Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[RoyalChick]

I am reading another old poultry manual, and have just come across a sentence that spontaneously triggered a question for us all (I used to have to set exam papers twice yearly ):

"Raw greenfood is the foundation for health. The failure to provide it has caused the deterioration of the modern hen and the commercial egg." Worthington. Discuss.

I am not up to writing an exam essay but I suspect raw greens may positively impact the gut biome as well as providing trace elements, vitamins and fiber.
My guess is absence of greens in a chicken’s diet is therefore negative.
That said, the statement is rather overblown as surely breeding for production traits must have had a bigger negative impact on overall health, wellbeing and longevity of the modern hen, as well as keeping conditions.

 

[Molpet]

There is no market for turkey eggs that I know of, so I don't understand this either. But also I know nothing about turkeys; are males bigger than females, or vice versa? Or is there some kind of flavour taint with males (as with some mammals)?

Males are twice as big. Mine dress out around 16 lbs at 6 months. The hens dress out around 6 to 8 lbs. I mainly eat my males because I get more meat for a life.

 

[Perris]

Males are twice as big. Mine dress out around 16 lbs at 6 months. The hens dress out around 6 to 8 lbs. I mainly eat my males because I get more meat for a life.

then culling male poults is incomprehensible (as the market is just for meat). I wonder if the news piece has got something wrong or missed something significant - e.g. it's the females culled in this case.

 

[Molpet]

then culling male poults is incomprehensible (as the market is just for meat). I wonder if the news piece has got something wrong or missed something significant - e.g. it's the females culled in this case.

I was wondering if they got it wrong too.

 

[Perris]

as well as providing trace elements

fwiw, he draws attention to the amount of earth chickens eat (on good ground; not in a coop) and thinks they're getting significant minerals from that.

 

[RoyalChick]

fwiw, he draws attention to the amount of earth chickens eat (on good ground; not in a coop) and thinks they're getting significant minerals from that.

That was always my mother’s argument against criticism for me eating with muddy hands as a kid, or for eating fruit that had fallen on the ground, or veggies from the garden that weren’t properly washed.
Trace elements she would sing out happily and ignore criticism of her mothering skills.
Years later she clipped some academic paper that was positing a causation between multiple allergies and hyper sanitized upbringing in young kids.
“See - I told you so!”

 

[Perris]

That was always my mother’s argument against criticism for me eating with muddy hands as a kid, or for eating fruit that had fallen on the ground, or veggies from the garden that weren’t properly washed.
Trace elements she would sing out happily and ignore criticism of her mothering skills.
Years later she clipped some academic paper that was positing a causation between multiple allergies and hyper sanitized upbringing in young kids.
“See - I told you so!”

I'm with your mum there - gotta give the immune system some proper work to do, else they find enemies in things within one's own body!

 

[BDutch]

Years later she clipped some academic paper that was positing a causation between multiple allergies and hyper sanitized upbringing in young kids.

There are more theories about the cause of allergies. One of then is pollution.

 

[Perris]

I'm treating a pullet for salpingitis with lotus leaf extract, based on this study:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ar...ited apoptosis,immune function in laying hens.

that's a really heavy going article! And I'm not sure we're any the wiser despite the identification of some genes involved in salpingitis in some way. But if it works, I'll not knock it just because we don't know why it works; that's a very common story in the history of science and of technology. I haven't come across anything else on lotus leaf to date, so will watch your thread for updates with interest. I do hope Pip pulls through.

 

[RoyalChick]

There are more theories about the cause of allergies. One of then is pollution.

Of course there are. Allergies are highly complex biological responses that are not well understood.
I just find it amusing that my mother - who was just going on an instinct she had not to be too prudish about dirt - in particular soil as she was a committed gardener - actually may have some scientific basis.

Reference only for those interested in the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ and who have time to get geeky on the science.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1448690/