How do I increase protein in chick feed?

[animal8]

I have found a health food shop that sells toasted soya bran, soya flour and natural soya protein chunks. Would any of these be a suitable alternative if I cannot find soya bean meal? I know with the chunks, I would have to break them down to make them small enough for the birds to eat.

If none of these are ideal can I buy roasted soya beans and crush them down?

 

[JJMR794]

Chunks Would Do It... Yes They May Need Crushing Depending On Size. I Have No Idea Whats Available To You, But Any Type Of Cooked Soy Bean Could Be Processed Down To Smaller Size And Added... You'll Find Health Food Stores Or Stores For Human Consumption Relatively More Expensive Than Feed/ Farm Stores If You Can Find Them

 

[animal8]

Quote:
I agree that it would be more expensive, but it shouldn't be too bad as at first I'm only going to be keeping a few chicks at a time. Of course, I will have to find a cheaper option if I start breeding more!

I know a few places that sell the protein chunks and whole, roasted soya beans, so I will have a look around and compare prices. Good to know there is a good alternative that I can get my hands on!!

I was starting to get worried as I can't buy Game Bird Starter and I can't find the soya bean meal either....hope these other options do the trick!

Thanks for the advice!!

 

[animal8]

Could I feed the soya protein chunks (or roasted soya beans) to adult birds as well? I know adult quail are supposed t have around 20% protein in their feed, but most layers pellets I have found are only 15%. So would the supplemental soya work with them as well?

 

[gamebirdboy]

Just give the adults the same as chicks. Mine get 30% their whole lives.

 

[animal8]

Quote:
Okay, that sounds like a good thing to do, thanks!!

Does anyone have an idea of how much I should add to the feed for the right balance? Or can I just sprinkle a little on the top? Is there a specific amount I should add?

 

[MobyQuail]

Quote:
Okay, that sounds like a good thing to do, thanks!!

Does anyone have an idea of how much I should add to the feed for the right balance? Or can I just sprinkle a little on the top? Is there a specific amount I should add?

first of all, let me get this straight, you are across the pond, right? England?

you can get soymeal, grind it up and mix it about 1 to 4-5 with your layer crumbles. if the birds pick around it- you may want to make a simple mash- add water to the whole thing and stir.

the 28- 30% GBS crumbles we get over here- they grind everything together and then bake it and then crumble it, the birds can't pick out the "good" stuff, they eat it all in one.

notice the first couple ingredients...

FRM GAME BIRD STARTER

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:
Crude Protein, Min. 28.00%
Crude Fat, Min. 3.00%
Crude Fiber, Max. 7.00%

INGREDIENTS:
Corn Meal, Soybean Meal, Poultry By Product Meal, Wheat Middlings, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Dried Whey Product, Animal Fat stabilized with BHA (a preservative), Limestone, Monocalcium Phosphate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Yeast Culture, Dried Streptococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, Dried Aspergillus Niger Fermentation Extract, Brewers Dried Yeast, and Dried Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Fermentation Solubles, Zinc Methionine, DL-Methionine, Ethoxyquin, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, D-Pantothenic Acid, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Vitamin K Supplement, Magnesium Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Cobalt Carbonate, and Sodium Selenite.


anyway you can get some dried whey product at that health food store? is it cost effective? prolly not really...but its a thought, I like mixing protein sources for me and my birds, soy is not a super duper great complete protein- but its great when mixed with other incomplete proteins to complement each other... just something about an all you can eat, complete amino acid buffet that sounds appealing to me for lil brown birds with extremely fast metabolisms and growth rates.

good luck! TD

 

[animal8]

Quote:
Okay, that sounds like a good thing to do, thanks!!

Does anyone have an idea of how much I should add to the feed for the right balance? Or can I just sprinkle a little on the top? Is there a specific amount I should add?

first of all, let me get this straight, you are across the pond, right? England?

you can get soymeal, grind it up and mix it about 1 to 4-5 with your layer crumbles. if the birds pick around it- you may want to make a simple mash- add water to the whole thing and stir.

the 28- 30% GBS crumbles we get over here- they grind everything together and then bake it and then crumble it, the birds can't pick out the "good" stuff, they eat it all in one.

notice the first couple ingredients...

FRM GAME BIRD STARTER

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:
Crude Protein, Min. 28.00%
Crude Fat, Min. 3.00%
Crude Fiber, Max. 7.00%

INGREDIENTS:
Corn Meal, Soybean Meal, Poultry By Product Meal, Wheat Middlings, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Dried Whey Product, Animal Fat stabilized with BHA (a preservative), Limestone, Monocalcium Phosphate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Yeast Culture, Dried Streptococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, Dried Aspergillus Niger Fermentation Extract, Brewers Dried Yeast, and Dried Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Fermentation Solubles, Zinc Methionine, DL-Methionine, Ethoxyquin, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, D-Pantothenic Acid, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Vitamin K Supplement, Magnesium Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Cobalt Carbonate, and Sodium Selenite.


anyway you can get some dried whey product at that health food store? is it cost effective? prolly not really...but its a thought, I like mixing protein sources for me and my birds, soy is not a super duper great complete protein- but its great when mixed with other incomplete proteins to complement each other... just something about an all you can eat, complete amino acid buffet that sounds appealing to me for lil brown birds with extremely fast metabolisms and growth rates.

good luck! TD

Thanks for that info!!

What other sorts of incomplete protein would be good to mix with soybean? I still need to find somewhere that sells the soybean meal, the closest I've found so far is that soy protein chunks I mentioned about. Yes, I live in England, it's a shame I can't get the GBS crumbles over here, otherwise I would use that.

Thanks for all the help you've given me

 

[MobyQuail]

good reads here... think in terms of Quail/bird flesh, it is prolly different from humans a little in the amino acid profile of the skeletal muscle. prolly what gives us all our own unique flavor upon roasting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_protein

http://www.glisonline.com/essential-amino-acids.html

Food sources of each of the essential amino acids are mentioned in the previous section describing each essential amino acid. In general terms proteins are found primarily in meats, eggs, milk, rice and beans, although there are also amino acids in vegetable as well. Our bodies have to break down plant or animal protein into the component amino acids and then rebuild protein - human protein. The plant or animal protein cannot be absorbed directly because these proteins have polypeptides with hundreds, or thousands of amino acids joined in peptide bonds that have to be broken with enzymes into the single amino acids that the body can absorb, and then reform into the proteins the body requires. It is more difficult for our bodies to break down animal protein than it is for it to break down plant protein.

Heat in cooking and the conditions of processing destroy many amino acids in our food.

Vegetarians and vegans often have low intakes of the amino acid lysine that is prevalent in eggs and poultry products.

and

http://www.massgrown.org/high_protein_vegetables.html

* One cup of cooked soybeans (29 gms of protein), lentils (18 gms of protein), black beans (15 gms of protein), kidney beans (13 gms of protein), chickpeas (12 gms of protein), veggie baked beans (12 gms of protein), pinto beans (12 gms of protein), black-eyed peas (11 gms of protein), peas (9 gms of protein), spinach (5 gms of protein) and broccoli (4 gms of protein)



* Four ounces tofu (11 gms of protein)

* 1/4cups sunflower seeds (4 gms protein)​

 

[animal8]

Thanks for that list of protein sources

So can I crush down and mix up a few of those and add it to the feed? Would I have to be careful about the amounts that I add?