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The True Citizen, Wednesday, April 28, 2021 — Page 13
W. H. Reddick’s chickens produce more than 2-dozen eggs a day. The Wagon Barn Market,
Keysville, sells his extra eggs.
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County Extension Coordina
tor Peyton Sapp is surprised at
the number of people who have
begun raising chickens over the
last few years.
A crucial aspect of caring for
poultry is the need to under
stand the species’ nutritional
requirements, he said.
“Poultry enthusiasts should
consider that the birds they
are raising have some spe
cific nutritional requirements
based on their age and based
on what they are expected to
do,” Sapp said. “Birds actually
need a properly balanced diet
to thrive.”
Chickens require a diet that
supplies all of the essential
amino acids, fatty acids, car
bohydrates, vitamins, minerals
and water they need to produce
the meat or eggs the hobby
farmer expects to collect. The
first consideration in a poultry
diet should be energy (calo
ries). Calories come from three
major nutrient classes; car
bohydrates, fats and proteins,
according to Sapp.
“The largest component of
the birds’ diet is carbohydrates
stemming from cereal grains
like corn, wheat or barley,” he
said. “Good intestinal health
is closely tied to the proper
carbohydrate balance.”
Fat, in the form of animal
fats or vegetable oils, is used
as a concentrated source of
calories in a diet. Diets for
meat-type birds will contain
over 1,364 kcal per pound.
Reaching that many calories
is not feasible without the
addition of a fat source. Fats
also aids in the absorption of
important fat-soluble vitamins.
“Fatty acids in the yolk of an
egg can be influenced by the
fatty acids in the diet of a lay
ing hen,” Sapp said. “Ingredi
ents such as flaxseed, camelina
and fish meal have high levels
of mega-3 fatty acids, which
can be packaged into the egg
by the laying hen.”
Additionally, proteins are
made of 20 different amino
acids. Abird is able to make 10
of them from other compounds,
but the other half must be
present in the proteins of their
feed ingredients. The protein
content of a feed is listed on the
label as “crude protein.”
“In a com-soy-based diet the
amino acids methionine and
lysine are typically deficient,”
he said. “They need to be
added to the diet and make up
approximately 2% of the crude
protein value for methionine
and 5% for lysine.”
Adding purified amino acids
prevents over-feeding all of
the other amino acids, which
causes nutrient waste.
Since feed ingredients vary
tremendously in vitamin con
centrations, a chicken’s full
requirement is typically met
by including a vitamin pre-mix
in the diet.
Minerals are used by the
chicken for bone formation.
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Generally, grains are low in
essential minerals, so supple
menting the diet is neces
sary. Calcium, phosphorus and
salt are needed in the highest
amounts, Sapp said.
“Calcium, which can be
provided by limestone, oyster
shell or meat and bone meal
is especially important for
proper skeletal formation, as
well as for eggshell formation
in laying hens,” he said. “It
is important to supplement
the diet with inorganic forms
such as decalcium phosphate
or meat and bone meal since
most forms of phosphorus in
plants are not usable by the
bird’s body.”
When selecting feed, it is
best to pay attention to what’s
labeled as the “available phos
phorous.”
Proper nutrition for your
poultry flock can truly make a
difference in their production
level as well as their health,”
Sapp said. “No one feed in
gredient can supply what is
needed.”
More information about
feeding and caring for back
yard flocks is available by call
ing the Burke County Exten
sion Office at 706-554-2119.
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