Too much protein?

[saysfaa]

I worry with 20% protein that my chickens will get kidney disease. I like getting more eggs daily but not at the expense of my hens dying earlier. I think I’ll go back to 16-18 % personally

I think any of these protein levels are safe for adult chickens. Twenty percent won't up the risk of kidney issues or anything else that shortens their life nor will 16% or 18% shorten their life.

The 16-18% was developed for shorter-lived birds because that timing works best for commercial operations for reasons unrelated to the composition of feed. That the feed was developed for that lifespan doesn't mean it isn't good for longer lifespans.

I do like to up the protein a little for molt, though.

 

[Altairsky]

16% does not support enough protein for molt or overwintering or healing because it is intended for caged birds in intensive farming that never live long enough for such things.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9179259/
"As expected, the dietary balanced protein influenced the dynamics of performance, body content, egg production, and egg mass of laying hens in the laying phase. The performance of laying hens increased with higher levels of balanced protein but other responses such as the feeding cost also influence the economic return and need to be considered to making a nutritional decision. The hen-housed egg production reduced in laying hens consuming a feed with low levels of dietary balanced protein. In this study, body ash was not mobilized, indicating that the minerals consumed were sufficient for egg production and that the dietary balanced protein levels applied in this study did not influence this variable. On the contrary, a mobilization of body fat was observed, being more evident at the end of laying cycle. The dietary balanced protein levels investigated in this study slightly affected the yolk percentage but had no influence on albumen and eggshell percentages. More persistence of egg production was observed for laying hens consuming a high dietary balanced protein feed."

 

[NestingMillenial]

I'm coming at this with no preconceived notion that one or the other is better, so please bear with me, just asking, not trying to argue here: the study does focus on egg production, and I was wondering if it would make sense to question that? As in, is laying more and bigger a good thing for the hens, in terms of health?

16% does not support enough protein for molt or overwintering or healing because it is intended for caged birds in intensive farming that never live long enough for such things.

In any case, it would seem like sound advice to feed more proteins at those times, regardless of anything else then, that's a good reminder!

 

[saysfaa]

...
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9179259/
...

This study looks the effects of standard, lower than standard, and higher than standard percentages of protein fed to chicks.

"...how a modern hen may deal with a deficient diet during the growth and its impact in a long-term laying cycle...."