Dodging and weaving to feed the flock, is this going to be ok?

Unfortunately, no one studies chickens as "pets" - we have to make do with the studies intended to try and optimize their commercial productive lifespan. Still, they can be useful - if a 20, 30, 60 wk study of adult birds shows negative clinical changes consistently and higher incidence of disease pathologies at rates like 1:7, 1:6, or higher, how much worse will it be over a projected lifespan of 5 - 7 years? Even now, some of the studies show significant impairments within a commercial bird's productive life, though as the science becomes increasingly understood, fewer and fewer studies are conducted at the "extremes". Look at the recent calcium studies, comparing bird performance based on levels at 0.8%, 1.0%, 1.2% as example - most of us buy off the shelf commercial feed with a range of +/- 0.5%! Some of the older studies, which I tried to link, compared levels of 1.0% with 3.0 or 3.5%... That sort of work just isn't done anymore.

I can take more risks, due to my management style, than someone breeding with a remarkable bird or maintaining a vanity flock - but I know I'm involved in educated risk taking. I should keep better records, but for now, I'm learning (slowly) by doing, and by reading everything I can.
I think it is very good to always seek information, so we can be in a position to understand possible risks and if we are willing to take them in our individual circumstances. We are lucky to have you here @U_Stormcrow to read all that nutrition science and report back to us!
I have a background in human nutrition and also a non-professional interest in equine nutrition so these aren't new concepts for me, but it gets tricky when most poultry science is based entirely on commercial settings. A chicken is still a chicken though I suppose!
 

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