OMEGA 3 Benifits ? Please explain Im thick headed!!

[SteveBaz]

Essential Fatty Acid

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (I cut and Pasted it)


Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are fatty acids that humans and other animals must ingest because the body requires them for good health but cannot synthesize them.[1] The term "essential fatty acid" refers to fatty acids required for biological processes, and not those that only act as fuel.

Only two EFAs are known for humans: alpha-linolenic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid) and linoleic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid).[2][3][4] Other fatty acids that are only "conditionally essential" include gamma-linolenic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid), lauric acid (a saturated fatty acid), and palmitoleic acid (a monounsaturated fatty acid).[5]

When the two EFAs were first discovered in 1923, they were designated Vitamin F. In 1930, work by Burr, Burr and Miller on rats showed that the two EFAs are better classified with the fats than with the vitamins.[6]

I have read here and there about Omega 3. It says 23% of total weight is omega-3 EFA but of Flaxseed ONLY!! 23% of 100% of FLAXSEED is Omega 3. Essential oil for all living things and an Omega-6 fatty acid the other parts required.

In an entire reading of charts FLAXSEED is the only grain to produce the Omega 3 proteins. Is there other ways to produce Omega 3? How does it help my chickens? In what ways does it make my birds better birds? Is it an organic thing that happens? What am I not getting? Does it make better egg production? Or a better egg?


Thanks for any comments. Maybe a Science person will get involvered here.

Steve​

 

[AccentOnHakes]

Omega-3's in the feed will be passed onto the eggs, which you can then eat. Basically, it will get you more Omega-3 as well. This fatty acid can also be found in salmon and other foods, but too much can give your eggs an off taste.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
I have read here and there about Omega 3. It says 23% of total weight is omega-3 EFA but of Flaxseed ONLY!! 23% of 100% of FLAXSEED is Omega 3. Essential oil for all living things and an Omega-6 fatty acid the other parts required.

In an entire reading of charts FLAXSEED is the only grain to produce the Omega 3 proteins. Is there other ways to produce Omega 3? How does it help my chickens? In what ways does it make my birds better birds? Is it an organic thing that happens? What am I not getting? Does it make better egg production? Or a better egg?


Thanks for any comments. Maybe a Science person will get involvered here.

Steve

Omega-3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fats (not a protein) found naturally in oily fish, nuts, seeds, and leafy green vegetables.
If your bird eat grains, and are out in pasture they are getting Omega-3 fatty acids in there diet.

Too much Flax Seed can cause health problems in chickens. Overfeeding flaxseed can cause problems for your hens because flax seed contains sticky compounds that stop the hen from digesting some of the nutrients in her diet. Flax seed also contains a compound called linoline that may increase the birds' vitamin requirements. Feeding too much flax seed can also cause production drops, small egg size, reduced body weight gain and thin egg shells.

Chris

 

[DawnCols]

Omega-3 fatty acids are a polyunsaturated fat that we have to get from diet because our bodies can't manufacture them.

They help reduce problems caused by the American diet, which is typically way too high in Omega-6 fatty acids. We need a balance between them. (Chickens also need a balanced diet--but we haven't studied the dietary needs of chickens nearly as much as those of people.) Studies seem to indicate that a better balance, with higher Omega-3 levels, reduces risk of heart problems, strokes, and certain chronic diseases.

Flaxseed is only one source of Omega-3s. They are also in walnuts, some fruits and vegetables, and coldwater fish such as herring, mackerel, sturgeon, and anchovies.

The nutrient contents of the egg change according to what the chickens eat. Mother Earth News did a study of the eggs from 14 flocks of chickens allowed to freely feed on pasture, and found the eggs have double the Omega-3 of conventional eggs from chickens kept in cages and fed only chicken feed. They also had less overall cholesterol and less saturated fat and lots more of other beneficial nutrients. Here's a link to the article with the full info , if you're curious.

(And by the way, grocery store "free range" eggs are actually not from pasture-foraging chickens--a whole other topic. But the chickens in the study actually were allowed to forage on living green stuff in the pasture.)

As Chris09 already pointed out, you don't want to overdo flaxseed for your chickens. It should be a small supplement at most. If they get the runs, cut back. (Also, you can get Omega-3 by eating the flaxseed yourself. Sprinkled on cereal or yogurt, or you can buy many products made with them. Same warning applies to overdoing it.)

Hope this helps.
Dawn

 

[galanie]

Quote:
This is the way I'd do it if I were to want to increase my Omega-3. But I can see wanting to advertise that your eggs are higher in Omega-3 than others.