How to Prevent Dietary Imbalances in Chickens

A nutritionally complete and balanced diet for your flock should help prevent a majority of dietary issues, however, sometimes dietary imbalances can be caused by factors that we can’t control or are unaware of. Dietary imbalances can result in a chicken not getting the nutrition it needs to stay healthy. However, there are natural ways you can keep your flock’s diet balanced and nutritionally complete! Learning how to prevent dietary imbalances in chickens can help you raise a healthy and productive homestead flock.

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What Are Dietary Imbalances?

In order to know how to prevent dietary imbalances, you must first know what dietary imbalances are and what causes them in the homestead flock. A dietary imbalance occurs when one or more of the main nutritional elements of a chicken’s diet is consumed in excess or becomes deficient.

When a nutrient excess or deficiency occurs, a chicken’s body must figure out what to do with the extra nutrition or lack of nutrition which can then lead to health issues. If caught in time, nutritional deficiencies are rarely deadly unless they are caused by some other pre-existing health issue. With that being said, if a chicken goes without proper nutrition for an extended period of time the lack of nutrition will become fatal.

Main Elements of a Chicken’s Diet:

• protein– responsible for nearly every body process, is needed for maintaining a strong immune system, and is essential for healthy bones, joints, muscles, and feathers
• carbohydrates- provide instant energy to fuel a chicken’s active lifestyle
• fat– needed for cushioning internal organs, staying warm, and for storing fat-soluble vitamins
• vitamins– are needed for proper body functions, overall good health, and for maintaining a strong immune system
• minerals– needed for proper body functions and overall good health

A chicken needs each one of those nutrients in certain amounts every day in order to stay healthy. When a chicken consumes too much of one nutrient or not enough or another nutrient, then a dietary imbalance occurs.

What Causes Dietary Imbalances?

Now that you know what dietary imbalances are, you must know some common causes of dietary imbalances in order to properly prevent them from becoming an issue in your homestead flock. Here are some causes that can lead to a imbalance in a chicken’s diet:

• stale feed– stale feed lacks fresh nutrition and can be nutritionally deficient
• wrong food for the species, age, breed, or sex– won’t meet the nutritional needs of the bird consuming the feed
• non-nutritionally complete feed– feed that contains too much or too little of a dietary element
• decrease in feed consumption– can be caused by weather, disease, internal parasites, bullying, improper feeding systems, etc…
• changes in weather– weather changes can lead to an increased or decreased need for certain dietary elements
• stress– predator attacks, bullying, introducing new flock members, illness, or sudden changes in the weather can all cause stress
• too many treats– too many treats or improper usage of daily snacks and supplements can lead to dietary imbalances
• health issues– disease, organ failure, cancer, tumors, and parasites can inhibit how a chicken uses the nutrition from its diet

Dietary imbalances can be flock wide or individual based. If the dietary imbalance is flock wide, you may want to consider factors that affect the whole flock. Such factors can include their daily feed, treats, or the weather. If an individual chicken seems to be suffering from a dietary imbalance, you should consider factors such as stress, health issues, and reasons why the bird may have stopped eating.

With all that being said, you can prevent a majority of dietary imbalances from becoming an issue by implementing these 7 preventative tips in your homestead flock’s diet and daily care!

#1. Give Them Proper Daily Feed

Starting off with a nutritionally complete daily feed ration for your flock can go a long way in preventing any dietary imbalances. There are several factors to consider when choosing a feed for your homestead flock that will ensure they get the nutrition they need:

• make sure it’s fresh– only buy as much feed as you will use in 3-4 weeks and throw away food that smells musty, moldy, or old
• store the feed properly– feed should be stored in a dry and airtight container
• age appropiate– make sure you are feeding your flock the proper food for their age
• purpose appropiate– feed layer feed, breeder feed, grower feed, or mixed flock feed depending on what you are raising your flock for

You should also take into consideration any breed specific dietary needs that will need to be met by the chicken’s diet. Heritage and rare chicken breeds often benefit from a diet that is high in protein. Specific chicken breeds may thrive better when they receive more of a certain dietary element than what most chickens require on a daily basis.

Feed Type Matters:

Lastly, you should also make sure the nutritionally complete feed you give your flock is in a form that your flock will eat. Chicken feed comes in several different forms, which I discuss more in my post on Picking Out a Homestead Poultry Feed. In general, I prefer to feed my homestead flock a mash feed or whole grain feed.

Both of those feed types contain the ingredients in their raw or minimally processed states. Mash and whole grain feeds allows my flock to pick through the feed and eat what they need nutritionally. The feed is formulated to provide them with a balanced daily diet. However, it also lets them customize their feed intake based on their individual needs at the time.

#2. Make Seasonal Adjustments

In addition to feeding your flock a nutritionally complete feed, you will also need to consider when your flock’s nutritional needs change based on the season or weather. Chickens can survive year-round on a nutritionally complete diet that meets their daily nutritional needs. However, they can thrive when their diet is customized based on their seasonal dietary needs.

Here are some seasonal dietary adjustments to be aware of that can help prevent dietary deficiencies during those times:

• hot weather– Hot weather often makes chickens consume less feed. Feed your flock in the morning and evening during hot weather and provide them with a more nutritionally rich diet.
• cold weather– Cold weather increases the need for energy and protein in order to stay warm. Provide more energy rich and protein rich foods during cold weather.
• molting– During molting season, a chicken’s need for dietary protein increases as protein is used for growing in new feathers. Give your flock protein supplements during molting season.
• high production times– Spring is often a time of high egg production, so it’s important that your laying flock is getting proper supplemental calcium and a nutrient rich diet to support the demands of egg production.

Keep in mind that seasonal adjustments should be made only during that season or as they are needed. Making dietary adjustments when the additional nutrition is not needed can lead to dietary imbalances.

#3. Use Proper Feeding Techniques

To prevent dietary imbalances in your homestead flock you should be using proper feeding techniques. While there are many different ways to feed chickens, some methods work better for the homestead flock than others. Of course, every homesteader’s flock feeding method may not be the same. However, here are some tips to create a feeding plan for your flock that can prevent dietary imbalances:

• Free-choice Feeding: Give your flock access to their daily feed at all times of the day. This will allow them to eat whenever they need energy and prevents bullying during feeding times.
• Feeder Placement: Make sure the feeder is located in an area that is easy to access for all members of the flock. The center of the enclosure or the center of the coop are good locations.
• Feeder Height: The feeder should be at back-height to the shortest bird in your flock.
• Type of Feeder: Make sure the feeder you are using allows at least half of your flock to eat all at once. If you have a large flock, supplying two feeders can be beneficial for ensuring everyone gets the nutrition they need.

Use the free-choice feeding method for both your flock’s daily feed and for any treats, snacks, or supplements you give your flock. I believe that most chickens know what they need nutritionally, but, if given the chance to gorge on their favorite foods, they will. Which is why treats and snacks need to be fed in moderation.

Problems with the free-choice feeding method usually only arise when other factors cause bad behaviors such as boredom eating, bullying, or improper feeding of treats and supplements.

#4. Promote Good Health

Keeping your flock healthy is a great way to prevent dietary imbalances. When a chicken is not healthy, that means its body cannot use the nutrients its receiving from its feed properly. Of course, dietary imbalances in and of themselves can lead to health issues. However, the opposite is also true where health issues can lead to dietary imbalances.

Anytime a chicken stops eating its usual amount of daily feed you should be concerned. When a chicken stops eating or decreases its feed consumption, it won’t be getting the essential nutrients it needs to survive. A sick chicken should be cared for immediately. You should also learn what you can feed a sick chicken!

Even if a chicken is eating normally, if it is loosing weight or has non-normal poops than you know something is up. When a chicken still has an appetite but is declining in health, that means its body is not utilizing the nutrition from the feed properly or there is a dietary imbalance.

Ailments such as internal parasites and external parasites, organ failure, and cancer can all compromise how well a chicken absorbs and utlilizes the nutrition from its feed.

Ways to Promote a Healthy Flock:

• Use Natural Supplements– offer natural supplements to boost the immune system and promote overall good health
• Monthly Health Checks– catch ailments before they become serious by doing a monthly health check
• Practice Good Biosecurity– prevent exposing your flock to outside diseases by using good biosecurity practices
• Keep a Clean Coop– a clean coop will prevent bacteria from building, ammonie fumes from causing problems, and will break up parasites cycles

#5. Prevent Stress

Stress can lead to dietary imbalances because of the many ways that stress influences a chicken’s health and behaviors. Stress weakens the immune system. When a chicken’s immune system is suppressed it cannot fight disease or parasites as efficiently. Parasites can steal nutrients from a chicken’s diet and disease can cause a chicken to stop eating or decrease its feed consumption.

Stress can also lead to bad behaviors such as bullying or gorge feeding. Chickens who get bullied away from the feeder won’t be able to get the nutrition they need from their daily feed. Gorging can happen when a chicken is bored and can lead to overconsumption of certain dietary elements.

Stress overall has a negative affect on how well a chicken’s body can function, which then plays a role in how well a chicken can utilize the nutrition from its diet.

Here are some ways to prevent stress in your homestead flock:

• provide plenty of coop and enclosure space
• integrate new chickens properly
• prevent cold stress during the winter
• help your flock deal with the heat during the summer
• provide healthy boredom busters when your flock has to stay cooped up
• predator proof your chicken coop and enclosure
• avoid frequent loud noises, chasing your chickens, or other activities that cause a scared, flighty reaction from your flock

#6. Healthy Snacks & Treats in Moderation

Healthy snacks are foods that are a natural part of a chicken’s diet and can be fed on a regular basis. They are foods that add to a chicken’s daily nutritional intake without compromising the nutritional balance of the daily feed. Healthy snacks can cause dietary imbalances when the wrong food is used as a healthy snack or when a healthy snack is not fed in moderation.

For example, bugs are a natural part of a chicken’s diet. They add supplemental protein to a chicken’s daily feed intake. I feed my flock dried black soldier fly grubs on a daily basis. If I were to feed my flock so many grubs that they decreased their daily feed consumption, then the healthy snack could cause a dietary imbalance.

Treats are foods like table-scraps and store-bought treats. While treats are not necessarily unhealthy for chickens, they should not be fed in excess. Treats can cause dietary imbalances when the same treat is fed too frequently or in excess amounts. Treats are often high in one dietary element, which can cause a dietary imbalance if the treat is consumed in excess.

Here are some tips for using healthy snacks and treats without compromising your flock’s daily nutritional intake

Snack & Treats Tips:

• always offer healthy snacks and treats free-choice so your flock can ‘take it or leave it’
• nutritionally rich treats (like veggies) can be fed more frequently
• treats that are high in a specific dietary element (like carbohydrates or fats) should be limited
• give your flock treats and snacks in the late afternoon or evening to allow them to fill-up on their daily feed first
• rotate treats and snacks to provide variety in your flock’s diet and to prevent feeding the same foods too frequently

Treats should not make up more than 10% of your flock’s daily food intake. Healthy snacks should add nutrition to your flock’s diet without compromising the nutrition they receive from their daily feed.

What About Free-Range?

When chickens are allowed to free-range, they will forage for a variety of foods that help meet their daily nutritional needs. The natural foods provide the nutrition that a chicken needs, which means the chicken can eat less of its daily feed without compromising its daily nutritional intake. Free-ranging is a great way to let your flock forage for their own healthy treats.

#7. Supplement Only When Needed

Supplements can help treat dietary imbalances, however, they can also be a cause for a dietary imbalance as well. Natural supplements can lead to dietary imbalances when they are used in the wrong way, fed in excess, or fed too frequently.

Natural supplements should be used to address a specific issue. Once the issue is resolved, you can stop giving your flock the natural supplement. In general, most treatment-based natural supplements should be offered for no longer than 8-10 consecutive days. If the issue has not been resolved, take at least a 5-7 day break before offering the supplement again. Also consider if you are using the right supplement or if the issue can even be solved using natural supplements.

Some natural supplements can be offered on a regular basis for overall health maintenance. Even then, frequently used natural supplements should be offered no more than once a week and in the correct quantities. It’s best to rotate frequently used natural supplements as well to add variety and prevent overdosing.

Here are some natural supplements that can be used to prevent dietary imbalances in the homestead flock.

Balanced Diet Supplements:

• parsley– a mild herb rich in vitamins and minerals; can be added to water, sprinkled on treats, or mixed into feed
• garlic– naturally anti-parasitic and overall health promoter; can be offered once a week
• probiotics– help keep the good gut flora balanced and healthy; supplement probiotics can be offered once a week (keep in mind that fermented feed is a natural source of probiotics)
• crushed oyster shells + eggshells– a necessary free-choice supplement for laying hens to provide them with the calcium they need
• dried black soldier fly grubs (not mealworms)– provides supplemental protein

Always offer natural supplements free-choice to your flock. Even if the supplement is mixed into the feed or treats, your chickens should still be able to pick around the supplement if they don’t need it. For water supplements, supply a water source without supplements added to it for your flock to have a choice.

Feeding your flock a nutritionally complete, homestead diet can help prevent a majority of dietary imbalances. However, it is also helpful to know what other factors play a role in the dietary needs of your flock. If you know when their dietary needs change, then you will be able to customize their diet to meet their daily nutritional needs. Giving your flock natural supplements and healthy snacks in addition to their daily feed can help prevent dietary imbalances. And remember, everything in moderation and free-choice! Your flock often knows what they need better than you do!

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by Alexa