Why would I want or NOT want to feed animal fats/animal protein?

[SpeckledPullet]

I am a newbie and had to buy layer crumbles today. I was stuck between a feed that offered animals fats and animal protein as incredients. Another feed was FREE of these two ingredients. My question is what is the difference and why would I want or not want these two ingredients? Is the AF/AP free feed pretty much just designed for those wanting a "natural" feed and not really beneficial in any other way? Would love to know, because the latter feed is twice the price!!

 

[Wifezilla]

Chickens are omnivores, so it is perfectly natural to feed them a diet with animal protein in it.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

The animal protein provides a more complete protein with all the essential amino acids. The animal protein is from slaughterhouse by-products, they don't exactly throw a steak in there. It could be anything from offal to feather meal. Since the mad cow scare there has been public outcry against feeding animal by-products to animals. A lot of the premium eggs you find in the store now are sold as "From Vegetarian Fed Chickens". Somehow this is supposed to be more humane than feeding animals to animals. Even the USDA National Organic Program forbids feeding mammalian and poultry based by-products to organic poultry.

The feed without animal proteins has plant based proteins, usually soybean based protein. Plant based proteins lack certain essential amino acids, such as methionine. These feeds are supplemented with synthetic amino acids to provide a complete protein mix.

Your birds will do fine on either. They are both complete, balanced rations. They just use different ingredients.

 

[SpeckledPullet]

Thank you Mac! That was very informative. I think I understand it all much better now. Seems like the cheaper option is what I will do. If meat is not an issue for hens, don't see why I should pay more $$ to not have it in the diet. Thanks again.

 

[bibliophile birds]

i wouldn't buy a feed that had animal protein in it, but i do provide animal protein myself (because chickens are omnivores and i don't feed soy). personally, i don't trust "animal by-product" at all. as Mac said, it's slaughter leftovers from HUGE industrial slaughter houses. the cleanliness issue alone is enough to turn me off. the meat that comes out of those slaughter houses goes through several chemical baths to make it "safe" for human consumption (which is gross in and of itself), but the by-products don't. they are heat treated but some bacteria is known to survive the treatments. and then there is all the gross stuff that those animals were fed while alive that i don't want to feed my chickens (and thus myself).

instead, my chickens get our meat kitchen scraps (organic, locally produced). sometimes i catch fish for them from our pond. every now and then they get ahold of a mouse out in the yard. they really enjoy tearing apart the turkey carcasses after i've made stock out of them!

 

[SpeckledPullet]

Thanks BB. I had not thought of it in that way. You are right and it does sound gross in the way you described it. Perhaps I will pay the extra money and feed the natural crumbles. However, they do have soy in the ingredients. Is soy such a horrible thing?

 

[Turkenlover]

Mine really love it when mice get into the yard! I'm not sure I like the sound they make, but they enjoy it!

 

[Wifezilla]

Yes. Soy is horrible.

 

[pips&peeps]

Most feeds with animal fats nowadays contain fish meal or porcine (pork).

 

[Chris09]

pips&peeps :

Most feeds with animal fats nowadays contain fish meal or porcine (pork).

Chris​