new research debunks trad views on nutrition

[U_Stormcrow]

Ans:
Most people's math skills are weak. VERY weak.

 

[Perris]

So it's fortunate they don't need math to keep healthy chickens

 

[U_Stormcrow]

So it's fortunate they don't need math to keep healthy chickens

Yes, they can allow better qualifed people to do it for them. or they can "hope and pray".

"Hope and prayer" being the human solution to most things, it seems, for most of our recorded existence on the planet.

 

[Sally PB]

"Hope and prayer" being the human solution to most things, it seems, for most of our recorded existence on the planet.

I prefer the OODA loop.

Observe, Orient, Decide, Act.

With a dusting of hope or prayer, sometimes.

 

[BDutch]

I give a 120g/c. 4oz tin, cost about 40p, for the whole flock (currently 19) to share, about once a fortnight. It's really negligible on the scale of a backyard flock whose surplus eggs I sell at £2 for 6. I break the sardines up and stir them in amongst the grains so that the first to the food bowls can't scoff the lot before the slower/lower birds get there. I use the oil too since the whole grain/pea/boss feed doesn't have much oil and they need some in their diet.

The trouble with cheap meats (quite apart from the fact it's illegal to feed meat to poultry here) is that industrially produced meat is grown on concentrated feed, and if an animal has been confined and just fed that stuff, that is what it is itself made of (since we are all what we eat, from birth). I don't want to eat concentrates, first or second hand. (I really don't understand why people are surprised their backyard chickens' eggs taste like shop eggs if they keep high production breeds and feed them the same stuff commercial hens eat; how could it be otherwise?)

Sardines, as small fish, are (i) closer to the original nutrients in the sea (plankton) so less likely to accumulate toxins (unlike bigger fish, which eat smaller fish), (ii) uneconomic to farm, so not likely to have eaten concentrates, and (iii) harder to counterfeit, so less likely to be the subject of food/feed fraud. That's 3 good reasons to use them rather than other protein sources, don't you think?

Why?
I never give sardines, cat food, meat or any processed animals to my chickens. The only not-plant stuf they ever get from me is dried mealworms or small crayfish in winter. In the summer they can find enough insects by themselves.

Having 8-9 year old healthy chickens is enough proof for me that chickens don’t need feed like sardines and cat food.

 

[Shadrach]

I think that if you are feeding them commercial feed and they can forage and find for a few hours a day then they will probably get what they need.
If on the other hand one doesn't give commercial feed at all then as wide a variety of nutrients as one can manage is wise.
I take treat food to the allotment chickens. They certainly don't need it since they've been out on the allotment plots and compost heap.
The reason I do it is they like and I like it.

 

[Krugerrand]

I must confess, I don't get the reasoning behind many of the arguements about feed and keeping conditions put forward by those who keep their chickens primarily for meat and eggs.
If one feeds them the same diet as the commercial concerns the eggs and meat are going to be very similar to that of the commercial concerns.
If one keeps the chickens confined in a coop and run then imo there is a strong possibliltiy that the keeping conditions are in fact worse than the pasture raised commercial alternatives.
Many of these people don't keep roosters, much like the commercial concerns.
All the other benefits one usually associates with ranged or free ranged chickens like, forage and garden management are lost.
Coops and containment are expensive if done properly.
Where exactly is the financial benefit and where is the improved life for the chicken?
One may as well buy eggs and meat from a pastured raised commercial concern. I bet, if a full cost analysis is done buy from pasture raised commercial concerns works out a lot cheaper than keeping a few chickens in similar condition in a back yard.

Allow me to help you understand the reasoning a little bit.

One may as well buy eggs and meat from a pastured raised commercial concern.

First off, around here anything at the grocery store labeled "pastured" really has no usefully defined meaning. Nor does "cage free" or "free range." They may be what one might envision for those words, but there is no guarantee that they will be.

I have 4 hens. They are not there to save me money. I expect improved nutrition from them compared to what I buy from the grocery store ... but only marginally. I do expect them to be more fresh than what I can buy at a grocery store.

My primary purpose for having them is for the kids to have some exposure the source of their food. (I see a small element as self sufficiency in them. We've seen supply chain interruptions happen. Having a buffer against that is useful.) It's the same reason I garden. I don't grow enough to live off of. Heck, I'm in a constant battle with groundhogs and raccoons. Still, I can guarantee you that my kids would eat less vegetables if they didn't have the exposure of eating them fresh from the garden. Garden fresh asparagus and brussels sprouts are the best! My kids love brussells sprouts. Here in suburbia, if you asked all those graduating high school what the source of all purpose flour is, I would bet the majority could not tell you 'wheat.'

The chickens also function as pets for the kids. They enjoy playing with them. Chickens are a bit of a lesson in responsibility. And, they are among the easiest to care for animals I can think of.

Coops and containment are expensive if done properly.

Yes, they sure are expensive. Again, I see it like gardening. The eggs are like the $64 tomato.

where is the improved life for the chicken?

I live on a 1/2 acre suburban lot. Local ordinances prohibit roosters, but even if they did not, it would be impractical to keep one. I'm trying to give the chickens the best life I can give them .... but they exist for me. I would love to let them free range all the time. But, it just is not practical. I would love a better, more natural food than all-flock pellets. But, again, it just isn't practical. I can guarantee you that my chickens are happier than those in most any commercial chicken farm.

I enjoy these threads so much, because I like to envision what other options may become practical at some point.

 

[Shadrach]

Allow me to help you understand the reasoning a little bit.



First off, around here anything at the grocery store labeled "pastured" really has no usefully defined meaning. Nor does "cage free" or "free range." They may be what one might envision for those words, but there is no guarantee that they will be.

I have 4 hens. They are not there to save me money. I expect improved nutrition from them compared to what I buy from the grocery store ... but only marginally. I do expect them to be more fresh than what I can buy at a grocery store.

My primary purpose for having them is for the kids to have some exposure the source of their food. (I see a small element as self sufficiency in them. We've seen supply chain interruptions happen. Having a buffer against that is useful.) It's the same reason I garden. I don't grow enough to live off of. Heck, I'm in a constant battle with groundhogs and raccoons. Still, I can guarantee you that my kids would eat less vegetables if they didn't have the exposure of eating them fresh from the garden. Garden fresh asparagus and brussels sprouts are the best! My kids love brussells sprouts. Here in suburbia, if you asked all those graduating high school what the source of all purpose flour is, I would bet the majority could not tell you 'wheat.'

The chickens also function as pets for the kids. They enjoy playing with them. Chickens are a bit of a lesson in responsibility. And, they are among the easiest to care for animals I can think of.


Yes, they sure are expensive. Again, I see it like gardening. The eggs are like the $64 tomato.


I live on a 1/2 acre suburban lot. Local ordinances prohibit roosters, but even if they did not, it would be impractical to keep one. I'm trying to give the chickens the best life I can give them .... but they exist for me. I would love to let them free range all the time. But, it just is not practical. I would love a better, more natural food than all-flock pellets. But, again, it just isn't practical. I can guarantee you that my chickens are happier than those in most any commercial chicken farm.

I enjoy these threads so much, because I like to envision what other options may become practical at some point.

I understand all of the reasons mentioned for keeping chickens.
What I don't understand is as I wrote, the economics.

 

[Shadrach]

What I've found interesting, yet again, is that the belief one must feed commercial feed because it is the best option for production and health has a number of detractors with evidence to back their views up.

The old school chicken feed recipes while interesting don't have the advantage of the knowledge regarding diet we have now.

 

[tranquiliti]

It's cheap entertainment compared to many other options.

True!