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Why do you say "provoked to lay during this time of year" ? It is summer for them-- of course they are laying! The post you quoted is from a person in South Africa. (I agree that hens who are laying do need protein and calcium, no matter what time of year.)

Yes, I think that was what @U_Stormcrow meant. IF the feed is made to be complete (with the right amount of grain in the recipe), that should be true. Of course that is a big "if" in that sentence. It probably depends on the feed. So it could work well in your case, but not for someone else...

That is definitely different! If the crickets are cheaper than peanuts, maybe start with them. (That "cheaper" is on a per-pound basis, right? Because if it is per bag, you will want to check the size of each the bag.) From what I can find, it looks like they are a good source of protein, and...

Yes, peanuts should be fine. They are a fairly good source of protein, and I think they have the right amino acids to pair well with grains (@U_Stormcrow am I right that peanuts, being a legume, have amino acids that help balance the ones usually present in grains?) And as @Perris pointed out...

Yes, I would agree. Animal protein is not usually cheap, and if people want "organic" chickens they may have trouble finding a suitable source (unless they are raising it themselves), but I do agree that animal protein is a very good choice for chickens when that is reasonably possible.

No, I am not missing that. Yes, I know grains are are the main component of chicken food. But if the chickens are already eating a balanced diet, adding more grain (low protein) will either leave them overweight (ate grain in addition to their other food) or deficient in protein (ate grain...

Layer feed or chick starter or all-flock feed would all be good choices. But TSC is not going to be helpful in this case: Soybeans need to be cooked before you feed them to chickens. "Roasted soybeans" are already cooked. Or you can boil them or cook them in various other ways. Fully organic...

That author seems to think soybeans are a kind of "grain." Almost everyone else says that soybeans are beans, not grains. If you leave out the soybeans, NONE of the grains have enough protein to be a complete diet for chickens. What protein they do have is short of certain amino acids. So...

In that case, definitely yes for the scraps. For calcium: definitely your own eggshells. Just drop them in a bowl or other container as you use them, and give a squish before tossing them to the chickens. Or drop them on the ground and step on them. There is no need to wash, dry, bake, grind...

I strongly recommend that you talk to the owner about what you want to give her chickens. If what she says is different than what I say, go with what she says (because they are her chickens!) Those scraps will probably not cause problems, but will probably not make much difference either. This...