new research debunks trad views on nutrition

[Perris]

"
Pathogens such as Clostridium perfringens, Salmonella spp., and Escherichia coli use fimbriae to adhere to the intestinal enterocytes.

A product like Varium (Amlan International), which contains a proprietary, thermally processed calcium montmorillonite, can bind the fimbriae of these bacteria (Figure 1), reducing their presence in the intestine (Table 1). This reduction in pathogenic load allows beneficial bacteria, such as Lactobacillus, to thrive with less microbial competition."

https://www.allaboutfeed.net/market/market-trends/looking-at-growth-promoters-through-a-different-lens/?utm_source=Maileon&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=aaf_all_traffic_con_non_base-newsletter_email_oth_regulier-2025-09-01&utm_content=https://www.allaboutfeed.net/market/market-trends/looking-at-growth-promoters-through-a-different-lens/&mlnt=djwW3fTSsC3NHlVLRSiiW02l7Vlf1YBrEGowClu00GU8WcBCa0liNw&mlnm=ttzZqH2pR-8&mlnl=ENqWI2IH7Bc&mlnc=QzrJAg6mYvg&mlnch=dOdYxDBquWdLDf_s1lX2mA&mlnmsg=aK2RVNI2eZ6P_VRqEO_hPA

or you could just let your chickens eat dirt (and save your money )

 

[Folly's place]

Depends on the dirt!
Here we checked our chicken eggs for lead, and found none. Wonderful! Our older buildings were never painted with paint containing lead, and no toxic dumping occurred either where they can roam. that's not true many places, with buildings built and painted before 1970, for sure.
Our MSU toxicology lab ran this test, not expensive, and worth it for peace of mind.
Mary

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Depends on the dirt!
Here we checked our chicken eggs for lead, and found none. Wonderful! Our older buildings were never painted with paint containing lead, and no toxic dumping occurred either where they can roam. that's not true many places, with buildings built and painted before 1970, for sure.
Our MSU toxicology lab ran this test, not expensive, and worth it for peace of mind.
Mary

Also a high risk in soils next to heavily-trafficked areas from the 1920’s ~ mid-70’s, from leaded gasolines (petrol.)

 

[Shadrach]

I don't see why not. It's just not as convenient as a single bag of feed.
Edited to add, following any fad diet isn't convenient either.

The optimal situation is to let the chickens decide for themselves what to eat, I think we both agree about this.
In order to achieve a balanced diet through their own choice, they need access to a sufficient variety of foodstuffs and from what I've seen, a lot of that is green vegetation, minerals, etc.
Such a range is difficult to supply in any supplied feed.
My view is they are a lot like us in the respect of diet, we/they can survive on a limited range of foodstuffs, but as we are constantly told by the nutritionists, and in some cases our parents, eat the greens!
So yes, a wholegrain plus, fermented diet if the basic nutrients provide a ball-court balance, is in my view better than a processed feed diet. But, having either as backup and all day on mixed vegetation is getting close to optimal.

I know I keep repeating this but it is absolutely crucial to good health; exercise. How the chicken feeds may be as important as what they eat for maximum health benefits. It's not just the physical health, it's the mental health as well. Many chicken I've known prefer ground feeding. Searching for and finding food I can imagine from how I feel about it, is enormously rewarding.

The what we feed debates including protein percentages, etc, are in my view blind alleys, no ration is ever going to maximize the chances of good health. The how, where, and when the chickens feed are what we should be looking at.

 

[Molpet]

My chickens had chosen a 40 year old Styrofoam kickboard as the preferred thing to eat. Once I followed the trail of white to the shed and figured it out I ruined their fun.

 

[Shadrach]

My chickens had chosen a 40 year old Styrofoam kickboard as the preferred thing to eat. Once I followed the trail of white to the shed and figured it out I ruined their fun.

As someone who admitted to eating white chocolate earlier in the thread it would be hypocritical of me to criticize a penchant for sytrofoam.

 

[Sally PB]

As someone who admitted to eating white chocolate earlier in the thread it would be hypocritical of me to criticize a penchant for sytrofoam.

 

[Molpet]

As someone who admitted to eating white chocolate earlier in the thread it would be hypocritical of me to criticize a penchant for sytrofoam.

 

[Perris]

Styrofoam seems to be the only plastic chickens are regularly seen eating. It wouldn't surprise me if they have the same sort of microbes in their GIT that mealworms do, that can digest it. See e.g.
https://www.utmb.edu/mdnews/podcast/episode/a-styrofoam-eating-bug

And by the way, the only way in which styrofoam is hazardous to kids who eat it (it does smell and taste nice, it's an aromatic plastic) is as a choking hazard, not a poison. https://missouripoisoncenter.org/is-this-a-poison/styrofoam/

 

[Molpet]

Styrofoam seems to be the only plastic chickens are regularly seen eating. It wouldn't surprise me if they have the same sort of microbes in their GIT that mealworms do, that can digest it. See e.g.
https://www.utmb.edu/mdnews/podcast/episode/a-styrofoam-eating-bug

And by the way, the only way in which styrofoam is hazardous to kids who eat it (it does smell and taste nice, it's an aromatic plastic) is as a choking hazard, not a poison. https://missouripoisoncenter.org/is-this-a-poison/styrofoam/

After 40 years in limbo: Styrene is probably carcinogenic | ScienceDaily https://share.google/l5ffFxJIaHUgwpbrl