- Jun 15, 2008
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Most animals make their own vit c. Guinea pigs, humans, and I think some apes are the only animals that need vit c itself from the diet. Lots of things in citrus do interfere with calcium though. They tend to be higher in phosphorous than calcium and you must maintain a positive Ca
ratio to have enough calcium in the body so a diet high in citrus would just plain lack calcium and have too much phosphorous to use any supplemented calcium properly. Vit C also interferes with calcium. The acidity shouldn't really be the problem since the body maintains a very exact ph and drinking or eating acidic foods should not impact ph beyond the digestive tract.
We're talking tons of citrus here though and chickens eating it as a main part of their diet. Also this applies to most fruits beyond citrus. Balancing Ca ratio with a lot of fruit in the diet is difficult and easily leads to calcium deficiencies even in animals that don't need to use it up making eggs. Most of the diet would have to be fruit though or the rest would counteract and balance it out. Access to oyster shell or other calcium supplement would also make it so more fruit would need to be eaten to get an effect this way.
ratio to have enough calcium in the body so a diet high in citrus would just plain lack calcium and have too much phosphorous to use any supplemented calcium properly. Vit C also interferes with calcium. The acidity shouldn't really be the problem since the body maintains a very exact ph and drinking or eating acidic foods should not impact ph beyond the digestive tract.We're talking tons of citrus here though and chickens eating it as a main part of their diet. Also this applies to most fruits beyond citrus. Balancing Ca
ratio with a lot of fruit in the diet is difficult and easily leads to calcium deficiencies even in animals that don't need to use it up making eggs. Most of the diet would have to be fruit though or the rest would counteract and balance it out. Access to oyster shell or other calcium supplement would also make it so more fruit would need to be eaten to get an effect this way.
