No difference between pasture raised chicken eggs and caged chicken eggs.

[WindingRoad]

Or alfalfa hay, any type of living green plant, crustaceans, or pepper plant products.

None of which my birds will eat.

 

[centrarchid]

None of which my birds will eat.

Yes, they will. Try the pepper plant product first. Purchase some paprika in a bulk container. Sprinkle some on your feed mix in feeder. And watch your birds eat it. Or add some water to make all into a moist cake-like mass. You can treat cayenne and chili powders in a similar manner with similar results. Put a bunch of alfalfa hay in the coop where the birds loiter. The hay, including stems will disappear. You are in Maine, give the birds some lobster shell and they work it over and it will disappear.

 

[WindingRoad]

Yes, they will. Try the pepper plant product first. Purchase some paprika in a bulk container. Sprinkle some on your feed mix in feeder. And watch your birds eat it. Or add some water to make all into a moist cake-like mass. You can treat cayenne and chili powders in a similar manner with similar results. Put a bunch of alfalfa hay in the coop where the birds loiter. The hay, including stems will disappear. You are in Maine, give the birds some lobster shell and they work it over and it will disappear.

My birds will NOT eat mushy food. Never have and I tried. And I've left it out all day and they still didn't eat it. I have a whole pile of oyster shells. The guy I bought this place from last spring is a clam digger. I had a boss one time and bought fresh eggs off her. Worst eggs I've ever tasted. Tasted like rotten fish. I told another employee and she told me my boss was feeding fish food. I don't do paprika for my self. Why would I give it to my birds. I don't have one grain of pepper in my house. The pepper shaker has cinnamon and sugar for my toast. My birds eat pellets, scratch, and mealworms. And fresh well water that comes from an RO system and brine tank. They lay beautiful dark color yolked eggs with thick whites. Why mess with perfection? I don't see anything as broken so I'm not in favor of fixing it.

 

[RWBP]

That's like saying "All my kid will eat is cereal, so why make them eat veggies? They're healthy and get all the nutrition they need?"

 

[123RedBeard]

My birds will NOT eat mushy food. Never have and I tried. And I've left it out all day and they still didn't eat it. I have a whole pile of oyster shells. The guy I bought this place from last spring is a clam digger. I had a boss one time and bought fresh eggs off her. Worst eggs I've ever tasted. Tasted like rotten fish. I told another employee and she told me my boss was feeding fish food. I don't do paprika for my self. Why would I give it to my birds. I don't have one grain of pepper in my house. The pepper shaker has cinnamon and sugar for my toast. My birds eat pellets, scratch, and mealworms. And fresh well water that comes from an RO system and brine tank. They lay beautiful dark color yolked eggs with thick whites. Why mess with perfection? I don't see anything as broken so I'm not in favor of fixing it.

So you tried ... if at first you
don't succeed ... try, try again!

Maybe try a different method ...

I highly doubt that a chicken will just go and gobble up a pile of clam shells ... no way to fit it down ... TRY smashing them up into 1/4" chunks with a hammer on concrete ... wear safety glasses/goggles ...

On your soft/mushy food experience ... did they also have other things to choose from to eat, or did they ONLY have mush? For how long?

TRY this ... a little wetted feed with treats on top, no other food available ... by day two they will learn.

Then TRY to add some cooked scrambled eggs to the wetted feed ... yummie they will say!

 

[123RedBeard]

Back to criticizing the article in the OP ...

Strange that over the course of more than a year that the range didn't really change in nutritional value ... why was that?

In a 70' X 70' square "run/range" with 75 chickens out scratching and pooping ... one would think there would have been quite alot of nutritional difference in the plants grown in the plots ... which begs the question ... how much time did the chickens really spend out there? AND how much of their feed intake was actually from foraging?

If they had four separate 70' X 70' paddocks, in which the chickens were rotated through every 3-4 days ... what would the results have been?

While I think we need to also realize that there are different breeds of chicken that gain, or benefit from "ranging" ... Obviously these chickens, in these conditions did not gain lots of benefits from their range experience ... some, but not lots!

As backyard chicken keepers, we know home grown has more distinct taste, which most people like, and associate it with being "healthier".

I'm not a scientist, or biologist ... but in my mind, it seems that chickens produce a "better" and "healthier" product (meat and/or eggs) not based solely on food intake, (while it may have a large contribution) but on their ability to go out and run around in the fresh air and sunshine ... while I have no proof, I suspect that exercise also helps the eggs taste better, and the muscles obviously are impacted too!

 

[Doc7]

That's like saying "All my kid will eat is cereal, so why make them eat veggies? They're healthy and get all the nutrition they need?"

Except only if cereal was a formula specifically designed to provide complete nutrition throughout the entire life cycle of a productive creature.

Cereal for people is not.

Feed for chickens is.

 

[centrarchid]

Back to criticizing the article in the OP ...

Strange that over the course of more than a year that the range didn't really change in nutritional value ... why was that?

In a 70' X 70' square "run/range" with 75 chickens out scratching and pooping ... one would think there would have been quite alot of nutritional difference in the plants grown in the plots ... which begs the question ... how much time did the chickens really spend out there? AND how much of their feed intake was actually from foraging?

If they had four separate 70' X 70' paddocks, in which the chickens were rotated through every 3-4 days ... what would the results have been?

While I think we need to also realize that there are different breeds of chicken that gain, or benefit from "ranging" ... Obviously these chickens, in these conditions did not gain lots of benefits from their range experience ... some, but not lots!

As backyard chicken keepers, we know home grown has more distinct taste, which most people like, and associate it with being "healthier".

I'm not a scientist, or biologist ... but in my mind, it seems that chickens produce a "better" and "healthier" product (meat and/or eggs) not based solely on food intake, (while it may have a large contribution) but on their ability to go out and run around in the fresh air and sunshine ... while I have no proof, I suspect that exercise also helps the eggs taste better, and the muscles obviously are impacted too!

I am a scientist type. The birds are not eating the plant side of the forage. Feed supplied likely does not promote consumption of greens.

 

[WindingRoad]

So you tried ... if at first you
don't succeed ... try, try again!

Maybe try a different method ...

I highly doubt that a chicken will just go and gobble up a pile of clam shells ... no way to fit it down ... TRY smashing them up into 1/4" chunks with a hammer on concrete ... wear safety glasses/goggles ...

On your soft/mushy food experience ... did they also have other things to choose from to eat, or did they ONLY have mush? For how long?

TRY this ... a little wetted feed with treats on top, no other food available ... by day two they will learn.

Then TRY to add some cooked scrambled eggs to the wetted feed ... yummie they will say!

#1 I didn't say I was gonna give them whole oysters shells.Try reading for content You're a genius to figure out that they wouldn't be able to swallow them. Why didn't I think of that. I do have a sledge hammer ( google is your friend) and I know how to use it.
#2 They had nothing else to eat. I put a cucumber in their run a very ripe one with big seeds. They took one bite and starting shaking their heads. And trying to clean their beaks. The cucumber was in the run when I put them to bed. UNEATEN. Two pecks in it.
#3 I've tried scrambled eggs, oatmeal, warm and cool, watermelon, cut a squash and they wouldn't eat the seeds, raisins, warm grape nuts WET, banana wet again, yogurt ( God forbid they ever get sick) THEY WILL NOT EAT WET FOOD
#4 I see no need to give them something they won't eat. They eat pellets (20% protein) ( they won't eat crumble) scratch, ( the dreaded corn) and mealworms. I even tried mealworms on the top of a cucumber and they didn't eat either. If they are eating a balanced diet and ranging for bugs, worms and slugs and a grasshopper I catch for them now and then I think they are doing pretty good.

My BO and ISAB have laid all winter 65-70 gram eggs, tough shell, no sour crop, no bumble foot, not egg bound, poops look good, solid, brown with a white covering. No wheezing, coughing, runny nose, fever, chills or shaking heads. What am I missing.
My 2 SLW 22 weeks old have just started laying Hard shell. Illness department as my other two. I didn't integrate ( OMG sue me) their eggs are hard shelled, tasty, orange yolk albeit small. 40-50 grams. And yes I weigh every egg I get.

END OF STORY ON MY BIRDS EATING SLOP. SLOP IS FOR PIGS.

 

[centrarchid]

We are getting off topic a bit, and getting riled to boot.