The protein percentage may be the first number you notice on a bag of chicken feed—but it cannot tell you the whole nutritional story.

In this Audio Edition, Rip Stalvey, Carey Blackmon and livestock nutritionist Jeff Mattocks examine the vitamins, minerals and metabolizable energy that help determine how well poultry use their feed.

The conversation explains why minimum nutrient requirements are not necessarily optimum levels, how vitamins support vision, feather development, reproduction and normal immune function, and why minerals must remain in balance rather than being added individually without a plan.

You’ll also learn:

• Why vitamin A matters to feathers, skin, vision and developing chicks
• How vitamin E and selenium work together
• What B vitamins may contribute to normal behavior and stress response
• Why vitamin C can be useful during heat stress—but difficult to add correctly
• How heat, air and long storage can reduce vitamin value
• Why excess minerals can interfere with one another
• The relationship among calcium, phosphorus and other minerals
• What metabolizable energy means on a practical level
• Why growing birds need different energy levels at different stages
• How to begin evaluating a poultry feed tag more thoughtfully

This discussion is intended to help poultry keepers ask better questions about feed. It is not a recommendation to add individual vitamins or minerals without knowing the complete diet. More is not automatically better, and some nutrients can become harmful when overused.

Helping Poultry Keepers Make Better Decisions.

Chapters and timestamps

0:00 Why Vitamins Matter in Poultry Diets

2:03 Vitamin D, Sunlight and Artificial Lighting

4:06 Minimum Requirements vs. Optimum Nutrition

10:01 Vitamin A, Feathers and Flock Health

15:02 Feed Quality and Breeder Nutrition

20:20 Vitamin E and Selenium

23:25 B Vitamins and Bird Behavior

25:16 Vitamin C and Heat Stress

27:11 Protecting Vitamins During Feed Storage

30:38 Preventing Vitamin Deficiencies

32:09 A Word From Our Sponsor

33:28 Why Mineral Balance Matters

36:28 Copper in Poultry Drinking Water

37:44 How Vitamins and Minerals Work Together

40:45 Finding a Quality Poultry Feed

43:34 Choosing Fats and Oils

45:04 Understanding Metabolizable Energy

49:09 Fish Meal and Other Protein Sources

50:54 Energy Levels for Conditioning Birds

54:19 Feed Labels and Supplemental Selenium

56:31 Closing Takeaway and Recommended Episode

Prefer the original Video Edition? Watch it here:
https://youtube.com/live/YRCGjk2GAfA

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Poultry Keepers 360 - - https://www.facebook.com/groups/354973752688125
Poultry Breeders Nutrition - https://www.facebook.com/groups/4908798409211973

Does a deep orange yolk mean a more nutritious egg? Why do some eggs taste richer or develop a fishy flavor? And what causes watery whites or thin shells?

In this Audio Edition of our member-led PK360 egg show, Rip Stalvey hosts a discussion with team members Jeff Mattocks, Carey Blackmon, and Sue Dobson. Together, they work through the questions poultry keepers sent us. We discuss how feed, forage, breed, and the hen herself can affect egg flavor, yolk color, fatty acids, texture, and shell quality. We also talk about what a “complete feed” label tells you when choosing feed for laying hens.

The Egg Nutrition and Flavor Research Guide mentioned in the show is available in the Files section of the Poultry Keepers 360 and Poultry Breeders Nutrition Facebook groups. It includes links to nine research papers for keepers who want to explore these questions further.

CHAPTERS
0:00 What makes a better egg?
0:57 What gives eggs their flavor?
2:13 Do breed and genetics change egg flavor?
4:14 What causes a fishy smell or taste?
7:58 Free ranging, flavor, and yolk color
11:05 Why yolks differ—and what color tells us
17:44 A member question about fragile yolks
20:26 Beak and leg color in laying hens
25:00 Corn, soy, and omega-enriched feeds
35:49 Watery whites, texture, and hard-to-peel eggs
38:02 Thin shells, meat spots, and unusual eggs
42:08 What does “complete feed” mean?
43:38 A word from our sponsor, Fertrell
46:25 Research behind feed and egg claims
48:01 Egg Nutrition and Flavor Research Guide
53:04 Changing protein levels as hens mature
55:00 Find past PK360 LIVEs by topic
56:09 Selecting hens for egg capacity

Poultry Keepers 360: Helping Poultry Keepers Make Better Decisions.

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Poultry Keepers 360 - - https://www.facebook.com/groups/354973752688125
Poultry Breeders Nutrition - https://www.facebook.com/groups/4908798409211973

Poor hatch rates are not always the incubator’s fault. Temperature, humidity, airflow, egg quality, breeder nutrition, storage, turning, and even the room where the incubator operates can influence the outcome.

In this Audio Edition, the Poultry Keepers 360 team explains how to prepare and fine-tune an incubator, recognize temperature and humidity problems, manage hatching eggs, and make better decisions throughout the incubation process.

Topics include:

• Preparing an incubator before setting eggs
• Choosing the right location
• Temperature and humidity targets
• Finding hot and cold spots
• Using calibrated thermometers and data loggers
• Monitoring air-cell development
• Turning and storing hatching eggs
• Breeder nutrition and chick vigor
• Dry incubation
• Cleaning and sanitizing dirty eggs
• When to remove chicks from the hatcher

CHAPTERS

0:00 Understanding the incubator’s job

1:33 Prepare the incubator before setting eggs

2:49 Choosing the right incubator location

5:24 Fertility, nutrition, and egg sanitation

8:46 Turning eggs correctly

10:16 Incubator construction and insulation

11:13 Temperature and humidity targets

13:44 When to remove chicks from the hatcher

16:02 Opening the incubator and recovery time

20:41 Finding hot spots and airflow problems

26:11 Thermometers, hygrometers, and data loggers

31:18 Air-cell development and humidity adjustment

34:46 Candling and removing problem eggs

37:45 Comparing incubator designs and features

44:28 Feeding breeders for better hatching eggs

48:50 Cleaning dirty eggs and protecting the bloom

55:18 Dry incubation and regional humidity

57:12 Storing and turning eggs before incubation

1:02:49 How long hatching eggs can be stored

1:04:18 Stabilizing a partly filled incubator

1:05:33 Hand-turning duck eggs

1:08:10 Can poultry be bred year-round?

1:13:44 Hatching eggs upright or on their sides

1:15:37 Food and water inside the hatcher

If you enjoy thoughtful, experience-based poultry information like this, that’s what this channel is all about.

Poultry Keepers 360
Helping Poultry Keepers Make Better Decisions

Join our Facebook Groups:

Poultry Keepers 360 - - https://www.facebook.com/groups/354973752688125
Poultry Breeders Nutrition - https://www.facebook.com/groups/4908798409211973