Protein?

[WhiteLeghorn2]

I've been reading some BYC threads, and saw that some people are giving their chickens a very high protein diet, some people say as high as 28%. Our 6 hens are on 16% protein with their layer feed. People have said that higher protein increases egg production. Should I try 20% protein feed?

 

[Mountain Peeps]

No. 16% is required for hens. 20-18% is for chicks and growing chickens. Meat birds usually eat a 22%. So, your's are eating the right feed

Also, some people who have different ages of chickens all living together feed them a 20% flock raiser.

 

[WhiteLeghorn2]

Thanks @MountainPeeps . These people were feeding adult hens though, so I dunno haha. Just thought I'd research it a little bit. Would a 20% diet be too much? I might want to experiment, but I definitely won't if it is bad for them.

 

[Chris09]

I think you will find that it depends all on who you talk to, what breed they have, do the breed there fowl, and do they show poultry.

For the most part if all you have are egg production breeds and hatchery fowl 16 to 18 percent protein is fine but the birds could do better on 18 to 20.
Birds that are on a 18 to 20 percent protein feed molt and recover from molt faster than a bird on a 16 percent protein, breed better, have better fertility, better egg production and tend to lay a larger egg. Also when feeding a 18 to 20 your not dropping the over all protein down below 16 percent when you feed treat, grain etc.

I myself raise, breed and show large fowl reds, and rock. I like the higher protein (20+% protein) and I have very good results with it.
To be honest I haven't seen a good breeder feed or show feed for poultry thats under 18% protein.

 

[WhiteLeghorn2]

@Chris09 Thanks! As you said, it all depends on who I talk to. Mountain Peeps practically said the opposite of what you're saying lol. I appreciate both of your opinions, but I think I'm gonna try the 20%. Sounds like it might be good for my chickens. I've got Australorps and Orpingtons, so I'd think since they're pretty big it would work well.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Thanks @MountainPeeps . These people were feeding adult hens though, so I dunno haha. Just thought I'd research it a little bit. Would a 20% diet be too much? I might want to experiment, but I definitely won't if it is bad for them.

20% will work fine too. 16% is just what's recommended.

 

[WhiteLeghorn2]

Thanks @MountainPeeps . I'm gonna try it and see how it works out. I might end up switching back to the 16% though.

 

[Ridgerunner]

There are no hard and fast rules where they will die if you don’t get it exactly right. There are different ranges that work. And like Chris said, it depends on why you have chickens. Meat birds are fed differently than chickens for show. Egg birds are fed differently still.

A lot of what we read on this forum comes from studies on commercial egg laying birds. These are chickens that are specially bred to have small bodies so they don’t need much feed for body maintenance. They have been bred to be really good at converting what they eat to Grade A Large eggs. Those chickens are fed a very controlled diet with a certain amount per chicken and with no treats. Those have been studied to death because just a little difference in feed costs adds up when you have 5,000 hens in one hen house and you have several of those hen houses. It’s all about feeding them efficiently to keep them healthy and producing on schedule yet not waste feed.

That’s where the 16% comes from. They feed chicks about a 20 to 22% protein feed the first four weeks to get them feathered out and off to a good start. Then they drop back to about a 16% Grower until they are maybe 13 weeks old, then they switch to a 15% protein developer/finisher. When they are ready to lay, they up the protein to about 16%. I’m saying about on all these because I’m rounding off. They are much more precise than a whole percent. They have it down to a science.

You don’t have those special hybrid commercial egg layers. You probably don’t micro-manage every bite they take. You might even feed them treats or let them forage for some of their food. That throws the calculations out of the window. You just lost all control if you let them forage.

You can feed your chicken breeds 20% without any problem, whether you let them forage or feed them treats or not. They are not bred to lay extra-huge eggs for their body size like those commercial hybrids. A higher protein will cause the eggs to be a little larger, but 20% is not enough to cause them to lay eggs so big they hurt themselves.

If you switch to a higher protein feed, you will probably have to supplement the calcium. They need that for the egg shells. Layer normally has around 4% calcium. Other feeds are closer to 1% calcium. That’s not enough calcium for the egg shells. I suggest you offer oyster shells on the side. If they need it for their egg shells they seem to instinctively know to eat some. That calcium level is the only warning I’ll give you because as far as I am concerned that’s the only problem you are likely to have.

Good luck with it.

 

[Chris09]

Hey Steve how you been?

 

[Chris09]

@WhiteLeghorn2 ,
Another plus to feeding a say 20% protein feed is that you could feed up to 20% of there diet as treats without dropping there protein intake to much.

Example 01 --
Poultry Feed (20% protein) 90 lbs
Scratch Grain (9% protein) 10 lbs
This mix would still give you a 18.90% protein feed.

Example 02 --
Poultry Feed (20% protein) 90 lbs
Scratch Grain (14% protein) 10 lbs
This mix would still give you a 19.40% protein feed.