Food for fowls
A SURPRISING NUMBER OF GRAINS, SEEDS, VEGETABLES AND EVEN GREEN FEED CARRY WHAT ARE CALLED ANTINUTRITIONAL FACTORS (ANFS).
Chooks are conservative about what they will eat and may be loath to try items unfamiliar to them. Visual appearance influences acceptance: fowls have demonstrated preferences for creamy yellow items followed by yellow and orange. They’ve eaten red and red-blue items when very hungry.
Taste also influences what is eaten: fowls can distinguish between sweet, sour, salty and bitter flavours and detect mouldy-rancid items. Fowls will often shake their head or wipe their beak vigorously after ingesting unpalatable food.
ROLE OF DIGESTION
Not everything in the
