Really simple actually. The FDA and individual state regulations don’t require us to do so. Because of that, we take the easy way out, and don’t bother giving more information than we are required to provide.
Not exactly a flattering answer for the feed industry in general. But, it is what it is.
This also provides an opening for some feed companies to use sub standard/not perfectly balanced ingredients to produce a feed that looks great on the guaranteed analysis, but not so great if you saw the whole picture.
This could more likely be the reason you see many folks having better results on higher protein levels in some cases. Let’s say you have 2 different layer feeds that are both 17% crude protein, and your layer’s current crude protein needs are 17%. You could easily be meeting your chickens actual needs a lot better with one of those feeds than the other.....
In reality, a crude protein figure means absolutely nothing. The real information that you need, is in the levels, and breakdown, of each individual amino acid. You also need to know if the characteristics of the mix, and ingredients used, provide poor, adequate, or exceptional uptake of those nutrients.
I can tell you, with the proper formulation/ingredients/probiotics/etc., 99% of laying hens only need 13.5-17.5% protein in their total diet, depending on their age/weight/Production stage. However, a 20% crude protein diet could be easily formulated, and not appropriately meet their needs......
A good example of this, is the ingredient Field Peas. They are high in crude protein, they are cost effective, they are easy to get, and their amino acid profile works pretty nicely for bovines and swine. However, they really don’t work well with poultry. We have done several large flock studies with field peas, and I was stunned at how poorly they performed.
I don’t have good scientific data to back that up, but we did trial diets with field peas on several 20k bird flocks, at several different times, and the difference was ENORMOUS. Every category from production, to general health, case weights, and overall mortality rates was much better on balanced diets without peas. Some others results may vary......
Another factor is- what else is being fed. If you are feeding a substantial amount of scratch, greens, certain types of scraps, etc., you are probably lowering the protein level in the total diet, and a higher protein layer feed would be preferred. (obviously some types of scraps will raise the total dietary protein).
You also have to keep in mind that excess protein can be an issue as well. Once an average hen gets above 4.75-5lbs, they become a lot more likely to develop fatty liver, or have heart and leg problems. Fatty liver is very common.
I know this isn’t the answer you all would want to hear...... the truth is, a lot can be hidden in the minimum amount of tag/guarantee information that is required. Feed companies aren’t even required to list all of the grain ingredients individually. Luckily, many of them have started to provide that information. Still, there is a huge variance in formulations, even though the guarantee info could read the same. Even if you have two bags of feed from the same manufacturer, they could be very different products, depending on where you purchased them. Products at a big box store are not necessarily the same thing that you can get at your local feed store. Something to keep in mind....
