To reiterate what Priss said, chickens do better with an omnivorous diet. All the scares over mad cow disease and other things probably started the veggie diets for chickens, but I honestly think that trend started more problems than it solved, such as feather picking, etc. I purposefully look for a feed that still contains animal protein. My layer pellets are 22% protein and do contain animal protein-made by ADM Alliance. And people seem to think that if it's good for them, it's good for their chickens, but that isn't necessarily true.
Many companies make a breeder diet just for breeders as opposed to simply layers. One such feed is by Southern States and is called Super Breeder Crumbles. They are 21% protein, and although they are a plant protein-based feed, mine like it very much and I do from time to time feed it to them. The ADM Alliance 11-Grain Scratch Mixed Grains is wonderful and contains very, very little corn. That is the scratch I most often buy, although it is pricier than corn-based scratch. It contains 13% protein, unlike most scratch, which is only about 8%. If you want to use scratch as a "come back from ranging" tool, that's a good one and won't add too many carbs. Dont know if you have a company who makes something similar or have an ADM Alliance or a Faithway Feeds Dealer near you, but they have wonderful feeds.
Cottage cheese is okay, but usually has alot of sodium unless you get a low-sodium version. Not sure it will replace the animal proteins in feed, though.
