Why?
Mainly for iodine.
In recipes where I am not using commercial feed, the iodised salt that I add does not add enough iodine to hit the target dose for poultry, which is somewhere in the range of .5–3mg/kg of feed.
Sending .3% salt (of the total mix) only provides about .2mg/kg of feed.
It seems many still reference an old guideline from the 1994 National Research Council book "The Nutrient Requirements of Poultry", which puts iodine requirements at .3mg/kg of feed. Since then, there have been discussions of the NRC's values being too low in some instances for birds to really thrive.
When you think of iodine you are probably thinking thyroid and metabolism, which are appropriate things to think. But, we can further think about circulation, muscle function, neural function, immune function, reproductive function, maturation processes, and secondary skin structures (i.e., feathers!)
Indeed, some notice better feathering as the dose approaches 3mg/kg of feed.
When iodine is deficient we would expect to see immunodeficiency, metabolic disorder, and perturbed organ and reproductive development—you know, unwell birds.
Similarly, we can go too far in the opposite direction and inhibit egg production and even puberty when iodine provision is excessive, so it is not advisable to go overboard.
The Laucke Gamebird Finisher I am currently deploying in my commercial amendment recipe has iodine added. Do they provide the dose? No.
I suspect it is closer to .5mg/kg of feed.
The dose that vitec.com.au provide for adding Durvillea potatorum to poultry feed is 1%. They do not provide an iodine concentration for their product.
Instead of adding their recommended 18g, I have been adding 10g.
This below article puts the concentration of iodine in dry Bull Kelp at .25%, which is 25mg of iodine per 10g, which suggests a more ideal dose would 1.8g instead of 10g . . .
https://www.publish.csiro.au/mf/MF9720011
This other below article puts the concentration at about 7mg per gram, which would suggest .64g would be the ideal addition to my ~1.8kg mix . . .
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10811-023-03074-0
Have I been providing too much iodine?
Maybe.
The issue of hens going off the lay do not seem to come into effect at these doses. The below article indicates minimal effects below 100mg/kg of feed and they reference an article involving turkeys being unaffected regarding laying below 35mg/kg.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/responses-of-domestic-fowl-to-excess-iodine-a-review/889949FF7F31FB4FE9D064C29E00A92C
However, they do indicate that embryonic mortality and hatchability of fertile egg are considerably affected at the dose I am currently providing (~13.88mg/kg of feed).
Page 35 of this paper is particularly interesting regarding programming the ideal amount of iodine into the yolks. Krouoova et al. (1999) suggest 3.5mg/kg if feed is ideal, whilst Ishikawa and Kamimae (1980) suggest 150mg/kg.
Fascinating iodine discussion here for sure.
Will I be reducing my current feed's iodine concentration to below 3.5mg/kg so that none of my crew are sexually retarded?
Yes.
I will also send Laucke and Vitec some enquiring emails me thinks.
Anyhoo, here is a pic of Lloyd Floss harvesting some Bull Kelp.
Here is a lower linoleic acid commercial feed amendment recipe if you are eating le eggs and also have a few extra roosters you might need to consume.
(Protein)[Fat]
1700g Gamebird Finisher (.22)[.03]
40g Flax Seeds (.155)[.422]
5g Hemp Seeds (.30)[.50]
15g Dehydrated Pilchards (.709)[.043]
15g Dehydrated Grass-Fed Beef Liver (.621)[.179]
15g Paprika (.141)[.129]
10g Dehydrated Bull Kelp/Durvillaea potatorum (.1)[0]
18g Grass-Fed Butter (.006)[.814]
Protein = 22.25%
Fat = 4.97%
I try to keep the fat in the higher range (closer to 5% for Japanese quail) as the slower gastrointestinal transit time due to the higher fat percentage seems to give them more opportunity to absorb nutrients.
Moreover, my crew smash a lot of greens which lowers the overall percentage of fat and protein in their diet, so I feel that sitting a little higher on both (16–24% being a typical protein range, 3–5% being a typical fat range) is nutritional insurance.
#quail #flax #butter #eggs #ranch
nevent1q…5602
#nutrients #iodinestr #birdstr #quailstr #bullkelpstr