New chicken mom - are my hens overweight? - looking to change feed

[U_Stormcrow]

I have a treat mix with some scratch mixed with sunflower seeds and meal worms - and give about 4 cups (33 hens) a couple times a week. Not a lot for sure.

Well, there's your problem.

Your veggies are fine - mostly water, some sulphur vitamins and fiber, not much else. The weeds aren't the problem, either.

Sunflower seeds are (varies) around 44% fat. Yes, they are high protein, but they are 9-12 times the recommended fat content ina chicken's diet. Live mealworms are about 20% protein (that's good) and 13% fat (that's not). Dried, the numbers are more like 55% protein, 30% fat. That fat intake isn't something the birds need - even feeding "extra" fat as a carb replacement to help with heat management, you shouldn't be over 6% fat, maybe 8% with a meaty intended for quick harvesting.

"not a lot for sure".

Actually, the recommend is that treats like you describe above not exceed 10% of a birds diet, by weight, daily. Better to feed less. Thumb rule is that a bird consumes 1/4# feed daily (100g if you prefer). 1/10th of that is .4 oz, or around 10g, which is basically a mostly level tablespoon. There are 16 tablespoons in a cup - so your scratch offering is twice the maximum recommend for 33 birds and honestly, its more calorie (fat, specifically) dense than most feed as scratch (most of us, when we offer scratch, offer the cheap stuff - corn, millet, milo, maybe some sunflower or safflower seed). They will likely love you less (but live longer) if you cut that to not more than 1 cup per day.

 

[CassiesChicks]

Well, there's your problem.

Your veggies are fine - mostly water, some sulphur vitamins and fiber, not much else. The weeds aren't the problem, either.

Sunflower seeds are (varies) around 44% fat. Yes, they are high protein, but they are 9-12 times the recommended fat content ina chicken's diet. Live mealworms are about 20% protein (that's good) and 13% fat (that's not). Dried, the numbers are more like 55% protein, 30% fat. That fat intake isn't something the birds need - even feeding "extra" fat as a carb replacement to help with heat management, you shouldn't be over 6% fat, maybe 8% with a meaty intended for quick harvesting.

"not a lot for sure".

Actually, the recommend is that treats like you describe above not exceed 10% of a birds diet, by weight, daily. Better to feed less. Thumb rule is that a bird consumes 1/4# feed daily (100g if you prefer). 1/10th of that is .4 oz, or around 10g, which is basically a mostly level tablespoon. There are 16 tablespoons in a cup - so your scratch offering is twice the maximum recommend for 33 birds and honestly, its more calorie (fat, specifically) dense than most feed as scratch (most of us, when we offer scratch, offer the cheap stuff - corn, millet, milo, maybe some sunflower or safflower seed). They will likely love you less (but live longer) if you cut that to not more than 1 cup per day.

Thank you soooo much! So glad to know that about the sunflower seeds.... I will stop giving them sunflower seeds completely - thanks so much! I also give them alfalfa sprouts which they love....I can cut out the scratch mix completely and stick to veggies and weeds and sprouts - I think they will still love me.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Thank you soooo much! So glad to know that about the sunflower seeds.... I will stop giving them sunflower seeds completely - thanks so much! I also give them alfalfa sprouts which they love....I can cut out the scratch mix completely and stick to veggies and weeds and sprouts - I think they will still love me.

Alfalfa sprouts are awesome. As Legumes, they are high in Lysine, one of the amino acids lacking or completely absent in Corn, Grains, and Nuts. Its also a good to great source of Threonine and the Leucines. Sadly, Alfalfa lacks in Tryptophan and Methionine, but the grains are good for providing those. Veggies are also a good Lysine source (generally, there's a lot of variation), but tend to lack in Methionine.

Meal worms, btw, are a great source (as are essentially all animal and insect proteins) of Methionine. So cutting the sunflower (either greatly or completely) in favor of the meal worms as treat will help balance the dietary nutrition and reduce the total fat at the same time.

EXCELLENT choice.

 

[CassiesChicks]

Alfalfa sprouts are awesome. As Legumes, they are high in Lysine, one of the amino acids lacking or completely absent in Corn, Grains, and Nuts. Its also a good to great source of Threonine and the Leucines. Sadly, Alfalfa lacks in Tryptophan and Methionine, but the grains are good for providing those. Veggies are also a good Lysine source (generally, there's a lot of variation), but tend to lack in Methionine.

Meal worms, btw, are a great source (as are essentially all animal and insect proteins) of Methionine. So cutting the sunflower (either greatly or completely) in favor of the meal worms as treat will help balance the dietary nutrition and reduce the total fat at the same time.

EXCELLENT choice.

Thank you!