Despite its apparent nutritional perfection, the egg can be enhanced by improving what is fed to the hen. Hens are very good at incorporating what they eat into the developing egg. Hens fed ground flaxseed will produce eggs with a much higher level of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an important omega-3 fatty acid, while those fed algae meal will lay eggs with higher amounts of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), another very valuable omega-3 fatty acid. The greater inclusion of vitamin D in today’s poultry feeds has increased its concentration in eggs. Even the color of the yolk is influenced by pigments the hen consumes. This is a very important concept for people raising backyard hens for eggs. Feed them a poor diet of unfortified scratch grains and table scraps, and not only will the nutrition of the egg suffer, but the hen’s production will likely decrease, and her eggshells will be thinner, contributing to increased breakage and wastage.
Many people remember their grandparents feeding chickens this way, but we now know much more about nutrition of both chickens and humans than we did back then, and your grandparents’ chickens probably had much larger areas in which to roam and forage for insects, grubs and various forbs. Your grandparents also may not have used supplemental light to keep hens laying through the winter, when there are no bugs or weeds to consume. Scientists have worked hard to determine the nutritional requirements of chickens and to develop feeds that meet those requirements. Purina Layena Plus Omega-3 is formulated to result in more Omega-3 in the egg and has a natural vegetarian formula with added vitamins, minerals, and trace nutrients and without added antibiotics or hormones.
Like all Purina SunFresh Recipe Poultry Feeds, Layena Plus Omega-3 contains marigold extract for rich golden yolks, key levels of calcium and manganese for strong shells with fewer cracks, and an optimized level of Vitamin E to support a healthy immune system.
Source: Purina Poultry
Tags: Chickens