20% Protein Layer pellets VS. 16% protein layer pellets

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Blue Ridge Hillbilly

Blue Ridge Hillbilly

In the Brooder
10 Years
Feb 4, 2009
77
0
39
Western NC
I have been feeding 16% protein layer pellets and I just bought a 20% protein layer pellet to give them more protein. I have been have some feather picking that I have read can possibly contribut to feather picking. My question is as follows: Has anyone out there had any experiences with 20% protein layer feed? Does anyone know the pro and cons of a higher protein feed. The cost for me is the same for both feeds...$12.29 per 50 Lb. bag.
 
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I have heard, only heard that too much protein for too long can cause problems for full grown chickens, maybe gout? I know that extra protein can be added for periods of time when they are sick, or molting.
You can go on line to the manufacturers of the feed.. or try Star Milling Co.... and look at "Chick Starter Mash" vs. "laying pellets" to see the difference in protein levels.
I have trouble keeping the grown hens out of the chick starter and the chicks out of the laying feed (which has too much calcium for them).

I don't know much about this.. try a Search on here, on BYC for "too much protein", "protein in feed", "what's too much protein", etc. and see if you come up with more input and info.

Good luck. (my laying pellets are 16 or 16.5%)
 
20% protein is not going to be too much, especially if you feed them anything else. 16% is not a magic number, simply the lowest protein level that hens can be fed to lay eggs for the least amount of outlay. If you feed 20% and give scratch or greens, they will not be getting 20%.
 
I mix starter (21%) with layer (17%) from the feed mill. I have been feeding this for a least 2 years now to everyone. I also feed whole grains like BOSS, wheat, barley, millet, milo, popcorn and such. When I am able to feed this every day my egg production is great. I have some hens and a roo going on 6 years old and others different ages under that. All are doing very well. However, the cost has skyrocketed so bad and I am unable to feed it as often as I like with the whole grains. They do still get starter and layer mixed and we haven't any problems. The old girls are doing wonderful.

If allowed to free range they will get more than 21% protein every day in the summer. Bugs and plants all day, every day will give them closer to 30+% protein. But then you have the winter months of no bugs or plants where they will slow down to conserve their bodies.

I raise meal worms to help, too.
 
I feed 16% layer mixed with 20% grower, with oyster shell on the side, about 5:3 when the birds are cooped up by weather, about 1:1 when they'll go outdoors. My aim in mixing them was the same a yours, to see if it reduced the severe pecking that started up. It seems to have eased it, if nothing else. (I've got one really aggressive RSL hen i the bunch. It wasn't hard to identify her -- while treating the pecked spot above the tail on the BR, a drop of the Blu-Kote fell onto the wing of a non-pecked WW walking underneath. The RSL went after that blue spot immediately and relentlessly; the solution was to trim those few feathers on the WW to get rid of the spot--problem solved.)

Mine get very little for treats, so I'm confident I've raised their protein level, and it seems to have helped with the problem. (Who knows, maybe it was just a phase the RSL went through???)
 

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