Good afternoon Texas. Its a popular topic around here, for those that get past brand name and the marketing descriptor, want to make apples to apples comparisons of feed labels.
and depending on where you are in TX, you might want to check out @West Feeds . Reasonably priced, generally very...
My first thought is that waste aminoacids in the droppings will overwhelmingly be the ones their diet already provides in excess - which is why they end up wasted in the first place. Not all protein is the same, and some aminoacids aren't interchangeable. Those are the ones whose inclusion...
Also, while I prefer a 20% CP feed, the AminoAcid profile is more important than the CP, and the performance differences between an 18% CP and a 20% CP is minimal. The differences between 20% and 21% are smaller than you will ever notice.
Might I suggest:
National Resource Council, Nutrient Requirements of Poultry, Revised 9th Edition (1984)
Free Download. Good reading. A little behind the times, 10th edition is in the works. Most of us treat those recommends as minimums.
Jump to p20 for charts.
If you want to start with...
...am to attempt it. Most feed recipes you find on line don't stand up to their claims (typically re: crude protein) and almost none look at AminoAcid Balance, mKe, fat & fiber levels, non-Phytate phosphorus sources, key vitamins & minerals.
Subbing corn out of a recipe is relatively easy...
...nutritional excesses and deficiencies as corn. Both are low on protein and high in fat. Most likely, the bird seed lacks the balance of aminoacids needed to make efficient use of what prootein it doess contain - but as there is great variety in birdseed, I can't say that with 100%...
.3 Met and .7 Lys are the old NRC recommended minimums (jump to p5) for adult laying production hens based on a 100g/day diet. If you want to read the whole of the old paper, India maintains a copy here (slow download).
Based on my readings, and my flock's purpose, my own targets are about 15%...
...and stock pellets are high fiber, low protein - either 10% or 12%.
That protein level is WAY too low to support health chickens, the aminoacid balance is wrong (methionine levels too low, often others as well), while the high fiber that the goats (with their ruminant stomachs) absolutely...
...a commercial feed - in spite of including a Met suppliment. Under no circumstances would I feed that to my birds. Met is the hardest of aminoacids to replace.
and yes, as @Ridgerunner said above, you need to offer free choice calcium as well - oyster shell is the most popular choice...
...and waste protein is excreted daily, largely in the form of nitrates and the well known compound, Ammonia. CP, of course, is composed of aminoacids. When the aminoacids are well balanced to the chicken's need, there is very little waste, and thus, fewer nitrates and ammonia compounds to...
...to perform similar purpose to widespread use of soy meal (here in the US) or a quality animal/insect/fish protein source to work with, target protein levels (and a good aminoacid profile w/i that crude protein number) can't be achieved. And that's before considering vitamins, minerals, etc.
...who understand that Crude Protein is an imperfect indicator of whaat we really want to know - Methionine and Lysine content, two critical aminoacids. Everything else needs to be right too, of course, but Met and Lys matter. Which one matters more depends on the purpoosee of your flock...
...is used to break something down into component parts - in this case, releasing vitamins (like the B Complex), breaking proteins down into aminoacids, and freeing other nutrients into more digestible, more bioavailable, forms.
and it says "hatching" under your name based on your your trophy...
There is a "perfect protein (Ideal Protein)" theory of chicken (and other critter) feeding, based on providing a balanced array of aminoacids to minimize waste. Its a good theory, so far as it goes, but it arose at a time when Methionine couldn't be directly measured, and there were some...
..."game birds" that is supposed to feed, but I certainly wouldn't feed it to my chickens or ducks. Crude protein is low, and the balance of aminoacids is way off - that's about 1/3 the Methionine chickens need as a recommended minimum. Lys is about half where it should be as a minimum...
...Niacin content is EASILY fixed with a little nutritional yeast - which will also increase certain vitamins, total crude protein, and all aminoacids, including the critical Met and Lys. Depending on how much feed you need, and the cost of nutritional yeast at your local grocer, Chick...
Depends on Age and breed (purpose). Here are the old NRC recommends for hens and broilers p3 and 4. Metastudy for layers. and here is what Cobb says about their own broilers.
the problem being, you can't make a healthy feed with those things.
Corn is a high energy, low nutrient source. In terms of its Aminoacid balance, its across the board pretty much evenly deficient, because its crude protein is very much sub par - likely the lowest of any ingredient that isn't...
Met and Lys are both Low. Low Met is unfortunately common in Organic feeds. Its the aminoacid most associated with connective tissues - skin, digestive tract, cartilage, ligaments/tendons, etc. Because the operation of its digestive system is a substantial portion of its immune mechanisms...