Just as the 26 letters of the alphabet can make billions of words, so the 22 amino acids can make billions of kinds of protein. Most of the 22 amino acids can by synthesized in animals' bodies out of other foods they eat. Different kinds of plants supply different amounts of these Essential Amino Acids. The beauty of nature is that the two major plant groups, the grains and the beans, complement each other very nicely in the amounts of essential amino acids they supply. Meat, animal tissue, of course, is a complete protein, since animal tissues are made of protein.
Protein is important for all animals.
But for poultry, producing eggs and growing well to produce meat, the protein part of their feed regimen is especially important. Finding good quality, cheap protein is one of the challenges of growing any livestock. This is where the small farmer can increase family health through ingenuity. Growing your own worms is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to obtain high quality protein for your poultry. Using your own vegetable scraps, chicken or other manure, leaves and garden trimmings, you can produce lots and lots of best-quality protein.