Ok, I understand a little about about protein and importance of feed, having raised English Mastiffs for awhile. Most people say feed laying pellets. I recently fed my small flock 50lbs of laying pellets over the course of several weeks in hope of restarting egg production on some young hens, no luck. The next bag I bought was just Purina scratch grains. They just started laying again now however. Could just be the fact that days are getting longer? I noticed though that the layer ration has around 16% protein and scratch has only 8%. I feed my dogs a high protein feed, about out 27% protein and noticed the chickens would readily eat it if I ever drop any. Would it be ok to simply give them a few handfuls of my dog food every now and then so that they get a little extra protein. Any problems with digestion for them? Thanks