You can eat the first eggs laid by chickens.
The first eggs laid by chickens are safe to eat and are also considered a delicacy.
Although the first eggs laid by chickens are smaller than a regular egg and the shell may be stronger, the flavor of the first eggs laid by chickens is often described as delicious and sometimes with an egg yolk that is more intense.
The first eggs laid by chickens is often known as practice run eggs, although it's a misconception as the chicken's body is preparing for regular production of eggs and the resulting egg is not a sign of poor health.
Collect the egg promptly after it's laid to ensure freshness and to ensure it's still good to eat.
A good rule to follow when feeding chicken is the 90/10 rule for chickens which is a dietary guideline which states that 90% of a chicken's diet should come from a complete and balanced feed, and the remaining diet of the chicken can be made up of treats such as vegetables, scratch grains and fruits.
This ratio using the 90/10 rule for a chickens diet, helps to ensure that the chickens get the needed essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients from their complete feed for proper health and growth, while also allowing the chickens to have a small portion of varied snacks.
For example, if a hen eats around 1/2 a cup of complete feed per day, then treats should be limited to around 2 tablespoons.
The 90/10 rule for chickens is important for nutrient balance, preventing nutrient dilution and for practical application.
By following the 90/10 rule for a chickens diet you can feed treats to your chickens without compromising the chickens overall nutritional needs.
And too many treats for your chickens can dilute the chickens essential nutrients from the complete feed, which can cause the chickens to have health problems or even a decrease in production of eggs.
And complete chicken feeds are also specifically formulated to provide the chickens all the 38 essential nutrients for growth, egg production and their overall health.
To use the 90/10 rule for chickens feed the complete feed to your chickens first, and make sure the chickens have access to their complete feed at all times.
Then offer treats to your chickens in moderation after the chickens have finished their complete feed, and limit the chickens to around 10 percent of their daily intake.
You can give your chickens some healthy treats like fresh fruits or frozen fruits and scratch grains, vegetables and mealworms or even some special formulated chicken treats.
Also adjust this for different stages as young chicks should only eat a complete starter grower feed and not be given treats until they are older.
Superfoods for chickens include leafy greens, oyster shells, kelp, black soldier fly larvae or even pumpkin seeds for zinc and protein and flax seeds which provide omega-3s.
Black soldier fly larvae are a high protein powerhouse superfood for chickens that help to support egg production and molting also contains calcium to form strong eggshells.
Kelp also known as seaweed is a rich source of calcium, trace minerals and iodine that help to improve eggshell quality as well as yolk color.
Oyster shells are great sources of calcium, which helps prevent thin eggshells and improve the nutrition of the egg yolk.
Leafy greens, like spinach and kale provide the chickens with essential vitamins, protein and calcium to strengthen the eggshells and reduce breakage.
Pumpkin seeds are rich in protein, healthy fats and zinc, which boosts the chickens immunity recovery during molting.
And you can also add some apple cider vinegar to your chickens water to stop the spread of illnesses and improve the chickens digestive health.
A cheap source of protein for chickens are cooked eggs, meat scraps, crushed eggshells, mealworms and black soldier fly larvae, sprouted lentils, and sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
You can raise mealworms or black soldier fly larvae in a bin at home for a cheap protein source for chickens, with minimal cost effort to supply your chickens with a continuous supply of high protein treats.
Alfalfa is also a good cheap source of protein for chickens as Alfalfa is usually a 16 % minimum of protein.
If you feed chickens too much protein, the excess protein that the chicken consumes will lead to strain on the chickens kidneys, ammonia buildup and even respiratory issues, as a result of nitrogen excretion and excess uric acid.
Other issues that can result from a chicken being fed too much protein are increased water consumption, which leads to wetter litter which can also cause foot and leg problems in the chicken and also it can lead to a nutritional imbalance if the protein rich foods or treats replace the chickens balanced diet.
The chickens kidneys must harder to excrete the excess nitrogen, when fed too much protein which can lead to kidney strain and possible kidney failure.
The excess uric acid also breaks down into ammonia gas, which can also result in respiratory issues and respiratory distress and damage the eyes and trachea.
A chickens diet that is excessively high in protein can result in a nutritional imbalance and deficiency in other essential nutrients like minerals, carbohydrates and vitamins, which causes a form of malnutrition.
The protein itself is not the main cause of obesity in chickens, although an imbalanced diet that includes too many high protein treats and too much protein based feeds can result in weight gain.
The signs of excessive protein intake in chickens include, a strong ammonia smell in the chicken coop, more frequent drinking and wet, soggy bedding, watery eyes and lameness or difficulty moving, especially in young chicks.
Chickens will also stop eating when fully or satisfied as chickens know when they are full and will eat until they are full and once the chickens are satisfied instead of just being truly full, the chickens will stop eating.
Chickens also self regulate to an extent, but chickens can still overeat and become obese f they are many treats or the wrong diet as a chickens body can fill up on "junk food".
When chickens have a nutritionally complete diet of food that is in constant supply, such as balanced layer feed, the chickens will naturally stop eating when they've had enough to sustain their body and meet their needs.
Chickens will also act like they are starving for treats and scraps, even when the chickens main source of food is plentiful.
Although chickens will also regulate their consumption of their main feed based on how many treats they have.
So in this case, chickens are unlikely to overeat on the balanced feed itself if the treats are limited to 10 percent of the chickens diet.
Overeating in chickens can also become a problem if the chickens diet is not balanced, with too much junk food for an excessive amount of treats, which can lead to health issues in chickens like obesity.
For broiler chickens, a different situation applies, as broiler chickens are bred for rapid growth and can also eat themselves to death if they are not managed carefully.
Providing your chickens with a constant supply of food is very important for the health and egg production of the chickens.
And sometimes people use 2 chicken feeders to ensure less dominant chickens get their share of the chicken food.
Chickens do self regulate and will stop eating once they have had enough food to eat and are satisfied.
Although chickens are not like some other animals, like dogs and cats, which might overeat to the point of becoming fat if they are given an unlimited access to their food.