- Thread starter
- #21
Krux5506
Chirping
Yeah that bugs me, why have a feed as low as .2 for met? Everyone else seems to rave about Bar Ale as being a solid brand otherwise.
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My own experience is that it is not a myth that they need light in order to lay eggs. Perhaps 14 hours a day is a good guess. In fact, even though it’s difficult to separate all the variables that influence egg production, I did find that when I extended the winter daylight by an additional three hours, egg production doubled. I set a light on a timer that comes on at 5:30 (to attract them into the chicken house was my objective), but it seems to have resulted in higher egg production. Having said that, I think there’s some wisdom in not pushing the limits of egg production as, after all, they need a bit of a break especially if the weather is very cold we shouldn’t over demand.My flock is pretty mixed - black sex link, mystic marans, copper marans, RIR, EE, OE, and Buff Orps. It just seems like they've all benefited a lot from this switch. I see so many people elsewhere claiming the only way chickens will lay during winter is with supplemental light as they need a minimum of 14 hours a day for egg production, yet I can't help but wonder if that's another common chicken myth that gets echoed over and over when really it's more of a nutritional issue.
My own experience is that it is not a myth that they need light in order to lay eggs. Perhaps 14 hours a day is a good guess. In fact, even though it’s difficult to separate all the variables that influence egg production, I did find that when I extended the winter daylight by an additional three hours, egg production doubled. I set a light on a timer that comes on at 5:30 (to attract them into the chicken house was my objective), but it seems to have resulted in higher egg production. Having said that, I think there’s some wisdom in not pushing the limits of egg production as, after all, they need a bit of a break especially if the weather is very cold we shouldn’t over demand.
I recently tried out a feed from Bar Ale based on it's price tag. It is a corn and soy free feed, although I'm not opposed to corn but again the price was right compared to my usual Modesto feed I get. Once I got it I realized the methionine levels were .2 - correct me if I'm wrong, but that seems quite a bit under the bare minimum. All their other feeds do not have that LOW level, only the corn/soy free one. Seems odd to me. Anyway, I switched back to the Modesto stuff for that reason alone.0.4% methionine is good for most anything. The only reason to seriously consider 0.55% methionine is if you are raising meat birds like CX and similar. I would be perfectly happy with Matt in the 0.4% through 0.45% inclusion rates. If price is the same, there is no detriment to the higher 0.55% level. If you have a high number of hatchlings or adolescence, or a dual purpose bird you are raising primarily for me, there is a marginal benefit. But not if there is a significant difference in price between the two bags. How significant price difference? The differences are small enough I wouldn't pay more than 50 cents a bag, and I would only do that while I was actively hatching new Birds.
Hope that answers your question.
Yes, that's a below minimum recommend by a significant margin.I recently tried out a feed from Bar Ale based on it's price tag. It is a corn and soy free feed, although I'm not opposed to corn but again the price was right compared to my usual Modesto feed I get. Once I got it I realized the methionine levels were .2 - correct me if I'm wrong, but that seems quite a bit under the bare minimum. All their other feeds do not have that LOW level, only the corn/soy free one. Seems odd to me. Anyway, I switched back to the Modesto stuff for that reason alone.
Thank you. That answers my question perfectly and I have placed my order.0.4% methionine is good for most anything. The only reason to seriously consider 0.55% methionine is if you are raising meat birds like CX and similar. I would be perfectly happy with Met in the 0.4% through 0.45% inclusion rates. If price is the same, there is no detriment to the higher 0.55% level. If you have a high number of hatchlings or adolescents, or a dual purpose bird you are raising primarily for meat, there is a marginal benefit. But not if there is a significant difference in price between the two bags. How significant price difference? The differences are small enough I wouldn't pay more than 50 cents a bag, and I would only do that while I was actively hatching new Birds.
Hope that answers your question.
Edited to fix some of the most glaring speech to text problems.