h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Feeding Fowl

There are a lot of people that will declare that all chickens need is a little cracked corn, because that's all that their relatives of a couple generations ago fed *their* farm chickens. Well, first off, chickens on a farm a few generations ago had a bit more space and variety to forage than the average backyard provides--feed that other animals have spilled, a larger variety of plantlife, insects in manure piles, etc. Secondly, chickens reach sexual maturity at around 6 months, so one human generation represents many chicken generations. In the last few decades, chickens have been bred for faster growth* and higher egg production. Both of those require more
nutrition than a diet of straight corn can provide--after all, one egg laid by a hen uses the same resources that one birth given by a
mammal does.

There are other people that will insist that chickens can eat nothing but a commercially produced diet. While this is more defensible on a nutritional level, an egg laid by a chicken that eats nothing but commercial feed will taste no different* than eggs bought at the store, at a higher cost per dozen*.



*Which is why the average chicken in the supermarket was 6-8 weeks old when it was slaughtered. Selective breeding and hybridisation are powerful things.

*Except for the freshness factor.

*Even if one doesn't buy organic and/or GMO-free feed.
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Tired tonight. To be continued.

I buy eggs from cage-free hens.

Deb