists and can figure the exact amounts of each ingredient we're feeding our chickens? We do the best we can and the chickens love us for trying so hard. They're very adaptable and eat meats, bugs, vegetable matter, seeds and more. It almost seems impossible to be wrong about any feeds as long as it's fairly balanced.

 

[Hillschicks]

and there ya have it folks, everything you could ever need to know about feeding flax seed to your chickens lol... Now, since flax is both good and bad.. what about fish oil???

 

[Americana]

Sorry your thread got hijacked!

 

[Hillschicks]

Lol, i guess so... Thats good tho... I had a question and got my answer and more

 

[Spangled]

but chickens are able to take the alpha-linolenic acid in the flax seed and convert it to DHA.

Oooh. Good point!

We humans can, too, we're just not very efficient at it.

and there ya have it folks, everything you could ever need to know about feeding flax seed to your chickens lol... Now, since flax is both good and bad.. what about fish oil???

No comment.

Looking forward to others' comments.