Chickens

Poultry Science

- By the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis

Raising backyard poultry can be enjoyable and rewarding. The birds are entertaini­ng to watch, and they produce delicious fresh eggs. In many ways, caring for chickens is the same as caring for a cat, dog or hamster in that all the animals require proper feed in order to be healthy and productive.

Chickens require water and a well-balanced ration. Water consumptio­n is essential for making birds eat, so if you don’t provide water, chickens won’t eat enough of their feed to be healthy and productive. For this reason, it’s important to provide clean water for your flock at all times.

The kind of food you give your chickens during their life stages greatly affects their health because of the different levels of nutrients in feeds. For example, feed for adult layer hens contains greater amounts of calcium. Keeping track of nutritiona­l factors in your chickens’ diet can help prevent nutritiona­l deficiency diseases and result in a productive flock. Knowing nutritiona­l requiremen­ts and using that knowledge when caring for your chickens can help contribute to happy, healthy hens.

Initial Questions

Depending on the source of your water, it could contain unsafe levels of bacteria, fungi or even heavy metals such as iron and lead. This becomes more likely if your water comes from a well that is not tested at least once a year by a by a commercial­ly certified laboratory.

If you use water from a municipal source, it has already been filtered and tested. In addition, if your water source is accessible to wildlife, consider using another resource; wildlife can introduce diseases to your flock including E. coli, salmonella and even avian influenza.

Purposeful Plates

Considerin­g type of production and age helps determine nutritiona­l needs and prevent nutrition related diseases.

For example, do you raise your birds for meat or eggs? It’s important in determinin­g whether they require a calcium-based diet to help produce eggs or protein-based diet to promote muscle growth.

The amount of individual nutrients your chickens need also depends on their age. A chick requires different nutrients than a mature laying hen. Providing food designed for a specific age group to birds of a different group can result in health issues — either deficiency or excess of nutrients. For example, if you give feed designed for mature laying hens to pullets (younger females), it could result in urolithias­is, or developmen­t of stones in the kidney, from an excess of calcium.

Organic or Inorganic?

Understand­ing feed labels is also crucial to chickens’ health and productivi­ty. Simply put, organic feed comes from organic corn and soy, and it contains no antimicrob­ials. If the feed has inorganic corn or soy, or it contains antimicrob­ials such as coccidiast­ats (an antimicrob­ial against chicken protozoa), then it can’t have an organic label.

Organic feed costs more because organic corn and soy are more expensive. It’s not “better,” but some consumers will pay extra for this. This is

why organic eggs and meat are more expensive — because feed is a major cost in raising animals.

Also consider this: Chick feed that contains coccidiast­ats helps control protozoa, which can make your chickens sick and even kill them as young chicks. Feed with a coccidiast­at is an effective way to control coccidia, and it’s also good husbandry. Coccidiast­ats are not used in human medicine, so there’s no potential problems with antibiotic resistance.

H to the O

All life requires water to survive. We don’t often think of water as a nutrient, but its presence is essential. A typical layer bird consumes about 130 to 200 milliliter­s of water per day compared with an average food intake of 80 to 100 grams. In other words, birds consume (by weight) about twice as much water as feed. Access to plenty of water every day is an absolute necessity.

Water becomes increasing­ly important during the summer; its availabili­ty directly influences the amount of food and nutrients chickens consume. If they don’t have access to enough water, they eat less.

During hot weather, chickens drink more water and eat less feed. To balance this decrease in food-based nutrients, ensure that sufficient amounts of water are available. Make sure your waterers are regularly cleaned to prevent contaminat­ion with pathogens. Waterers should be about 6 inches off the ground (if it’s a hanging nipple waterer system) to prevent dirt, poop or other contaminan­ts from entering the water. Ideally, a waterer should be available for every six to eight chickens.

Mash, Crumble or Pellet?

In general, three types of feed are available: mash, crumble and pellet. Initially, young chickens are recommende­d mash or crumble to assist with an easier digestion. As the birds get older, you can use any of those three feeds as long as they are made for the needs of your specific flock.

Some benefits of the finer feeds include easier digestion, which can result in increased productivi­ty in chickens. However, compared with pellet feed, mash and crumble feeds might create more food waste, which can mean higher costs. Additional­ly, your feed choice might depend on how you dispense it (via trough feeder, bell feeder and so on).

Ultimately, when choosing feed, consider the facts previously listed as well as cost efficiency. One absolute: Don’t use pelleted feed for chicks. It’s too difficult for the

birds to digest. They look for the dust (nonpellete­d powder), which is a lot of work when the majority of the feed is pelleted.

Common Snacks

You can add ground oyster shells as an extra source of calcium for your chickens, specifical­ly laying hens. Oyster shells provide high levels of calcium that assist in egg developmen­t and produce stronger shells. Dried and ground eggshell is another common calcium source. These options can help if you notice the shells of your hens’ eggs are thin or break more often than normal.

Chicken scratch describes a feed made of cracked grains, such as corn, oats and so on. It’s often compared to junk food humans might consume, such as french fries or potato chips. Although chickens do enjoy it, scratch doesn’t provide adequate nutrients and should be given only after a proper feeding and in restricted amounts.

Another potential addition is grit. Poultry grit consists of ground stones (flint grit) or other ground material (oyster shell grit) that help chickens grind up food in their gizzards. Grit helps pasture-raised chickens with digestion of grass and other types of feed that are hard to break down. However, almost all backyard birds have pebbles in their stomach, which they ingest from the ground, that act as grit, so you might not need to add any.

Whatever additional nutrient sources you give your chickens, watch for any signs of deficienci­es or excesses in their diets that could lead to illnesses.

Nutritiona­l Deficiency

If chickens don’t get enough of important nutrients, they can get harmful and sometimes fatal diseases. For example, a chicken that experience­s calcium deficiency could develop rickets, or “soft” bones. Birds with rickets — often broilers or other meat poultry such as turkeys — develop issues with their cartilage, flattened rib cages and other bone-related weaknesses. This can also happen if you fed a layer bird a nonlayer ration.

Dietary phosphorus and calcium imbalances can result in osteochond­rosis, where a mass of cartilage can develop in bones — often the anklebone. This can occur especially when a chicken gets more dietary phosphorus than calcium. This can lead to difficulti­es with mobility at later stages in life. You can treat it by changing the phosphorus-to-calcium ratio and balancing dietary electrolyt­es, although this might not result in full recovery.

You can prevent these diseases by giving your chickens the proper nutrients in their day-to-day diet. Monitor your chickens for apparent weakness or fatigue, and if you suspect nutritiona­l deficienci­es or other health issues, contact your veterinari­an.

You have many factors to consider in the everyday diet of chickens. Ensuring they receive the correct amount of nutrients can be as simple as supplying feed and water. Clean water also largely contribute­s to the daily nutritiona­l needs of your flock. Make sure the feed you provide is designed for your chickens (layers or broilers) as this will largely determine what amount of protein or calcium your chickens get.

When considerin­g the type of feed for mature chickens — mash, crumble or pellet — weigh the benefits and drawbacks and cost efficiency of each, as well as how they work with your planned feed-distributi­on method. Research specific feed brands and decide what you believe is best for your chickens. Seek data from credible sources (such as universiti­es or veterinari­ans) to receive the most accurate material. Gathering plenty of informatio­n will help you find the most effective and nutritiona­lly balanced diet for your chickens.

This article was written by Odette Clamp and Maurice Pitesky from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

 ??  ?? While greens are great supplement­s to a hen’s diet, long grasses can cause gizzard impaction, when blades become coiled into a plug in the gizzard.
While greens are great supplement­s to a hen’s diet, long grasses can cause gizzard impaction, when blades become coiled into a plug in the gizzard.
 ??  ?? Feed your birds based on their age. chicks should not eat the same type of feed that their mamas eat.
Feed your birds based on their age. chicks should not eat the same type of feed that their mamas eat.

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