Chickens require proper nutrition to achieve optimum growth and egg production. Most feed dealers carry poultry feed that’s specially formulated to meet chickens’ dietary needs. Here are the most important nutrients you should look for in chicken feed.

Key Nutrients in a Chicken’s Diet

1. Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are chickens’ primary source of energy. Ask your local feed dealers to recommend a feed that contains grains such as corn, barley, and wheat. While cellulose (or crude fiber) is a carbohydrate, chickens have trouble digesting it, so look for feed that doesn’t contain this ingredient.

2. Vitamins

Chickens don’t require large quantities of vitamins, but these ingredients are nonetheless important for their growth, body functions, and egg production. A chicken’s body can produce its own vitamin C, and it can absorb vitamin D through its skin when exposed to sunlight, but other vitamins need to be provided in feed ingredients such as alfalfa.

3. Minerals

Minerals are essential for many of a chicken’s body functions, including eggshell formation, energy metabolism, and muscle activity. The grains in poultry feed don’t contain many minerals, so mineral supplements such as oyster shell, limestone, and dicalcium phosphate are usually added.

4. Fats

Fats (particularly the fatty acid linoleic acid) provide energy and help a chicken’s body synthesize hormones and absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K. Fats commonly appear in chicken feed as lard, corn oil, and yellow grease. Feeds that contain fat run the risk of going rancid, so ask your local feed dealers to recommend a brand that also incorporates a preservative such as ethoxyquin.

5. Proteins

Proteins, which are made up of amino acids, are crucial for a chicken’s muscle development, feather formation, and egg production. Protein in poultry feed may come from plants (such as soybeans and corn) or animals (typically in the form of bonemeal). The most important amino acids for chickens are methionine and lysine, so most commercial chicken feeds are supplemented with these nutrients.

Bolivar Farmers Exchange in Bolivar, MO, is one of the region’s leading feed dealers. Since 1920, this family-oriented agriculture company has been providing Polk County with a wide range of farm supplies, including bulk seed and fertilizer. Call (417) 326-2664 to get in touch with them.