Raw egg yolk

[JacinLarkwell]

28% is PROBABLY okay for chickens, based on what I can find online of studies on the matter. If there are studies that say otherwise, I have not yet found them.

But I have not tried it myself, I do not know of anyone who has, and studies tend to feed a given ration to a given type of birds for a relatively short time, so they only notice short-term effects, not long-term ones.

So I would not feel confident saying "good idea" or "bad idea." (I certainly agree it would be convenient to have only one kind of food for many kinds of birds.)

I use the layer pellets for my mixed flocks, but these are new roosters that will be seperated and obviously there is no reason to feed single males layer pellets. But it would be easier to feed 2 different feeds total as oppesed to 2 seperate ones and still adding extra thinhs to the male feed

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I wonder if he just needs extra food, because of a growth spurt or something? Or maybe he spent some amount of time being chased away from the feeder, before you put him in the cage? If that happened, he should settle down once he's gained the weight he needs

He could still be growing too. He was almost 5 pounds about 3 weeks ago (so at 9ish weeks) and im sure he's not entirely done, but I'm not sure how long they grow fast before it slows

 

[aart]

For my own knowledge, what's the difference between full and distended? For a crop, that is.

It's kinda of a matter of familiarity with the bird and experience, don't think could define it.

His crop feels like everyone else when they're happy and finished eating, but I'm worried if he keeps eating like this, he'll have problems with it sooner or later.
His poops all look okay, and he's drinking a fair amount of water (about 16 oz, give or take an oz).

As long as his crop does not appear overfull and is emptying overnight,
not sure if there is a real concern.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

It's kinda of a matter of familiarity with the bird and experience, don't think could define it.


As long as his crop does not appear overfull and is emptying overnight,
not sure if there is a real concern.

Okay. So far it is, so that's a relief

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Wish I did - I had excess eggs yesterday (sales have almost stopped, now that the local teachers are our of school and without paychecks) so I threw 30 raw eggs to my flock of 50+ on the pasture, but I will only do that once or twice a week while egg sales are slow and production is climbing (would be worse if some weren't in molt).

Somehow, I doubt its been much studied - I've certainly seen nothing.

Here's what we do know -

1) Eggs are a complete protein, they contain all the essential amino acids, so that's good.

2) By weight, Its about 11% protein (that's low), 8% fat (that's high), and insignificant amount of fiber, and a lot of water.

3) Salt sits at 0.44%, right in range of the typical commercial feed. Its also low in phosphorus (0.15%, about 1/4th what you see in many feeds), Selenium around .20 ppm (2/3rd what I see on a bag of Nutrena All Flock) Using the same "All Flock" comparison (and if my math is right), its got half as much Vitamin A, half as much D3, and an insignificant amount of Vitamin E.

??? But perhaps more is contained in the shell? I've no idea how much calcium, phosphorus, etc is in the shell of a medium large egg ???

4) and it looks like egg shells are as much as 40% calcium - if you find your meaties or your favorite Roo eating the shell to get the yolky/albumin goodness, you want to stop that. They are apparently good sources of magnesium and phosphorus. Sadly, a high source of sodium.

So, based on what I've just discovered crawling the web (THANK YOU, learned something new before lunch!!!) I'm going to stick with my normal recommend for treats - not to exceed 10% of diet by weight. Rough math time -

There's about 455 grams per pound, and a "typical" chicken eat 1/4 lb per day, or about 115 grams daily. 10% of that is about 12 grams, and a large egg is about 58 grams w/o shell, about 64 grams with.

So, don't exceed one egg per five birds daily - and that's about 3.8% calcium by weight if you include the shell.


Helpful?

Well hell yea that was helpful. I like how you think U_stormcrow! You continue to help the new chicken people of the world and for that, i am super greatful.

 

[Kiki]

Wish I did - I had excess eggs yesterday (sales have almost stopped, now that the local teachers are our of school and without paychecks) so I threw 30 raw eggs to my flock of 50+ on the pasture, but I will only do that once or twice a week while egg sales are slow and production is climbing (would be worse if some weren't in molt).

Somehow, I doubt its been much studied - I've certainly seen nothing.

Here's what we do know -

1) Eggs are a complete protein, they contain all the essential amino acids, so that's good.

2) By weight, Its about 11% protein (that's low), 8% fat (that's high), and insignificant amount of fiber, and a lot of water.

3) Salt sits at 0.44%, right in range of the typical commercial feed. Its also low in phosphorus (0.15%, about 1/4th what you see in many feeds), Selenium around .20 ppm (2/3rd what I see on a bag of Nutrena All Flock) Using the same "All Flock" comparison (and if my math is right), its got half as much Vitamin A, half as much D3, and an insignificant amount of Vitamin E.

??? But perhaps more is contained in the shell? I've no idea how much calcium, phosphorus, etc is in the shell of a medium large egg ???

4) and it looks like egg shells are as much as 40% calcium - if you find your meaties or your favorite Roo eating the shell to get the yolky/albumin goodness, you want to stop that. They are apparently good sources of magnesium and phosphorus. Sadly, a high source of sodium.

So, based on what I've just discovered crawling the web (THANK YOU, learned something new before lunch!!!) I'm going to stick with my normal recommend for treats - not to exceed 10% of diet by weight. Rough math time -

There's about 455 grams per pound, and a "typical" chicken eat 1/4 lb per day, or about 115 grams daily. 10% of that is about 12 grams, and a large egg is about 58 grams w/o shell, about 64 grams with.

So, don't exceed one egg per five birds daily - and that's about 3.8% calcium by weight if you include the shell.


Helpful?

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

To quote myself from another thread:


If you want to feed him egg on a regular basis, it might be better to cook at least the whites--but then you wouldn't be able to mix it into his crumbles in the same way.

Does he like his crumble dry or with water added? Because then you could serve cooked egg along with it. I don't think there is any reason to limit cooked eggs.

i cook the egg scrambled in coconut oil, add crumble and some poultry electrolytes/vitamin water to moisten. good luck!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

i cook the egg scrambled in coconut oil, add crumble and some poultry electrolytes/vitamin water to moisten. good luck!

Bird in question stopped growing so much thankfully, so now he doesn't get many raw eggs anymore. He definitely got big though, heaviest male I've ever owned