Warning about Flock Block and similar snacks!

[Los Pollitos]

Hi everyone. I wanted to relate a recent unfortunate experience we had with a food supplement called Flock Block. Flock Block is a compressed block of seeds, corn, molasses, etc. (kind of like a suet cake) that you can put in your pen to give your birds something to scratch around, peck at, and snack on when they're not free-ranging. Well, apparently ours liked it a little too much. One morning we found Lil' Nugget, a pretty and sweet EE hen, dead, after exhibiting absolutely no symptoms. We took her to UGA's veterinary diagnostic lab and found out that she had developed Fatty Liver Hemmorhagic Syndrome. We thought we were giving them a treat! The good news, besides being preventable, is that the damage caused is reversible. We simply took it away from them, and they should have no lasting effects. Instead of flock block, now they get only fat free snacks, like apples and lettuce!

This is my favorite picture of Lil' Nugget from last summer. She was really striking. RIP, little doodle.

 

[AK_Button_Mama]

wow thanks for the warning!!!! you should let the manufacturer know too!!

BTW ehat kind of chickens are the ones that are black and white?

 

[geareduplyn]

That's pointing a finger a little too quickly IMO. I use and recommend Flock Blocks.

 

[Anny]

I'm so sorry for your loss, that is a great picture.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Quote:
Agreed.... while its aweful that someone lost a bird, its in isolated instance.

 

[Wifezilla]

Fat doesn't make the liver fatty, carbohydrates and sugars do.

Looking a the ingredient list here, there isn't even any added fat in it!
"Cracked Corn, Whole Wheat, Whole Milo, Whole Barley, Whole Sunflower Seed, Molasses, Oyster Shell, Calcium Lignin Sulfonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Granite Grit, Salt, Propionic Acit (A Preservative), Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, L-Lysine, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine, Biotin, Vitamin A Acetate, Nicotinic Acid, Riboflavin, DL-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate, Cholecalciferol, Menadione Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite (source of Vitamin K), Folic Acid, Cyanocobalamin, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite."

The CORN, WHEAT and MOLASSES are more of a culprit than sunflower seeds (which is the only real fat source in it)

If you JUST started giving them flock block, then it isn't the flock block that is the issue but their regular diet. Other than the flock block, what are you feeding them?

Oh, one more cause of fatty liver...fruit sugars.

 

[rooster-red]

What did UGA say about it?
Did they say it was caused by flock block?

 

[halo]

http://msucares.com/poultry/feeds/poultry_laying.html


Google is your friend.

 

[Wifezilla]

Thanks halo.

Unfortunately, it works the same way for PEOPLE. Everyone always blames fat in the body for ingested fat. Our bodies (and our poultry's bodies) do NOT work that way.

Body fat, especially fat around internal organs, comes from eating carbohydrates.

They aren't feeding geese hamburger meat and coconuts to make foie gras. They feed them massive amounts of CORN which turns their livers nice and fatty.

 

[Los Pollitos]

Not finger pointing---this was the diagnosis and recommendations provided by the veterinary diagnostic lab at the University of Georgia after performing a necropsy on my chicken and considering everything our birds eat. Their regular diet is Layena crumbles. They get an apple or two each week whenever we have some, and some greens and yogurt occasionally. Flock Block was the only additional thing they had access to constantly. I simply wanted to share my experience so that others could consider what they're providing for their birds. So those that wish to consider it, please do, and I'm very glad that not everyone has had a bad experience with this product.