Cornish Thread

[CanadianBuckeye]

Thanks everyone! Hellbender thanks for posting. On page 416 it says 2-5% fish meal, too much gives a fishy flavour, but for meat it says it's ok to replace up to 10% of the soy in the diet. The I can see that the 15% layer I have does not have enough protein for my Buckeyes which have just started to lay, or for the Cornish hens which should be laying soon. So I'll just top up the feed with the bonemeal blocks- looks like my flock can have about 125 grams of meat split between them per day, which is pretty funny because they inhaled a half pound within seconds looking for more with no ill effect. Perfect! Thanks.

 

[kfacres]

It's clear you live in Canada. Meat and bone meal have been outlawed for the most part in the USA for most livestock consumption. There are plenty of other alternatives for protein. Protein is protein, and any of them will work.

I always strived to feed my breeder birds about 20 CP diets. A touch more during breeding season, especially if confined. Free choice cat food works good, so does spiking the ration with soybean meal.

You are correct in that Cornish birds do better on a higher protein diet. Having all that extra muscle requires it.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

kfacres there's no meat and bone meal in the feed here in Canada either- but I can buy all kinds of frozen human food grade meat from my raw meat dog food supplier. I'm leery about feeding any kind of raw poultry even frozen back to the chickens, but I'm OK with beef and this beef bonemeal is perfect. Gives my hens the extra calcium and phosphorus as well as protein- my eggshell quality is fabulous, and my just- started - laying pullet eggs are averaging 50 grams (buckeyes and mixed layers, the Cornish aren't laying yet). The chickens go nuts for it. And I don't mean to brag but I think the condition of my birds is pretty good, I'm thinking it's the feed. I don't think that corn and soy an a vitamin pre mix alone really does the job - they need soylent green ;-)

 

[big medicine]

It's clear you live in Canada. Meat and bone meal have been outlawed for the most part in the USA for most livestock consumption. There are plenty of other alternatives for protein. Protein is protein, and any of them will work.

I always strived to feed my breeder birds about 20 CP diets. A touch more during breeding season, especially if confined. Free choice cat food works good, so does spiking the ration with soybean meal.

You are correct in that Cornish birds do better on a higher protein diet. Having all that extra muscle requires it.

Protein may be protein as you say, but I suspect there is something found in animal based protein that benefits birds, possibly the amino acids. I have witnessed a much higher problem with picking/cannibalism with chicks on a plant protein only ration.

 

[kfacres]

I'd say that theory has merit. I know that soybean meal and linseed are basically interchangable. However linseed has one extra amino acid that helps with fleece quality. I can walk into a flock and tell the ones feed g linseed and those on soybean meal...

 

[hellbender]

It's clear you live in Canada. Meat and bone meal have been outlawed for the most part in the USA for most livestock consumption. There are plenty of other alternatives for protein. Protein is protein, and any of them will work.

I always strived to feed my breeder birds about 20 CP diets. A touch more during breeding season, especially if confined. Free choice cat food works good, so does spiking the ration with soybean meal.

You are correct in that Cornish birds do better on a higher protein diet. Having all that extra muscle requires it.

I suppose the folks at DuMor feeds should be reminded that meat or meat byproducts aren't allowed in poultry feed. They must have missed that memo.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I think it's beef they are most concerned with, because of the possibility of mechanical spread of mad cow disease. Does the DuMor have pork meal in it?

 

[kfacres]

It's beef that they are most worried about... but I think it's illegal to feed any meat by products to ruminates. I also don't know that just anyone can go and buy a block of by product off the shelf. The sale of it is more regulated.

If you reread my post.. it says words like "most"

 

[hellbender]

I think it's beef they are most concerned with, because of the possibility of mechanical spread of mad cow disease. Does the DuMor have pork meal in it?

Yes. I don't use it but plenty of people do. My birds get plenty of meat protein and have for almost 80 years, considering I feed my birds the same as my dad and grand pa did and there have been NO problems due to high levels of excellent quality protein that has been feed pretty much the same way and at the same levels all this time.

 

[JRNash]

Solyent Green. It pains me that this reference has no meaning to the younger generation