You and I agree on a lot of things and manage flocks in similar ways. For example, all my birds free range and trapped raccoons get skinned, grilled and fed back to chickens.... bone meal … will fill the bill.
... I am not keen on poultry meal etc. It's high protein content is mostly feathers and feathers are hard for a chicken to digest.
... I suspect that sometimes the peas listed as an ingredient in some chicken feeds are in fact peanut hulls that came out of a shelling plant. While high in protein peanut hulls or shells are difficult for your chickens to digest. …
Meal worms are the larva stage of the darkling beetle. This insect is a serious, and did I mention dangerous pest in commercial chicken houses. They spread the eggs of internal parasites as well as dangerous germs and viruses that they pick up from their environment and the poultry litter, manure and chicken feed laying on the floor in commercial broiler chicken operations. These poultry houses are an awesome place to produce meal worms. Meal worms also destroy buildings by boring into the walls and insulation of buildings including homes while looking for a place to metamorphose into adult beetles. But like I said about apple cider vinegar, your home or chicken coop belongs to you (hopefully) so knock yourself out in the meal worm department, just know the truth.
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However there are several things in this post that are either misleading or utterly false and I have to clarify to insure others have correct information.
Bone meal can be a source of calcium and phosphorus for layers but doesn't provide any protein.
https://www.feedipedia.org/node/219
True that feathers aren't a great source of animal protein. They are, however, utilized by some commercial broiler and layer operations because they are otherwise a waste product. Nevertheless the heat and steam processing of feathers into meal creates a cysteine rich animal protein that is 60% digestible. They are also used in feeding ruminants.
Most bagged chicken feed is vegetarian but even in those that contain animal protein, which might be fishmeal or porcine meal, yet I've never seen feather meal in a bag of poultry feed.
https://afs.ca.uky.edu/poultry/poultry-feathers-what-can-they-be-used
There is a difference between poultry meal, poultry by-product meal and feather meal. The first two are exclusive of feathers.
Suspicions aside, when peas are listed as a primary ingredient, they are one of a variety of field peas like trapper, Austrian winter, cow, crowder, etc.. Regardless of whether they are green or yellow peas, there is little variation in the nutrients therein. They are added as a source of protein because they average around 23% CP and though rich in lysine, they are deficient in methionine and cystine. They complement other vegetative seed/grain ingredients like canola which have a different amino acid profile.
I want to stress and assure others that there is no chance of peanut hulls being in chicken feed whether the label lists peas or not. The hulls themselves contain about 60% fiber and no protein. They may be a low quality source of roughage for ruminants but of no value as a fiber source to monogastric animals. Aside from peanut hulls having no nutritive value for poultry, a high fungal aflatoxin potential associated with peanuts would preclude any manufacturer from considering them as an ingredient in chicken feed.
https://www.feedipedia.org/node/696
While I agree that darkling beetles and their larvae may carry a variety of parasites when found in coop, henhouse and commercial poultry bedding, mealworms bought from pet stores and online sources haven't been exposed to those parasites.
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