Top Layers Need Balanced Feed 🐔

Updated Friday 19th May 2023, First published March 28th, 2013

Not all Chicken Feed is the Same!

At Appletons we feed our fowl (all year round!) on a nutritionally balanced, complete commercial feed which contain animal based proteins. Domestic chickens are not vegetarians (contrary to belief) they are omnivores; they eat both animals and vegetables. Their ancestors, the Gallus Gallus, or red jungle fowl, spent its days foraging in the native jungles of Asia and India scratching through the leaf litter, consuming a diet mainly of insects, worms and invertebrates and topped up on fruits, berries, nuts, seeds and young leaves. More recent studies of the crops of wild jungle fowl which have been dissected and analysed, reveal more than half of their crop is made up of animal/insect contents. Animal proteins and vegetable proteins are very different and get utilised differently by chickens. All proteins are made up of building blocks called amino acids and different proteins have different amino acids. Chickens use both vegetable and animal proteins, but in order to function correctly, they specifically need animal proteins as they contain amino acids like methionine and lysine - which are essential to a chicken’s health. Most commercial feed manufactured today use only plant based proteins (due to cost) which is sourced entirely from vegetables like soya meal and peas. Vegetable based proteins have low levels of the essential amino acids like lysine and methionine, which if not substituted synthetically, will cause problems such as poor feathering, faulty eggs and low egg production. These plant based feeds are often supplemented with synthetically manufactured methionine and lysine so they can be labelled a 'complete' feed.

Sourcing a commercial feed with naturally occurring lysine and methionine found only in animal proteins will go a long way to having healthy, good layers or introducing animal based proteins into your chooks diet will make all the difference too.

Avian nutritionists have spent decades researching and trialling poultry feed. Man has come a long way from the days when our grandparents threw grains and kitchen scraps out on the ground to their backyard fowl. Only last century man designed and bred the ultimate laying machine and the fast growing broiler chicken and to perform these birds require the necessary fuel that is going to give optimum results. With over 70 years of dedicated research we now have available to all poultry keepers the modern and easy way to Heritage chickens enjoying some free rangekeep our girls happy and contentment: commercial poultry feed.

It is a false economy to think that buying cheap feed, or just feeding out kitchen scraps or grains or leaving your chooks to forage will be sufficient to provide you with lots of lovely fresh protein-rich eggs. Feeding your chooks a quality, nutritionally balanced poultry feed all year round is essential so they can be well feathered, top producing layers!

Remember, Chickens are Omnivores!

Feeding animal based proteins (these naturally contain methionine and lysine) is essential for good body and feather growth and egg production in your poultry. All round your chooks will benefit. Either look for a commercial feed that contains the animal based proteins or supplement their diet in the correct ratios with different types of protein options.

Garden snails and slugs
Best served cooked to your chooks as the available levels of protein, lysine and methionine are higher. Feed out at a ratio of 15% of the bird’s daily diet so it makes a good protein treat if you fancy preparing ‘Chook Escargot’ for your feathered friends!

Earthworms
Both the common NZ earthworm and tiger worms are excellent sources of protein, methionine and lysine for poultry. They are slightly more nutritious for chicken feed than fishmeal or meat. Start your worm farm today using your kitchen waste to harvest protein-rich tiger worms.

Fishmeal (white fish)
Fishmeal is sometimes used in commercial poultry feed (especially organic commercial feeds where blood and meat meal is classified as an animal by product and not allowed) to make up the protein component but it is expensive, difficult to source and hard to store. Some chooks do not like it and some folk say it taints the meat and eggs with a ‘fishy’ flavour. We believe if chooks were meant to eat fish they would be coastal and designed to be waders!

Meat and bone meal
This meal contains bones, meat trimmings and organs that are cooked. Blood and bone meal has blood added and is also cooked and has higher lysine levels of 7% but slightly lower methionine (0.6%) Sometimes added to commercial feeds and labelled as ‘contains ruminant protein’. We recommend feed that contains ruminant protein over the ones that contain just the vegetable based proteins as they naturally contain lysine and methionine.

Black soldier fly larvae
These can be grown for your chickens as a good source of protein. Soldier fly will do a fantastic job of composting your kitchen waste and reducing its volume by 95%. The result is lots of high-protein larva which can be feed to your chooks. No rotten smells or maggots if you have the time and inclination it is a good protein option.

Mealworms
Mealworms are too high in fat and protein and too low in methionine to be fed out as a main feed ingredient but make a perfect scratch treat. Growing your own in containers is the best way. There are a few easy steps involved but once you have got the hang of it your chooks will have a constant yummy supply of protein-rich mealworms.

Milk and milk by products
For those of us that have a house cow or are milking thousands of cows any surplus milk products can go to the chooks. When we were milking our house cow we used to let the surplus milk curdle overnight on the kitchen bench add any leftover bread crusts and feed it out our chooks. Not a drop was wasted! Milk can be feed out as a liquid (ours did well on fresh, unpasteurized milk) as it is also a good probiotic for good gut heath. Milk products are a very valuable source of not only protein but also vitamins, lactose and minerals.

A Point to Ponder

Synthetic methionine in commercial feed... Is it safe?
DL-methionine (the synthetic version) is so common in chicken feed that organic chicken producers are having a hard time finding a natural replacement.

Adding synthetic methionine is cheaper than adding natural protein. (animal based proteins) This is why modern chicken feedstuffs rely on it. In other words, it's purely about industrial scale production. When it comes to feeding the home flock, or for that matter feeding our children, we must either trust that science is on top of these questions, or, looking at the increasing prevalence of modern mystery syndromes, suspect that we've been playing a long-term guessing game.
All the more reason to go back to the dual purpose heritage breeds and aim for a more natural diet. After all, wild chickens don't base their entire diet on a couple of staples like wheat and soy. And in the 'olden days' (pre-1950s) chickens got by quite well on non-synthetic diets because they included milk and milk by products as well as other animal based proteins that contain natural methionine.

Weston Peak Layer and Free Range Layer are premium, nutritionally complete layer feeds containing high levels of naturally occurring crude proteins. These proteins are the right type of proteins to grow good, healthy birds. Look for the words:
blood, meat and bone meal on the label.

High protein treats like Topflite Mealworms will be very beneficial to your hens. They contain 50% protein and your chooks will devour them. Protein grows feathers and keeps your hen in peak laying condition. 

Grow your chicks well on a complete feed like Weston Chicks Choice. This is a textured crumble with a crude protein content around 20%. Again these are naturally occurring animal proteins (blood, meat and bone meal). We keep our youngsters on Chicks Choice right up to Point of Lay.

Topflite Insect Medley is another high protein natural snack that your chooks will love. They will benefit from the extra protein and lay well for you.