Just wanted to jump in, and add a few of my views on this diet. Just advise based on my knowledge of poultry diets....
1) This diet is very low in energy. Adding fat will certainly help.
2) Peas do not have a very good balance of amino acids for poultry. And they are very unreliable for protein content. They are advertised at 20-22%, but are rarely that high. Realistically, they average about 18-19% protein. And even then, the crude protein doesn't matter, because the Lysine and Methionine are not very well balanced for chickens. Peas work in a chickens diet, but try to keep it below 25% of the diet.
3) See what your customers think about barley. Replacing some of the oats, with barley, will help with your energy requirements.
4) Using flaxmeal would be a VERY good idea for this diet. Using plain flaxseed wouldn't benefit the diets protein level. Flaxmeal will, and allow you to use much less peas. Keep flaxmeal to 10% of the ration. Much more than that could turn your whites to brown....
5)I am surprised your customers are concerned about wheat.... It is a great energy source if you were looking to replace corn.
6)Using dehulled oats would help energy tremendously.
7)Limit kelpmeal to 1% of the ration. Max 1.5%. It has virtually no benefit beyond that amount. For what it costs, you are throwing quite a bit of $$ away.
8)What is "A trace" of salt?? Too little salt could cause serious health issues, and too much could do the same very easily. Although too much is usually accompanied by loose bowels, and excessive drinking. Salt should be exactly .35% of a layers diet.
9)With this diet, you will most likely see fairly normal production for a while, but for a shorter duration, and your chickens might lose some weight. This, of coarse, depends on what else they have access to. If they are only eating this diet, it will have long term effects. Nothing serious, but probably smaller birds, and lower production levels.
10)Soaking the grains will not have a terribly bad effect on total diet protein, or energy. Your birds will simply drink less. That being said, only soak what you feel that you need to.... If a chicken is getting enough grit, they should be able to digest all of those grains without any soaking. I don't have a comment on the energy of the peas changing, but I wouldn't think it would make very much difference.
1) This diet is very low in energy. Adding fat will certainly help.
2) Peas do not have a very good balance of amino acids for poultry. And they are very unreliable for protein content. They are advertised at 20-22%, but are rarely that high. Realistically, they average about 18-19% protein. And even then, the crude protein doesn't matter, because the Lysine and Methionine are not very well balanced for chickens. Peas work in a chickens diet, but try to keep it below 25% of the diet.
3) See what your customers think about barley. Replacing some of the oats, with barley, will help with your energy requirements.
4) Using flaxmeal would be a VERY good idea for this diet. Using plain flaxseed wouldn't benefit the diets protein level. Flaxmeal will, and allow you to use much less peas. Keep flaxmeal to 10% of the ration. Much more than that could turn your whites to brown....
5)I am surprised your customers are concerned about wheat.... It is a great energy source if you were looking to replace corn.
6)Using dehulled oats would help energy tremendously.
7)Limit kelpmeal to 1% of the ration. Max 1.5%. It has virtually no benefit beyond that amount. For what it costs, you are throwing quite a bit of $$ away.
8)What is "A trace" of salt?? Too little salt could cause serious health issues, and too much could do the same very easily. Although too much is usually accompanied by loose bowels, and excessive drinking. Salt should be exactly .35% of a layers diet.
9)With this diet, you will most likely see fairly normal production for a while, but for a shorter duration, and your chickens might lose some weight. This, of coarse, depends on what else they have access to. If they are only eating this diet, it will have long term effects. Nothing serious, but probably smaller birds, and lower production levels.
10)Soaking the grains will not have a terribly bad effect on total diet protein, or energy. Your birds will simply drink less. That being said, only soak what you feel that you need to.... If a chicken is getting enough grit, they should be able to digest all of those grains without any soaking. I don't have a comment on the energy of the peas changing, but I wouldn't think it would make very much difference.
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