Chickens are more than mere commodities: they’re intelligent creatures who experience indescribable cruelty on factory farms – harming not only themselves but also people, the environment, and rural economies.
Factory-farmed chickens may also be exposed to subtherapeutic doses of antibiotics and harmful contaminants that can then pass along to consumers when they buy and eat the poultry.
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Rice bran
Rice bran (RB) is an abundant agricultural by-product that is commonly used as poultry feed in developing nations. Unfortunately, its high fiber content and presence of antinutritional factors inhibit poultry growth; hence it is necessary to create an effective method to decrease fibrous components within RB in order to increase nutritional value and optimize poultry production performance.
Extrusion-processed RB increases its protein digestibility and energy digestibility while simultaneously decreasing phytic acid levels that inhibit digestion and absorption of essential elements, like P. Supplementing broiler chick diets with dietary RB has proven successful at increasing performance, availability and utilization of P. It has even shown positive effects on carcass traits through specific amino acids or bioactive peptides – yet long-term clinical trials must still take place to establish its impact on blood indices.
Wheat bran
Wheat bran is an excellent source of dietary fiber, helping reduce digestive issues while simultaneously increasing healthy bacteria in your gut. Furthermore, adding this staple food into your daily routine may lower your risk for metabolic syndrome–an association between type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease–thereby potentially decreasing metabolic syndrome risk factors.
Fermented wheat bran fed to starter, grower and layer diets did not negatively impact performance or carcase characteristics in a small clinical trial. On the contrary, its use brought many positive side-effects including increased duodenal amylase activity and intestinal microflora abundance in broilers. Therefore, solid-state fermentation by xylanase-producing Bacillus cereus provides an efficient way of pre-treating wheat bran for use in feed industry applications.
Citrus molasses
Citrus molasses is a byproduct of citrus juice extraction. This thick, viscous liquid contains both soluble sugars and organic acids that feed animal feed as well as being used as fuel. Citrus molasses has become more and more popular due to the rising trend for using natural ingredients in food and beverage products; consumers increasingly favor products without synthetic chemicals.
Blackstrap molasses is an excellent addition to chicken diets for optimal health and weight gain, rich in calcium, magnesium and potassium. Additionally, its antimicrobial properties may help clear away parasites or purge toxic build-up – either mixed into water or given orally directly. Molasses can even replace vitamins lost due to diarrhea.
Wood molasses
Addition of molasses to chicken feed can increase their nutrition intake. It makes grain mixes more appealing to fussy hens, keeps vitamin and mineral powders from dissolving into the feed, contains high levels of calcium, magnesium and potassium and may even aid purge following diarrhea episodes.
The nutritional value of molasses depends on its source. Cane and beet molasses both contain approximately three percent protein; citrus molasses contains fourteen percent; wood molasses is produced as a byproduct from paper industry production and contains two percent. Wood molasses has also become popular in poultry rations as it reduces dustiness while increasing energy. Fermentations producing butyl alcohol, butyric acid or 2-3 butylene glycol all utilize both types of sugar equally, therefore hardwood or softwood produced molasses should provide equivalent benefits in these applications.
Oil and fat
Factory farms raise millions of chickens each year for meat and eggs production, creating ideal breeding grounds for potentially deadly diseases like Avian Influenza which could spread between birds and humans and cause pandemic outbreaks.
Factory farm animals are given antibiotics to maintain good health during growth, but this antibiotics end up stored in their tissues and ultimately passed to people when they eat their meat – leading to numerous health concerns, including an increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria strains.
Wild chickens have the freedom to explore their environment freely and discover it on their own, from building nests, roaming their yard, eating various types of foods and taking dust baths, taking dust baths or scratching for insects – activities which help ensure healthy lifestyles for these birds.
