new research debunks trad views on nutrition

[MommaG2023]

One of the best books I've read is In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. The subtitle sums up the book in 7 words: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.

His book, The Omnivore's Dilemma is also excellent. Both address this issue.

I love his books. I read Food Rules years ago and have passed it on to others to read. Most of the people who have read it have adjusted their diets and how the shop at grocery stores. Great advice

 

[MaryJanet]

No apologies necessary. Basically the micronutrients are the vitamins and minerals needed. The macronutrients are the meat and potatoes bit - the carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

Thanks!

 

[Ital]

I’ve enjoyed reading through all of this and it’s given me confidence in their ability to choose what to eat which will save me some money straight away as I had no confidence in my own calculations so was about to send off some samples for nutritional analysis.
Thanks @Perris for starting the thread.
I have a question If anyone can help?
I was planning on adding 1% pink salt to the mix, will they really eat this separately or should I mix it at 1% with all the other separately offered items? Or is there a better source of minerals I could be providing as a free choice?

 

[NatJ]

I was planning on adding 1% pink salt to the mix, will they really eat this separately

I don't know, but you could offer it in a separate dish and see what they do.

Or is there a better source of minerals I could be providing as a free choice?

That depends on what minerals you want to provide. The pink salt is mostly salt, with only very small amounts of anything else.

You might consider something like this:
https://www.fertrell.com/poultry-nutribalancer
This is meant to be a complete vitamin/mineral supplement for poultry.
There is a link you can click to get the nutrition information (it's only about 1/10th salt).
There is another link to a page of "recipes" for feeds that use it with other ingredients. The poultry feed recipes are designed to make 2000 pounds at a time (one ton), which is probably much more than you need, but they can give you an idea of what one company considers a useful set of ingredients and proportions for chickens of various ages.

 

[Ital]

I don't know, but you could offer it in a separate dish and see what they do.


That depends on what minerals you want to provide. The pink salt is mostly salt, with only very small amounts of anything else.

You might consider something like this:
https://www.fertrell.com/poultry-nutribalancer
This is meant to be a complete vitamin/mineral supplement for poultry.
There is a link you can click to get the nutrition information (it's only about 1/10th salt).
There is another link to a page of "recipes" for feeds that use it with other ingredients. The poultry feed recipes are designed to make 2000 pounds at a time (one ton), which is probably much more than you need, but they can give you an idea of what one company considers a useful set of ingredients and proportions for chickens of various ages.

I’ve got a wide range of ingredients for them to choose from with plenty of amino acids and vitamins and if possible would prefer the idea of them getting these from organic foods than a bottle, especially if that means they can regulate their intake according to individual need by choosing the ingredients they crave.
Salt is the only thing I think might be lacking and I’ve already got some pink Himalayan.
I’m thinking of making the balanced mix I had planned and offering that in addition to dividing the same ingredients into separate bowls for them to choose between, I just prefer my salt mixed with my food but then I’m not a chicken.

 

[NatJ]

I’ve got a wide range of ingredients for them to choose from with plenty of amino acids and vitamins and if possible would prefer the idea of them getting these from organic foods than a bottle, especially if that means they can regulate their intake according to individual need by choosing the ingredients they crave.
Salt is the only thing that I think might be lacking and I’ve already got some pink Himalayan.
I’m thinking of making the balanced mix I had planned and offering that in addition to dividing the same ingredients into separate bowls for them to choose between, I just prefer my salt mixed with my food but then I’m not a chicken.

If the salt is the only thing you think is needed, then that salt will probably work fine. Since you had said "minerals," I thought you were expecting it to provide a large amount of some other minerals too.

I don't know if they will prefer the salt mixed with something or separate. You could set it up both ways: a dish of salty (something), a dish of the same thing without salt, and a dish of plain salt. Then see which ones they eat how much of. Of course individual chickens might have different preferences, so they may not all choose the same things, but it would certainly be a way to let them tell you what they prefer.

I have read of some people putting salt in a dish of water, so they can drink salty water instead of eating dry salt. You would never want salt in the ONLY water supply, but a dish of salty water beside one of plain water would be safe enough.

 

[Ital]

If the salt is the only thing you think is needed, then that salt will probably work fine. Since you had said "minerals," I thought you were expecting it to provide a large amount of some other minerals too.

I don't know if they will prefer the salt mixed with something or separate. You could set it up both ways: a dish of salty (something), a dish of the same thing without salt, and a dish of plain salt. Then see which ones they eat how much of. Of course individual chickens might have different preferences, so they may not all choose the same things, but it would certainly be a way to let them tell you what they prefer.

I have read of some people putting salt in a dish of water, so they can drink salty water instead of eating dry salt. You would never want salt in the ONLY water supply, but a dish of salty water beside one of plain water would be safe enough.

Thankyou this is a really good idea.. I was considering having two water sources, one plain and one with raw honey and apple cider vinegar so I’ll get a third dispenser and do the same with the salt. Hopefully they’ll figure out what they need.

 

[Perris]

Wild animals typically seek out salt licks, areas of salty rock and earth, rather than brine. Please report back on your experiment.

 

[Ital]

Wild animals typically seek out salt licks, areas of salty rock and earth, rather than brine. Please report back on your experiment.

Will do.

 

[Perris]

This is meant to be a complete vitamin/mineral supplement for poultry.

do you not accept the nutritionists' argument that vitamins and minerals are better when obtained from real food rather than synthetic supplements?