new research debunks trad views on nutrition

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I don't try to maintain a sterile environment in my brooder. I don't even change all the bedding between batches -- just shoveling out the most soiled areas and adding fresh on top.

Based on advice from several members here, I put some bedding from the main coop into the brooder from time to time starting at about a week old.

I also give them clumps of greens from the run starting at about the same time.

I actually had the same philosophy with my kids -- controlled exposure to the environment rather than any attempt at sterility.
 
I've only had one hatch so it's not very significant, they were outside from day one with the rest of the flock. They roosted separately though.
The four survived healthily, even one runt girl, and are now 10 months old. Interestingly I've discovered since I have both roundworms and tape worms in my environment but the chicks only showed sign of them when the adults did, at around three months old.
I think roundworms and tapeworms are pretty much everywhere you have any kind of wildlife. Lots of animals carry roundworms in particular. I know from having dogs that fleas are an intermediate host for tapeworms, so perhaps some other insects that chickens might eat are as well. Did your four come from a broody hatch?
 
I think roundworms and tapeworms are pretty much everywhere you have any kind of wildlife. Lots of animals carry roundworms in particular. I know from having dogs that fleas are an intermediate host for tapeworms, so perhaps some other insects that chickens might eat are as well. Did your four come from a broody hatch?
Yes, they did. I trusted her for everything, the one thing we interfered in was that she had hatched in the darkest corner of the coop so when the chicks were two days old we moved the nest to a dog crate in the run.
I wouldn't try having chicks completely free ranging without a broody watching for them !
 
It turns out work on the microbiome has been going on for nearly a century (if not longer): here's a paper from 1925 on the beneficial effects of feeding chicks sour milk:

The Effects of Lactic Acid on B. Pullorum, B. Avisepticus, and B. Sanguinarium, and its Possible Role in the Control of Intestinal Diseases of Poultry

https://www.sciencedirect.com/scien...5bffb51&pid=1-s2.0-S0032579119568523-main.pdf

My experience, such as it is, is consistent. My birds are offered milk, sour milk, curds, whey, and plain natural yogurt periodically, from hatch. 11 out of 12 of the chicks that hatched here last year made it to maturity and are, as appropriate, laying or crowing; that's better than a 10% mortality rate from hatch to maturity.
 
I thought that birds were generally considered to be lactose intolerant?
I keep seeing that stated.

But when I read works from about a century ago, they were recommending that chickens be given dairy products as a source of protein.

They were doing studies to show that milk was almost as good as meat when formulating diets for chickens. They also showed that diets with milk were far better than diets with no good protein source at all.

I also read one study that involved adding straight lactose to chicken feed. Past a certain level, the hens got diarrhea. At a certain higher level, the hens would no longer eat the feed.

I think it must be one of those things where moderation is the key-- some amount of milk & other dairy products can be beneficial, but too much lactose is a problem.

I don't know whether eating it regularly can make chickens more able to digest it (changes in gut bacteria could have that effect.) I have not found any information on that idea, either for or against.
 
I think it must be one of those things where moderation is the key-- some amount of milk & other dairy products can be beneficial, but too much lactose is a problem.
if you let the chickens select their own food, they moderate it to perfection. Humanity's problem (felt by some of us more strongly than others) is we want to control everything :th
 
I don't know whether eating it regularly can make chickens more able to digest it (changes in gut bacteria could have that effect.) I have not found any information on that idea, either for or against.
work on milk is now getting started. You may find this interesting (though it's directed to humans not chickens)

'Human, cow, and donkey milk comparison: Focus on metabolic effects'
https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2022-22465
and even better,
'Metabonomic analysis of human and 12 kinds of livestock mature milk'
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fochx.2023.100581

both open access, and very recent.
 
I think it must be one of those things where moderation is the key-- some amount of milk & other dairy products can be beneficial, but too much lactose is a problem.

I think so too. Although in general birds can't digest lactose properly a little bit here and there seems to be okay, at least for some of them. I know my cockatoos enjoy having a little cheese once in awhile and it doesn't seem to cause any issues, but cheese doesn't contain as much lactose as milk.
 
But when I read works from about a century ago, they were recommending that chickens be given dairy products as a source of protein.

I do not recall where I read it and I don't know if it's an accurate source, but I remember something about skim milk in the chickens' ration as a calcium source.

Particularly suitable if the farm had excess milk from the production of butter.
 

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