What am I doing wrong?? Egg Eaters
- Thread starter Leasmom1013
- Start date
Reminder to self. Something to do on the weekend. {Shoot fish in barrel}. Sorry, working OT at the day job, and still need to buy feed (24%CP for my flock of never egg bound birds). Can't get to it before the weekend.
Didn't know you were gonna be busy.
Ummm. That's just a whole lotta wrong right there.
I'm bowing out and letting the master @U_Stormcrow take it from here when he finds the time. Good luck!
PINless peepers lol
Outgoing Orpingtons
Chirping
- Jan 17, 2026
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Do they do this in the summer? Mine eat eggs in the winter because they do not Free-range in winter because it's so cold. There is no bugs too, so they eat eggs as a snack. I feed them (of course) but I don't really make snacks in the winter.
"Poultry do not have a protein requirement per se. Rather, they require each of the nutritionally essential amino acids in the correct levels and balance, as well as sufficient amino nitrogen (nitrogen arising from amino acids) to synthesize the nonessential amino acids. Traditionally, formulating diets to contain sufficient levels of the first 3 or 4 limiting essential amino acids, as well as a minimum level of dietary crude protein, was typically appropriate to meet the needs of poultry using typical ingredients. However, modern poultry have increased growth rates and body composition (meat-type birds) and egg production (egg-laying birds). Additionally, in many regions, there is a desire to reduce dietary crude protein levels to reduce excretion of nitrogen by the birds, and subsequently environmental nutrient pollution."
LINK:
https://www.msdvetmanual.com/poultr...0MDQyNzQkbzEkZzAkdDE3NzA0MDQyNzQkajYwJGwwJGgw
LINK:
https://www.msdvetmanual.com/poultr...0MDQyNzQkbzEkZzAkdDE3NzA0MDQyNzQkajYwJGwwJGgw
Outgoing Orpingtons
Chirping
- Jan 17, 2026
- 160
- 225
- 83
You should make or buy a snack that will last all day long. Here is a recipe:
Mama hen stew: a dish that is normally used for broody hens. If a hen that is not broody is eating it, it is called "Chicken peanut butter". Put 3-4 scoops of chicken crumble or pellets (I tried both) in a bowl and add some water. Stir and smash until it looks good enough. If it seems to wet, add more feed, if it seems to dry, add more water. Sprinkle some grains and stir it (optional, you don't need grains and if you add it, you don't need to stir it) feed the snack to your chickens and see if they like it. If they do, you can make more (if you want)
(You know what, I'm going to make an article about recipes)
Outgoing Orpingtons.
Mama hen stew: a dish that is normally used for broody hens. If a hen that is not broody is eating it, it is called "Chicken peanut butter". Put 3-4 scoops of chicken crumble or pellets (I tried both) in a bowl and add some water. Stir and smash until it looks good enough. If it seems to wet, add more feed, if it seems to dry, add more water. Sprinkle some grains and stir it (optional, you don't need grains and if you add it, you don't need to stir it) feed the snack to your chickens and see if they like it. If they do, you can make more (if you want)
(You know what, I'm going to make an article about recipes)
Outgoing Orpingtons.
Sorry, completely forgot that I was supposed to respond to this.
1a). There is NO published study suggesting 20% CP is harmful to poultry over any time period. A substantial minority of us on BYC, perhaps even a bare majority, routinely feed out birds at least 20% CP all their lives. There are a poorly sourced claim, one I have repeated myself, that CP over 24% is bad for growing waterfowl, particularly Pekin ducks, who have been bred in ways similar to the Cx, encouraging rapid weight gain (muscle development) at rate faster than the skeletal and system and tendons develop, leading to "Angel Wing" - but its poorly sourced. Mass carbs are much more strongly linked to the condition, particularly in their formative weeks. High CP is associated w/ various health conditions where chickens are used as human analogs in health studies "High CP" being in excess of 36%.
1b) Makers of 20% CP "All Flock" formulations do not, in fact, recommend you feed less than 20% some of the time. The point of all flock is every age, every gender, all the time.
1c) The push for lower Protein comes from commercial production, who seek to minimize costs in a business of extremely narrow margins. Protein, particularly animal protein, is expensive. 16% CP is adequate, on a typical corn/soy diet, to obtain acceptable egg production in the first productive year for commercial layers, in commercial management conditions. With appropriate amino acid supplementation, primarily dl-Methionine and l-Lysine, CP levels of 14 and 15% are adequate to that purpose. The EU remain at the cutting edge of that research. This is because CP is used as quick reference (See @McChooky 's comment above for a quick gloss) by the largely ignorant, for what we are really interested in - the amounts of certain limiting Amino Acids - Methionine, Lysine, Threonine, Tryptophan. AAs chickens can not produce adequate amount of on their own, and must obtain through diet.
1d) Ca metabolism is essentially independent of Protein digestion and repurposing of amino acids into useful new proteins. the Ca : P ratio is FAR more important. Adding Calcium won't "buffer" excess CP, it will do damage to your birds over the long term - how much damage is a factor of age, dosage, gender, duration, frequency of lay, and size of egg.
2.) Sources???? The 10% rule of thumb is just that, a thumb rule which is quite conservative because the things often offered as treats (sunflower seeds, dried mealworms, etc) tend to be high fat sources - its own health risk. You said: "healthy things like greens, bugs, beans and not grains and fruit". These things are NOT interchangeable. Even Millet isn't interchangeable. White (proso) millet has a significantly different dietary profile than red (Indian) millet, and differing antinutritional concerns as well.
3a) Assumes facts not in evidence. Nutritionally inferior, poorly stored, and age degraded commercial feeds aren't great, but the majority are still nutritionally superior to the typical "home brew" feed recipe. Of course, some very expensive niche commercial feeds are also nutritional [dog excrement] - but they are targeted at the ignorant human keepers who have money to burn and can't be bothered to take the time to do the research. More expensive != better. It may. Often not.
3b) The same concerns in commercial feeds are ALSO concerns in home brew feeds made from ingredients intended for human consumption. The risk is perhaps lesser - but when you buy that grocery store bag of dried beans, read the label real close.
4a) You are brushing up against some studies (linked in this post) which show that with adequate variety, chickens are reasonably good at managing their energy intake and CP needs. Those same studies show that chickens are only passable at balancing their AA intake, particularly once they've met their dietary energy needs. They are, however, quite good at regulating Ca intake. We'll call this "half right".
4b) anyone that thinks that anything is "100% protein" is an idiot. I assume you didn't prop that straw man up simply to bash it. A rare steak is typically around 75% water. Meaning that 85/15% meat/fat ratio is only the describing the non-water portion - 21% protein by weight.
4c) Free ranging is great - but its not magic. The value of free ranging is seasonally dependent, determined in no small part by the variety of the pasturage, and may still be deficient in key (often trace) minerals, of which selenium is a concern for big swaths of the US. I do it myself. As a supplement to a nutritionally superior commercial feed, not as a "cure" for a nutritionally inferior feed.
5) Close - but that will take unpacking and a post as long as this one to address. There are a lot of factors in play there.
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and FWIW, my birds free range a couple acres, I've had as many as about 80 on property at a time, all my hatchlings get a 24% CP commercial feed with some impressive Met and Lys numbers for their first 8-12 weeks, then reduced to a 20% CP feed (with better than average numbers, but too much calcium - I've spoke about the trade offs elsewhere) for the rest of their lives. Annually, I make efforts at increasing the diversity of my pasturage, and post about it here. I take my birds apart for my own table, and post about it (here, among others). I chat about my Culling program (you can't have a breeding program if you free range), and of course the State comes to look in on things twice a year - I'm NPIP.
So not only do I talk the talk, I walk the walk, and eat the results.
DO I have lots to learn? Oh yes. My experience is just beginning - coming up on my 6th year of this. I come here to learn about illness and injury, to track disease vectors as they move thru the nation, to follow others of experience in their chicken keeping journeys, breeding and feeding experiments, and the like. At the end of the day, there is NO ONE RIGHT WAY - but there are millions of clearly wrong ones. Learn from us, learn from failure, whatever way works best for you - but be aware there is some really solid science - how to feed chickens is among the best studied subjects on the planet. Its a shame to ignore it in favor of reposting popular misunderstandings.
So not only do I talk the talk, I walk the walk, and eat the results.
DO I have lots to learn? Oh yes. My experience is just beginning - coming up on my 6th year of this. I come here to learn about illness and injury, to track disease vectors as they move thru the nation, to follow others of experience in their chicken keeping journeys, breeding and feeding experiments, and the like. At the end of the day, there is NO ONE RIGHT WAY - but there are millions of clearly wrong ones. Learn from us, learn from failure, whatever way works best for you - but be aware there is some really solid science - how to feed chickens is among the best studied subjects on the planet. Its a shame to ignore it in favor of reposting popular misunderstandings.
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