Nutritional needs during egg laying

[KsKingBee]

Whats the reasoning behind the lower protein formula, I have been giving mine SPORTMIX 33% protein dog food they all seem to love it along with corn sunflower seeds and collard greens however also its about breeding season for the first time so maybe I need to switch to some other stuff I don't know this is all new to me as well, I never intended on owning peas but they just moved in one day and took over. They r free range in summer and hide out in my garage in the winter or any severe rain storm they run and fast into the garage.

The protein level of the feed you are feeding is not that high. If you would weigh out every feed you are providing by protein level it is very low. Example one part feed at 30%, one part feed at 20% and one part feed at 10% = 60 dived by three equals 20% total proteins. Scratch grains are at about 8%, oats is 12% but fresh vegs are harder to evaluate and can be much lower than even scratch grains.

 

[Birdrain92]

Pearson's Square is very useful in calculating what % protein you're wanting. Say you want 22% protein and you're using the 33% dog food, and 20% protein feed. You draw a square and 22 goes in the center. Then you put 33% or 20% on top left, and the opposite to the bottom left. Label which feed is which. Then subtract the numbers diagonal, and the feed name goes straight across. So 33-20=13, and 22-20=-2, switch -2 to 2 because you can't have a negative feed unit. So you will need 13, 30% and 2, 20%. Add 13 and 2 together=15. Then 13/15=87% and 2/15=13%. 87% of the feed will be the 20% feed, while 13% will be the 33% dog food. So let's say you wanted to make 100 lbs. just to make math easy. You multiple 0.87 and 0.13 to the 100 lbs of feed. You would need 87 lbs of 20% protein feed, and 13 lbs of dog food in the Total Mix Ration.Your percentages should add up to 100%. To double check the protein level, (87*.20)+(13*.33)=21.69 almost 22 lbs of protein in the 100 lbs of feed. 21.69/100=21.69% protein.

 

[izigg]

So lets say out of the 3 females possibly 4 ? will posts some pics up soon for help on that next, I manage to get a few to hatch, is there a recommended food to start them out on , Ive read conflicting articles on medicated feeds and such, I have some ground turkey meal feed I used when I fist got the females and they all ate it just fine and then I switched over to dog food corn n sun seed with greens n fruit

 

[Birdrain92]

So lets say out of the 3 females possibly 4 ? will posts some pics up soon for help on that next, I manage to get a few to hatch, is there a recommended food to start them out on , Ive read conflicting articles on medicated feeds and such, I have some ground turkey meal feed I used when I fist got the females and they all ate it just fine and then I switched over to dog food corn n sun seed with greens n fruit

It depends on where you're located at. In the US medicated feed is perfectly safe. Medicated feeds include Amprolium, a probiotic NOT an antibiotic. Amprolium works to build up the chicks gut health so it can become more resistant or tolerant to Coccidia. It doesn't guarantee they can't get Coccidiosis, it just lessens their chances of becoming infected and dying. I only use medicated feeds, it doesn't hurt them, there's only benefits to it in my opinion. Not to mention the only Non-medicated feeds I can find, are organic feeds and they're crazy expensive for me. Also it depends on your location in the US. If you're in an area that gets warm and wet when you have chicks, you should use medicated feed. The reason why is Coccidia thrives in warm, wet areas. Do not mix medicated feeds and regular feeds. This will dilute the Amprolium, making it less effective. I would recommend medicated feed. If you can't find a medicated feed with the right nutrition for peachicks, I would choose a feed that meets nutritional requirements. There's more than one way to prevent or treat diseases.

 

[casportpony]

FWIW, my medicated turkey starter contains bacitracin, not amprolium.

 

[izigg]

Im in Mich, just way north in the u.p. Thanks for the help I will see whats available , does anyone have a recommended brand they use and would it be recommended to give some as well to all my birds now when I got em all in one place, or just feed it to the chicks and dose the mature birds as some have recommended and I thanks for the help again,