Why only 16% available for layers?

[linguini]

Reading this forum has become my daily obsession, there is so much information from all the postings! As an accidental chooks mom (or grandma since I inherited our spice girls from my daughter who left home for graduate school) I am hopelessly obsessed with our lovely chooks and I also have so much to learn.
All our chickens are girls, named after spices. We have 8 hens, they are all almost 7 months old. 6 of them started laying last month.

Perhaps I am thinking too much, but I am quite confused by the conflict between what the consensus from this forum shows with what is offered in the market place for layer feeds.

From what I learned from the forum, most people prefer flock raiser with 20% protein with oyster shell and grit on the side for their flock.
My main questions are:

If higher protein is important, why are all the layer feed that we can buy from big box stores only provide 16% of protein?
Are some important nutrients in these 16% layer feed not included in the 20% flock raiser? Moreover,
feeds with lower % of protein don't seem to be as tasty to chickens!

If chickens' preference is an indication, it also point to higher % of protein to be more desirable. Why do the feed producers think that 16% is sufficient for layers? Is costs the only driver to 16%?

Does anyone know where to find layer feed with > 16% protein?

All input welcome! Thanks in advance.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

The 16% is usually considered for the factory farma. Protein is what makes the feed more expensive, so it's about the minimum needed

 

[linguini]

The 16% is usually considered for the factory farma. Protein is what makes the feed more expensive, so it's about the minimum needed

Thanks! But sure there are folks who are willing to pay a little extra to make their chickens happy! There must be a market for that?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Thanks! But sure there are folks who are willing to pay a little extra to make their chickens happy! There must be a market for that?

Moat people jist get the flock raiser and oysterahell at that point since they usually have roosters too and they aren't needing that extra calcium

 

[SwampFlock]

If you want to really get into nuts and bolts, I buy my chicken feed from Azure Standard, an online co-op. They have pre-made feed but I buy the individual ingredients (oats, barley, sorghum, etc) by the 50# sack and mix my own. I'm pretty sure you can get much smaller (5# maybe?) bags from them. I have 42 birds so I'm buying hundreds of pounds a month. They're a very popular store among homesteaders; I kept hearing about them in YouTube videos myself.

 

[SwampFlock]

https://www.azurestandard.com/healt...-up-and-we-share-a-organic-layer-feed-recipe/

 

[Nigel27]

There is usually 22% chick crumble or 19% grower and 18, 17 and 16% layer/breeder pellets that I’ve seen, if they only have 16% layer then I buy 22% game pellets and mix them
Edit: I should add that game pellets sometimes don’t have selenium added

 

[SwampFlock]

That's the recipe I started with. I for instance, rarely feed the alfalfa pellets because they don't like them and my crews are on pasture year-round in SE TX. But that exact recipe is 1 penny a pound CHEAPER than the organic pellets I was buying at tractor supply. And these are all organic whole seeds so if they get left behind they just grow, not rot like pellets. Another advantage of this feed is you can soak, ferment, sprout, or grow to fodder all these seeds which your chickens will love and will extend the #s of seed by up to 6x, saving you tons of money on the best thing you can possibly feed your chickens over the big box bags. Plus all the feed sacks are compostable vs the plastic trash feed bags from the stores. Feed is my passion!

 

[aart]

Are some important nutrients in these 16% layer feed not included in the 20% flock raiser?

Usually only the calcium levels.
Some micro-nutrients may be a bit different, if you care to delve in to that.

 

[linguini]

If you want to really get into nuts and bolts, I buy my chicken feed from Azure Standard, an online co-op. They have pre-made feed but I buy the individual ingredients (oats, barley, sorghum, etc) by the 50# sack and mix my own. I'm pretty sure you can get much smaller (5# maybe?) bags from them. I have 42 birds so I'm buying hundreds of pounds a month. They're a very popular store among homesteaders; I kept hearing about them in YouTube videos myself.

Thank you so much for the info.