Protein supplement for non-soy grower ration

[Dandelioness]

Hello all -

I am raising my Cornish X broilers on an organic, non-soy ration again this year. The ration I use is only 18% protein - whereas other grower rations are in the 20-22% protein range. In previous years, they have been very healthy but averaged about 1# less dressed than chicks I've raised on conventional.

They are out on pasture, so they do get some bugs and things but not nearly as many as my hens who are allowed to range in the afternoons.

I have ample access to whole raw milk, fresh eggs, and frozen beef livers.

I have a spreadsheet where I can plug in different ingredients by weight to arrive at a target protein percentage - but I cannot find the crude protein percentages online anywhere.

Is there a formula to use to figure out the crude protein percentage of a given food? I do not want to overfeed protein for fear of kidney failure.

Or has anyone else supplemented a feed like this? What did you do & what were the results?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

USDA has them:
https://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/12354500/Data/SR25/nutrlist/sr25a203.pdf

Look up clabbered milk. Chickens are reputed to tolerate the clabbered milk better than fresh. It must come from raw milk.

I like GF Heuser's book "Feeding Poultry" Norton Creek press. It is old-timey and you may like it.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

http://www2.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Nutrition-Protein_sources.html


http://www2.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Nutrition-Grains.html


http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/1-4/harvey_ussery/

http://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/sfn/su10soypoultry

 

[Dandelioness]

Thanks! That USDA link is amazing! For one, I now know that light beer is no good as a protein supplement LOL

Talk about an exhaustive list!! Going in my bookmarks for sure, and I hope this thread can help someone else, too.

I'm a huge Ussery fan and supplement/mix layer rations pretty often. I actually have about 1/8 acre dedicated to growing things like buckwheat, sorghum, flax, oats and wheat for hens to self harvest, and pasture all the chicks from day one (with a heat lamp and predator-proof night box) in the yard & with a greens mix.

But Joel Salatin also says the Cornish X are like racecars - and you need the right fuel if you want good results so I am hesitant to go beyond this step (non-soy with supplement & pasture) ...for now. We tried mixing our own a few years ago and the layer chicks did just fine, but the Cornish X had leg trouble & higher mortality rates than other years.

Thanks again for that USDA list!!!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Thanks! That USDA link is amazing! For one, I now know that light beer is no good as a protein supplement LOL

Talk about an exhaustive list!! Going in my bookmarks for sure, and I hope this thread can help someone else, too.

I'm a huge Ussery fan and supplement/mix layer rations pretty often. I actually have about 1/8 acre dedicated to growing things like buckwheat, sorghum, flax, oats and wheat for hens to self harvest, and pasture all the chicks from day one (with a heat lamp and predator-proof night box) in the yard & with a greens mix.

But Joel Salatin also says the Cornish X are like racecars - and you need the right fuel if you want good results so I am hesitant to go beyond this step (non-soy with supplement & pasture) ...for now. We tried mixing our own a few years ago and the layer chicks did just fine, but the Cornish X had leg trouble & higher mortality rates than other years.

Thanks again for that USDA list!!!

You are welcome!