If you feed your flock a complete, formulated chicken feed, they will likely remain healthy. It can be tempting to overlook their nutrition beyond their feed in light of this. However, a variety of factors, like the food your flock consumes and weather conditions, might influence their nutritional requirements at different times. Maintaining the health and happiness of your flock requires knowing how to identify and prevent dietary deficits.
A nutritional deficiency: what is it?
Insufficient or excessive consumption of one or more of the primary dietary components results in a nutritional deficit. As a result, the chicken’s body is agitated and either struggles to use the excess nutrients or has a nutrient shortage. A chicken’s diet mostly consists of protein, lipids, carbs, vitamins, and minerals. For the chicken to be healthy and productive, all five of these factors must be in balance.
An unbalanced diet may result from:
- Inappropriate feed
- Reduced feed consumption due to stale feed
- Weather patterns that are changing
- A disturbance that results in stress for the flock
- Overindulging in sweets
- Health problems
- Protein, Fats and Carbohydrates in Balance
You will want to include some nutritious, high-protein snacks and treats in your flock’s diet in times when they require more protein. Grubblies are a great way to get extra calcium and protein! Additional protein can also be obtained by sprouting lentils or by serving cooked meat or eggs. Take care to avoid giving your flock too many high-protein, high-fat snacks. Other nutritional problems and imbalances may result from consuming too much fat. Supplemental protein is particularly necessary for molting chickens, during cold weather, and after a high-stress event.
A chicken’s diet contains carbohydrates, which give it rapid energy. Grains, which are often abundant in a chicken’s diet, supply carbohydrates. A chicken’s daily active lifestyle is supported by this steady supply of quick energy. Rarely will a chicken experience a carbohydrate shortage unless it stops eating, which may happen when it is unwell or under a lot of stress.
Although fat in general is not harmful, if you are not careful, it is a nutritional component that can be easily consumed in excess. In order to cushion the internal organs, supply energy and warmth in cold weather, and—above all—store fat-soluble vitamins, some dietary fat is required. Similar to carbs, unless a chicken is not eating its regular diet, a fat deficiency is uncommon. Rather, keep an eye on the amount of fat in any nutritious treats or snacks you provide to your flock. A fatty liver syndrome and other health problems can result from giving them too many fatty snacks.
Vitamin and Mineral Balance
For the body to use vitamins and minerals effectively and give a chicken the advantages it needs, they frequently cooperate. Unlike protein, a chicken’s requirements for specific amounts of various vitamins and minerals don’t change much throughout the course of its adult life.
When the diet is changed because of a change in the weather, extra treats, severe stress, or an illness that impairs nutrient absorption or causes a lack of appetite, deficiencies or imbalances result. Vitamin deficiencies can also result from eating stale food.
A specific quantity of dietary fat is required in the diet because the body fat of a chicken stores fat-soluble vitamins. A chicken’s body uses water-soluble vitamins as they become available since it cannot store them. A chicken’s droppings include extra water-soluble vitamins that are not needed at the moment.
Vitamins A, D, E, and K are among the fat-soluble vitamins. The following are indicators of deficits in fat-soluble vitamins:
Vitamin A : Poor vision, longer intervals between laying cycles, more blood spots in eggs, and blisters on the upper digestive system (nutritional roup, which resembles a respiratory infection) are all symptoms of vitamin A deficiency.
Vitamin D: weak legs and a penguin-like squat, rickets (malformed beaks, legs, ribs, and spine), thin or soft-shelled eggs, followed by a decrease in production and a return to normal, and softening of the bones
Vitamin E : may reduce fertility, cause early embryonic death, or cause a fatal neurological condition that damages the brain.
Vitamin K: internal bleeding or excessive bleeding (often seen as a bruise)
Resolving Mineral and Vitamin Deficiencies
Poultry Vitamin and Mineral Premix is a premium feed supplement help to give important vitamins and minerals to poultry. Feeding your flock a complete, age-appropriate feed that is nutritionally balanced will help you prevent and solve vitamin and mineral deficiencies. You can administer a vitamin/mineral supplement to your flock if you detect a vitamin or mineral shortage brought on by stress or disease.
Keep in mind that taking too much of any of the fat-soluble vitamins and some minerals can be hazardous for your flock. Give a vitamin or mineral supplement to treat a deficiency until the symptoms go away, but no more than eight to ten days in a row.
As an alternative, you can add vitamin and mineral-rich supplemental foods to your flock’s diet. When you suspect a vitamin or mineral deficiency in your flock, you can supply them with the following sources:
- Green Leafy & Forage Green: A, K, and C vitamins
- The vitamins A, D, and E found in cod liver oil
- Sunshine Access: Vitamin D
- Calcium from crushed oyster shells
- Vitamin C in pumpkin, cooked potatoes, and squash
- Iodine, manganese, magnesium, potassium, niacin, calcium, vitamins A and C and B vitamins are all found in sea kelp.
- Fish and Cooked Meats: phosphorous and vitamin B12
- Black soldier fly larvae: calcium, phosphorus, and protein
One additional mineral that laying hens should have daily access to be a free-choice calcium supplement, which allows them to ingest calcium according to their specific requirements.
