Chicken Food for Free Part 7 Rose Leaves and Hips - Optimal Physical and Nervous System Health

In the first part of this article, which can be found here, we looked at a breakdown of the nutritional content of these two amazing foods from the prolific rose (see as an example, rosa filipes Kiftsgate below left). In this article I'll share why our poultry can benefit from this all-year-round food-crop with a wealth of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals to keep themselves in the best of health and beauty.

Rose Hips and Leaves - Why our poultry need the  nutrients they offer

Due to the problems surrounding antibiotic overuse and in particular the ban on using them in organic farming, there has been some academic work on rose hips as an alternative 'food as medicine'. Studies into rose hips, such as Diaz-Sanchez, S., D'Souza, et al (2015). Botanical alternatives to antibiotics for use in organic poultry production  Poultry science, 94(6), 1419-1430. reveal the considerable properties of rosa canina hips, in re antimicrobial, antiviral, antifungal, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunostimulatory.

Attendant Vitamins, Minerals and Phytochemicals are dealt with separately below but in reality their virtues are often dependent on each other as they work in synergy. I have highlighted some instances of this where they appear in the text.

Vitamin A (Retinol) precursor: beta-carotene -  is important not only as in humans for the health of eyes, skin, normal growth and development and the transport of Calcium to the bones but also for shell quality. Without sufficient vitamin A, calcium is deposited in the soft tissue thus risking heart conditions and skeletal problems.  Beta-carotene also, has strong antioxidant properties and can protect your birds from many potential conditions associated with free-radicals. Vitamin A deficiency also causes keratosis (see my article here), which encourages the proliferation of external parasites. Also see under Zinc for its role in the transportation of Vitamin A

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) Thiamine, arguably plays the biggest role; supporting the crucial flow of electrolytes in and out of the nerve and muscle cells, as well as metabolizing those carbohydrates and lipids found in foodstuffs. Thiamine helps convert the food to energy, especially for organs that use a great deal of it,  such as the brain and nervous system. In effect, the brain can be severely compromised by a thiamine deficiency, which also results in the loss of co-ordination.

 

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) as above, is responsible for the production of energy from food and the maintenance of a healthy nervous system, in particular Riboflavin  works in synergy with B6 and B9. Riboflavin is also responsible for maintaining healthy blood cells. In quail, poultry and other game birds deficiency in Riboflavin causes curled toe paralysis which is fatal if left unattended - see my article on Riboflavin for a quick cure and prevention. Chicks hatching with low riboflavin can also have beak malformation.

Vitamin B3 (Niacin) as above with the other B vitamins, is responsible for the maintenance of optimal nervous system function. There is some recent research showing that there are possible side effects with supplementing with this vitamin in high doses, so getting a requirement through food rather than supplementation seems to me to be optimal. Niacin promotes growth and when deficient can cause retarded development, poor feathering, loss of appetite and motor dysfunction. Chicks from deficient parents can also have beak malformations

Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid) Again important for food conversion to usable energy and for optimal nervous system function. Vitamin B5 is crucial for the formation of  acetylcholine, the primary chemical which allows the brain to communicate with the organs of the body. B5 deficiencies can also result in poor feathering and low hatchability of eggs.

 

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) As with all the B complex vitamins, Vitamin B6 plays an important role in a range of physical and psychological functions, including maintenance of an optimal immune system.

Vitamin C  (L-ascorbic acid) Sometimes known as the  'grandfather of traditional antioxidants' and thus involved in maintaining optimum electron flow in the cells. In my experience it is the 'go to' vitamin an adult bird will consume when under stress and incidentally it is the first one to be depleted. Vitamin C is also responsible for the better absorption of Iron, necessary for growth particularly in the young and active chick. It is also essential for collagen synthesis, thus important for the structure of the bones, blood vessels, tendons and ligaments. I like to give my birds oyster shell because I think this enables them to adequately judge for themselves how much they are taking in. I am also aware that wild birds use snail shells and other potentially calcium rich sources, such as calcareous grit to provide this mineral in their diets. However, plant sourced calcium was found in a study: Nutrition and Feeding of Organic Poultry (Blair 2008) to be as bioavailable to poultry as that of the usual sources of limestone and oyster shell.

Vitamin E is made up of eight compounds (Tocopherol/tocotrienols) it has antioxidant properties and is important for growth and nervous system recovery in times of stress. It has also been shown to have significant impact upon fertility in poultry, in both sexes and upon the hatchability and general health of the chicks. Vitamin E is crucial in protecting eye and brain health and helps the body utilise Vitamin K.

Vitamin K1 (Phylloquinone) is found primarily in plants and  has  a role in the transport of Calcium to the bone and thus in quail and other poultry to the formation of shell. If Calcium has formed in the soft tissue (arterial calcification) both phylloquinone and to a greater extent menaquinone (Vitamin K2), have the ability to reverse it. Vitamin K1 goes directly to the liver and is well known for its ability to help to clot the blood and avoid blood loss. It is also important for nerve impulse transmission and muscle co-ordination. 

Copper required for the activity of enzymes associated with Iron metabolism, elastin and collagen formation, melanin production and for the integrity of the central nervous system. It is required with Iron for normal red blood cell formation. Copper is also required for bone formation, brain cell and spinal chord structure, immune response and feather development and its pigmentation.

 

Iron is needed to produce haemoglobin, a protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs and transport it throughout the body. It also helps regulate cell growth, maintains brain function, metabolism, endocrine and immune system function and is involved in turning food into energy production. Without enough iron, a body will suffer chronic fatigue and as quail have a high basal metabolism this can be a real problem. Iron, as with Copper and Zinc also influences the richness of feather pigmentation.

 

Manganese is needed for optimal growth, shell quality and hatchability of eggs and for healthy bone structure, bone metabolism and help in creating essential enzymes for building bones. Deficiency of manganese in poultry can cause perosis, a leg deformity,  a condition where the tendons of the legs slip from the hock. Manganese also acts as a co-enzyme to assist metabolic activity. Used for the formation of connective tissues, absorption of Calcium, functioning of thyroid gland and sex hormones, regulate blood sugar and metabolism of fats and carbohydrates it is also a powerful antioxidant.  Deficiency in the parent bird can lead to poor development of embryos and low hatchability, those chicks that hatch are prone to poor feathering and slow development and or can suffer from malformation. 

 

Magnesium is responsible for cell division, muscle and nerve function including the heart, mitochondrial efficiency, bone density  and the metabolism of various minerals including Calcium, Phosphorus, Iron and Zinc as well as several hundred enzymes and the activation of Thiamine. As such it impacts on the laying process of a bird, eggshell thickness and the hatchability and subsequent growth of the chick.

Phosphorus is important for a whole raft of physical and nervous system function. Plant-based phosphorus is often conjectured to be less bioavailable because it is bound with phytates.  To me, this seems relevant only in the seed and grain form, which is understandable as the plant is protecting its 'offspring' from being digested. My conjecture would be that within the leafy plant itself, particularly one where the fruits are meant to be consumed to disperse the 'hairy' seed (obviously to be excreted intact), phytates would not be an issue. Phosphorus is also linked with bone density and the transport of Calcium, thus  in poultry with the formation of shell and hatchability of the chicks. Chicks deficient in phosphorus may also have soft beaks and bones (rickets). 

Potassium Is important for the maintenance of electrolyte balance thus of the functioning of the body's chemical and electrical impulses, stabilisation of blood sugar and maintains, along with Calcium, neuromuscular activity, regulation of the heart beat and maintains acid-base balance. Under stress the kidneys excrete Potassium and conserve Sodium. Potassium levels and balance needed for egg production including egg weight and thickness of shell. It is important for various physical and nervous system functions, including the brain, kidneys, muscle contractions, fluid levels and blood pressure. Deficiency causes low hatchability and retarded growth in chicks.

Zinc Is required for normal protein synthesis and metabolism and is also a component of a number of enzymes such as carbonic anhydrase, which is essential for eggshell formation in the shell gland. Other important zinc enzymes in the bird include carboxypeptidases and DNA polymerases. These play important roles in immune response, in skin and wound healing and hormone production. Zinc also has a role in the transportation of Vitamin A from storage in the liver for use in the rest of the body. Zinc deficiency in the parent bird will also cause a prevalence of low hatchability and the self-explanatory condition known as 'dead in shell'. Birds deficient in zinc also exhibit 'frayed' feathers. Zinc deficiency also impacts on feather pigmentation in certain colours of plumage.

 

Phytochemicals Phenolic compounds have antioxidant, antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic effects. Antioxidants delay the aging process and to the decrease of the inflammation and oxidative stress risk, related to chronic disease.

 

Thanks for dropping by and do feel free to share experiences or ask for further information in the comment section. If you have enjoyed this piece and found it useful think about sharing it with your family and friends, on social media and also maybe about joining this blog and/or subscribing to my Youtube channel or even supporting us on Patreon or

It all helps to keep me going!

Until next time, all the very best from sunny Normandie! 

Sue

 

© 2021 Sue Cross 

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Chicken Food for Free Part 6 Rose Leaves and Hips - Vitamins, Minerals and Phytochemicals

For thousands of years the rose, hips, leaves and blossoms have been used as medicinals for both physical and nervous system ailments. The Ancient Egyptians used them in funeral rites and the Romans had over 30 medical conditions they treated with them. Hunter gatherers used the hips as valuable Winter food and the early monasteries and apothecaries valued all parts of the rose for its medical and spiritual value. Even during the inter and post war periods when the World was drawn into a love affair with 'science' and chemical-based medicine, the public's romance with roses continued to flourish, with inner and outer beauty treatments such as rose hip moisturising oils, rosewater perfumes and teas. 

In the last few decades however, witness the rise in the popularity of health visionaries such as Hildegard von Bingen (1098 - 1179), the use of roses both in medicine and cuisine has bounced back into the human psyche.

'Eines der schönsten  Heilmittel ist die Rose'

    Hidegard von Bingen

As you can see from the above, Hildegard was not just referring to the flower, when in bloom, as the most beautiful medicinal, for the rose reveals her beauty and maintains her rich nutritive virtues throughout the year. Here below is Ringo Bingo, our mottled Polish, in action, demonstrating the particular twisting motion he uses to achieve his prize. Notice how he removes the whole fruit, which he then consumes in its entirety, despite the seeds being 'hairy' and an irritant but he obviously knows something about their value!

Roses, in particular the hips in the UK were used in medicine right up to the 1920s and then had a renaissance due to the second World War, when due to the non-availability of citrus fruit, and hence Vitamin C, they were reinstated. A food importer and pharmaceutical company Scott and Turner  in Newcastle, created a Rose Hip Syrup, manufacturing it under the name Delrosa. Left is an advert for the supplement which was popular with children during post-war rationing and beyond.  Thanks to the brilliant 'The Old Foodie' for finding this article - look her up - her research is fascinating. From the Times, dated 15th January 1942

The present supplies of the syrup are the result of a campaign organized last summer and autumn by the Ministry of Health and the Department of Health for Scotland for collecting rose hips. School teachers, boy scouts, girl guides, the W.V.S., women’s rural institutions, and other voluntary organizations co-operated, and some 200 tons, equivalent to 134,000,000 hips, were collected. The hips were converted into syrup by selected firms, and their total output amounts to 600,000 bottles. A teaspoonful of rose hip syrup a day will supply half the vitamin C needs of a child. It can be taken neat or diluted with water, and has a pleasant flavour. Plans are being made for another collection of rose hips on a national scale this year.

 

However it wasn't until very recently that the Poultry Industry via academia has turned towards the rose and in particular rose hips to replace chemical antibiotics as both a growth promoter and antimicrobial. For this reason, therefore and unlike with most of my researches to support my observations, it has been relatively easy for me to find the nutritional and hence medicinal value of the fruits of the rose and her leaves.

Rose hips - nutritional value:

Vitamins

Vitamin C - Rose hips are the richest natural source of this vitamin.  The content of rose hips ranges from 300 to 4000 mg/100 g, with the variation in amounts resulting from changes in the levels of sugar during ripening.  

However the rose hip also contains:

Vitamin A – significant amounts of the precursor beta-carotene so an excellent Winter replacement for the lack of grass and other vegetation which usually supplies this need. 

Goodly amounts of:

Vitamin E 

Vitamin K 

Lesser but useful amounts of:

Vitamin B₂ Riboflavin

Vitamin B₃ Niacin

Vitamin B₅ Pantothenic Acid 

Vitamin B₆ P5P aka pyridoxal-5-phosphate 

 

Minerals

Manganese is the richest mineral available in rose hips

with in lesser and joint second place:

Calcium in a particularly bioavailable form and

Magnesium

and then in small but useful amounts:

Potassium

Copper

Iron

Phosphorus

 

Above left 'The Red Rose' Botanicum medicinale : an herbal of medicinal plants on the College of Physicians list by Timothy Sheldrake p. 1768

 

Phytochemicals

Rosehips have high levels of flavonoids, tannins, anthocyanin, phenolic compounds, carotenoid pigments, plant sterols, tocotrienols and high level of catechins and other polyphenolics

 

Rose leaves - nutritional value:

Vitamins

Vitamin B₁ - Thiamine

Vitamin B₂ Riboflavin

Vitamin B₃ Niacin

Vitamin B₅ Pantothenic Acid

Vitamin E

 

Minerals

Iron is the richest mineral available in rose leaves with in second place:

Potassium

Useful amounts of:

Manganese 

Zinc

Calcium - in a particularly bioavailable form

Copper

and a little:

Magnesium

 

Phytochemicals

A valuable source of flavonoids, especially flavone glycosides

..and if you missed it in the previous article on rose petals, then here's the film:

Thanks for dropping by and do feel free to share experiences or ask for further information in the comment section. If you have enjoyed this piece and found it useful think about sharing it with your family and friends, on social media and also maybe about joining this blog and/or subscribing to my Youtube channel or even supporting us on Patreon or

It all helps to keep me going!

 

Also check my recipe for rose hip syrup and make this delicious kir. Link below.

Until next time, all the very best from sunny Normandie! 

Sue

Thanks to Pinterest:
Rose hip gatherers - recipespastandpresent
Delrosa ad - Ebay UK 

© 2021 Sue Cross 

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