Whether you have a small flock or a large commercial operation, you want to ensure that your chickens have the nutrition they need to remain healthy, prevent the spread of disease and provide consumers with delicious meat and eggs.
Though most feed products provide foundational nourishment, there’s value to using a nutrient supplement for chickens to supply vitamins, minerals and organic compounds that are harder to come by through foraging or even standard feed. Here are just some of the nutrients that kelp meal for chickens from a source like Acadian Kelp™ can provide for your flock.
Calcium
We all know how important calcium is to the growth of strong bones in chickens. Calcium-rich feed ingredients not only fortify the bones of chickens but reduce the risk of leg weakness or lameness, which can result in injury or death.
For laying hens, there’s an even greater need for calcium-rich meals since the profusion of this mineral contributes to the overall thickness and durability of an egg’s shell. Without the right amount of calcium, chickens can produce soft-shelled eggs that amount to little more than a “wiggly ball of fluid.”
Seaweed like Ascophyllum nodosum is an abundant source of this mineral. Including the right amount of seaweed nutrient supplements in your flock’s feed regimen can allow you to raise healthier birds and produce sturdier eggs.
Vitamin K
The Ascophyllum nodosum used in our seaweed livestock feed is rich in one nutrient that is often overlooked in poultry diets: vitamin K. When poultry have ready access to vitamin K, they are better equipped to form blood clots in the case of injury as well as maintain their bone density. This ensures that your birds remain sturdy and healthy until they are ready for consumers.
Moreover, an ample amount of vitamin K improves the overall appearance of your meat and your eggs. When chicken have a vitamin K deficiency, there are more likely to be blood spots in their eggs as well as hemorrhages in the legs and breast, which hinders their marketability.
Omega-3s
For farmers raising broiler or laying chickens, omega-3 fatty acids should be a vital part of their feed regimen. Growing chickens rely on a steady supply of omega-3s to reduce their risk of oxidative stress, hypertension and inflammation. The omega-3s in seaweed feed supplements offer a twofold advantage to chickens’ immune response, through the fatty acids themselves as well as the plentiful prebiotics in seaweed which help good gut microbes to flourish in your poultry’s GI tracts.
What about the eggs? Laying hens that receive an abundant amount of omega-3 fatty acids in their diets can pass along that nutritional value to their eggs. More than just producing nutritional meals, they look more appealing thanks to the richer yolk color and greater egg white height that’s possible when laying hens are getting the right amount of omega-3s from seaweed supplements.
Want to learn more about how kelp meal for chickens can enhance the overall wellbeing and performance of your flock? Reach out to a member of the Acadian Kelp™ team for more information.
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