would this be too much protein?!?

[Taylor]

there is a local farm who makes their own layer pellets and chick food/grower. their layer pellets is from soybean and corn squeezins and it is 27% protein. same for their chick starter/grower, but its like 20% nd it has other millet and stff in it. would this be way too much protein for laying hens and my pullets? i want to try it because he gets like $15 a 55 gal drum barrel full. and other poultry raisers around here say they get the best and most eggs on this feed, and it being made from soybeans and corn it makes their yolks golden yellow/orange.

 

[Medicine Man]

Nearly all modern-day commercial chicken feed is soy & corn. It's actually nutritional garbage, horrible for chickens' health, and only came about as a means of saving money.

 

[bburn]

Quote:
So, what do you feed YOUR chickens?

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
Really?

Amino Aids, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and fats are "nutritional garbage"? Thanks for the new information.

 

[bburn]

Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay :

Quote:
Really?

Amino Aids, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and fats are "nutritional garbage"? Thanks for the new information.

That was what I was thinking and not trying to be mean, but if he thinks that then WHAT is he feeding his chickens? We all want to feed our chickens what they need.​

 

[tennesseeckn]

To be 27% protein it would have to be mostly soybean. I wouldn't use it because of that fact. Some people are concerned that genetically modified foods, such as soybeans, can have long term negative effects on your birds and the people that consume the eggs and meat. Also, if it is just two ingredients, it's probably not meeting all of the nutritional needs of your birds. There are a lot of obscure trace vitamins and minerals they need.

I spent a year mixing my own feed for my flock. I used at least ten different grains and used a Nutri-balancer, too. I had to use a spreadsheet to determine how much protein each ingredient had and travel to several different places to get all of the ingredients. My flock did great on it, but it was too much work once I got more than 50 birds. Now that I've settled on two breeds, I'll probably start doing it again.

I would spend a little extra on regular commercial feed. I've invested a lot of money in my flock and would hate to shorten their life spans dramatically to save a couple of dollars. But, that's just my opinion.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

At 27% for a layer feed I'd for sure feed free-choice grain along with it and let the birds balance it out. Otherwise in my opinion that's too much protein.

If he's selling it as a feed then I presume he's mixing in the necessary supplemental nutrients that he should and can give you an assay of the feed's nutrient composition. I'd be sure to ask about it.

Back when I had a local mill that would custom mix for me (gone now unfortunately) I used to have a 30% protein layer feed made up. I'd hang a feeder of that and a feeder of whole grains and let them work it out. They'd eat roughly two thirds whole grain to one third milled feed and along with pasture and did well on it.

 

[Speceider]

Without calculating the amino acid ratios, all that is meaningless. What is the limiting aminonacid and what are those levels?

Clint

 

[Ridgerunner]

I personally don’t like to feed really high protein level feeds to chickens of any age. They do need higher protein the first few weeks of life, but I just don’t see the need for it after the first month or so. High levels of calcium are clearly a leading cause of gout in growing chicks, but high levels of protein are apparently contributors. This excerpt is from the first link. The second link discusses it more clinically.

5.Feed containing more than 30% of protein causes uric acid production which in turn creates an excretory load on kidneys. At the same time the presence of sulphates decreases calcium resorption causing excessive calcium secretion through urine. This condition favours gout.

http://en.engormix.com/MA-poultry-i.../avian-gout-causes-treatment-t1246/165-p0.htm

http://www.2ndchance.info/goutGuoHighProtein+Ca.pdf

 

[Medicine Man]

Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay :

Quote:
Really?

Amino Aids, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and fats are "nutritional garbage"? Thanks for the new information.

No, just the soy and corn. Thanks for sharing the "Feed Store Education".​