This is what a balanced layer feed with no treats delivers

[Perris]

https://www.bhwt.org.uk/hen-adoption/

 

[007Sean]

I find that hard to belive....that poor bird has had little to no protein but if it was on a balanced and complete feed, it wasn't represented correctly on the tag! That poor bird has been neglected.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I also find that hard to believe.

That looks like an ex-battery hen up for adoption. Not to mention at least 50 behind it in the picture.

 

[Perris]

I also find that hard to believe.

That looks like an ex-battery hen up for adoption. Not to mention at least 50 behind it in the picture.

if it was on a balanced and complete feed, it wasn't represented correctly on the tag! That poor bird has been neglected.

What do you both think industrial layers eat? Layer feed full stop. And the egg farmer aims to maximise egg production, so gives what is usually on BYC called a 'complete balanced layer feed'.

If you follow the link I provided, you will see that this is one of millions here being dumped at this time of year, and they all look pretty similar. A little under half of them come from so-called enriched or colony cages.
https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/farm/layinghens/farming

 

[21hens-incharge]

There seems to be more at play than just being fed layer feed to cause that condition.
Overcrowding comes to mind especially seeing so many clumped together in that picture. Overcrowding causes a lot of stress and feather picking/bullying leads to poor overall body condition.

Perhaps the complete feed ration requirements for nutrition are different in the UK.

 

[Kiki]

View attachment 3845009
https://www.bhwt.org.uk/hen-adoption/

CLICK BAIT!


Looks like that bird along with the million behind it don't get feed at all nor are they allowed to move.

This is not what a balanced layer feed only diet does to a bird.

 

[AinaWGSD]

OK, but this is akin to posting a picture of an overbred puppy mill bitch and claiming that's the result of feeding only a complete and balanced kibble and no treats.

Firstly, battery hens' conditions are as much a product of environment and flock management, independent of diet. Secondly, commercial egg producers are almost certainly using a feed mixed specifically for them due to the economy of scale. They're not feeding the same balanced layer feed commercially available to backyard chicken keepers. It's comparing apples to crab apples.

A hen kept in typical backyard/hobby husbandry conditions and fed only a complete balanced layer feed is not going to look like that.

 

[Kiki]

"Battery cages now have to provide 600cm squared useable space per bird - that's less than the size of an A4 piece of paper each - and limited facilities for perching, nesting and scratching. We don't believe this meets the full needs of the birds.
Each wire cage typically houses around 80 hens. There's no limit on how high the cage tiers can be stacked."

 

[21hens-incharge]

That first link says to adopt they require 30sq cm each in the coop.
That is less than 5sq inches. That would be horrible conditions to keep them in.

 

[Perris]

I do not dispute what you are all saying about the conditions the egg industry adopts (it's at least as bad in the USA as here btw), but you are distracting from the subject of feed by looking at the environment. Yes I know both play a role.

But people keep claiming on BYC that a so-called 'complete balanced layer feed' will provide everything a hen needs, and since that is all a commercial hen gets, her condition demonstrates that it is not complete. It is merely adequate for a short life. It does not provide enough for her to thrive; it is just enough to keep her laying eggs until she is about 1 year and 5 months old, at which point she is thrown away, like the ones in the picture.