The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[speckledhen]

@Leahs Mom, Lizzie liked the chicken livers. I microwaved a couple, cut them up and sprinkled the pieces over one scrambled egg and she was all over it. Tom and I split up in Walmart because I got a haircut while he started going down the list, so he was the one who got the livers. He said he saw no beef liver at all so he got the tub of chicken livers instead.

 

[speckledhen]

How much liver can they eat before it's too much iron? I was thinking that chicken liver had less iron, but ounce for ounce, it has twice as much. But, then, 3 oz of chicken livers is probably a lot compared to 3 oz of beef liver.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Here are a couple of links that might help.

One discusses iron deficiency in poultry:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/poult...ement-poultry/mineral-deficiencies-in-poultry

Oddly enough, if you look at their chart for laying hens on this page, it doesn't list the iron iron requirement (you have to click on the little "x" thing to open the full charts):
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/poult...t-poultry/nutritional-requirements-of-poultry


In the book: Pasture Poultry Feeding and Management by Jeff Mattocks, pp 110 - 112 Requirements for Broilers and Laying hens are stated as 80 ppm. Not sure how that translates but this page has a formula part way down:

Example: NOTE: THIS IS NOT FEED....JUST A SAMPLE OF HOW TO CALCULATE PPM!
To calculate the PPM of one solid mixed with another, you compare the mass of the two substances. Divide the mass of the first solid in milligrams by the mass of the second solid in kilograms. (A kilogram is one million milligrams.) Using the example of 200 mg of gold mixed with 2.5 kg of iron:

200 milligrams/2.5 kilograms = 80 ppm
There are 80 parts of gold per million parts of iron in this example.
From: https://sciencing.com/calculate-ppm-5194302.html

 

[Leahs Mom]

On math ppm...that kind of stuff can make you crazy. I "think" I wouldn't worry about over-consumption of iron as much as deficiencies in other macro and micro nutrients.

 

[speckledhen]

On math ppm...that kind of stuff can make you crazy. I "think" I wouldn't worry about over-consumption of iron as much as deficiencies in other macro and micro nutrients.

I saw that 3 oz of chicken livers have 11 mg of iron, whereas 3 oz of beef liver has only about 5 mg. Probably not enough to worry about.

 

[1muttsfan]

There are several nutrients that are stored in liver that can be an issue. Iron is one, another would be fat-soluble vitamins A,D,K and E.
For the sake of safety liver should not be fed in large amounts on a daily basis for long periods of time. This means that you can give liver daily for a few days to a week or so (although I would not feed it exclusively), but then should be used only a few days a week. That will allow all the benefits of the nutrients in liver, and avoid toxicity issues.

 

[speckledhen]

There are several nutrients that are stored in liver that can be an issue. Iron is one, another would be fat-soluble vitamins A,D,K and E.
For the sake of safety liver should not be fed in large amounts on a daily basis for long periods of time. This means that you can give liver daily for a few days to a week or so (although I would not feed it exclusively), but then should be used only a few days a week. That will allow all the benefits of the nutrients in liver, and avoid toxicity issues.

That's sort of what I was remembering, but, hey, brain fog! I didn't think a few days of it would be detrimental, certainly, but I know it's higher in iron than a chicken should eat long-term. She ate it yesterday, but she also had chick starter free choice, mixed with some 22% layer pellets. She took all day to eat the one egg sprinkled with liver. Today I gave her the same thing and she just picked at it. She wanted the chick starter. So, I took the liver-egg mix and gave it to my three Brahmas who are molting and trying to grow back feathers, Betsy, Brandy and Bonnie, all of whom seem to have lost some weight and don't feel all that great at the moment.

 

[speckledhen]

Hey, don't you think my husband should do more rooster pictures? I sure do! The Blue Orpington is Lancelot, Ladyhawk's rooster, and of course, you know Isaac. That picture hangs by my bed. I want him to do one of Bash, with all his gorgeous colors.

Came from this photo of Lance, who is now 7 years old.

And I found this old family picture in my dad's stuff in the basement. Not sure who this is, really, probably on his mother's side of the family. I know they raised hogs (we called them Hogzillas, they were so huge) I want mine to run together like that, dang it.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Wow your husband is a good painter. I have dabbled, but always find my work lacking.

 

[speckledhen]

Wow your husband is a good painter. I have dabbled, but always find my work lacking.

I bet it's better than you think. We're our own worst critics. Tom can copy stuff, but he has zero imagination (he says that all the time).