LAYERS MASH, 18% protein, is it high enough?

[Babushkamama]

Hi,
I have seen advertised in my area, free range layers mash, it has 18% protein. Is this high enough? I have fed them organic mash, but im finding it rather expensive now, Its $55 for 25kg. The 18% protein is $29 for 25kg.
I do like to give them organic food. Im not sure how much GMO is in the food of the cheaper mash. They are free ranging, but its winter and we have snow, frozen ground when there isn't snow. So perhaps its not a high enough protein level. Any recommendations appreciated.

 

[themuttsknutts]

18% is fine, - even 16% is plenty.

I give my hens whole barley boiled in water first thing in the morning ( served warm @40 C) in our cold yorkshire winters. ,also add split maize and a few sunflower seeds.

Neil

 

[Babushkamama]

Hi Neil.
Thanks for that info. I shall get some barley. Its very cold down here at the moment, I do feel sorry for them. I like to give them a warm dinner also, for the cold night ahead.
Do you lock them up for the night? I used to when I lived in England because of the foxs , we don't have them here, but I have had stoats kill my pheasants and my OEG bantams.
I was born in Leeds Yorkshire. I would love to go on the moors again one day.

Karen

 

[themuttsknutts]

A have automatic door closers that lock them in over night, we also have good fences and the farm behind me breeds pheasants commercially and there around a dozen other chicken keepers around me so any fox that pops it head up is likely to be dealt with very quickly.

Never had to deal with stoats but they sound like hard work. Look a bit like ferrets to me

Whole wheat works just as well for boiling. i use about 1 to 2 oz dry whole grain per bird and boil for about 5 to 10.

I'm just outside skipton. I'm more of a dales and lakes lover but the moors are nice.This is the reason I spend so much time out and about

 

[Babushkamama]

Lovely photo

I shall have a look for wheat or barley. Its a good idea.
The stoats are like ferrets but much slinkier and can climb better, the little brutes

 

[Ridgerunner]

After converting NZ$ to US$ and KG to LB the cost of the 18% non-organic is pretty close to what it is here.

The percent protein in the feed is not the critical thing, it’s how much total protein they eat in a day. That comes from everything they eat, not just their feed. How many grams of protein they need each day will depend on their size, whether they are laying, things like that. A hen laying an egg will need more protein than a rooster, even if the rooster is a lot bigger and needs to maintain his bigger body. A hen molting needs more protein than a hen not molting unless she is laying eggs. That’s why they quit laying when they molt, to use that protein for feather growth instead of eggs.

The commercial hybrid laying hens are fed a feed of about 16% protein. They do not forage and they do not get any treats. The feed is all they eat and it works for them. Since yours forage and they get treats then their feed constitutes only a part of what protein they eat.

It probably varies a bit with the individual crop but barley has about 12.7% crude protein, wheat about 15.9%. If you feed much barley you probably need to feed a higher percentage protein feed. With wheat not so much.

Since yours forage you can’t tell how much total protein they are getting each day. That’s going to depend a lot on the quality of your forage. If your forage is a manicured yard with nothing but immature grass, there is not a lot of forage value in it. If you have a farm where there is a variety of grasses and weeds, grass and weed seeds, various creepy crawlies, rotting vegetation for them to scratch and feast in, and maybe some cows or horses where they can scratch in the poop and get lots of concentrated nutrients they can do really well. In those circumstances they can pretty much feed themselves and do really well, but in winter you do need to supplement when the quality of the forage goes down.

They can surprise you at how much forage they can find even on frozen ground and I don’t know the quality of your forage, but I’d consider that 18% feed to be plenty adequate. I think you are good to go with it.

 

[Babushkamama]

Thank you for that information. My backyard is not manicured, I believe in letting nature do its natural thing, within reason. So there are weeds and different types of grasses popping up through the ice and snow. I shall give them the cheaper mash. and also the wheat. I was giving them maze, But I don't think its as good as wheat.
Great info . thanks.. Karen

 

[Ridgerunner]

Sorry I can't read that green font.