I have 10 chickens - 4 RIRs, 4 Red Sex Links, and 2 Black Sex Links. They were hatched May 1st and about half or so have started laying. I'm feeding them Layens pellets. What kind of feed consumption should I expect? I bought a 50 lb. bag last Wed. and they've already consumed half of it. Is that a lot? Thanks!
Feed consumption
- Thread starter NevadaRon
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50 lbs. lasts me nearly a month with 6 birds. You might have a rodent problem. They can swarm in at night in great numbers and empty a feeder. Someone posted a couple weeks ago about his birds eating 50lbs in a single night! (he didn't have all that many birds either).
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Quote:
Oh dear that is WAY too much feed disappearing on you!!!! Something's not right. Either waste or something else is getting it.
I have a flock of 20 off by themselves, about 4 1/2 months old, that take about a horse scoop of feed a day, sometimes more and sometimes less. For a 50lb bag of feed, one week would not see me down to half the bag for sure.
Oh- also, yesterday I put myself out one of those metal large box repeating mousetraps- they catch them alive and then you have to drown them later
. But I caught EIGHT mice last night. On the first try! I just left it in the run. It requires no bait. I got it at the feed store.
Oh dear that is WAY too much feed disappearing on you!!!! Something's not right. Either waste or something else is getting it.
I have a flock of 20 off by themselves, about 4 1/2 months old, that take about a horse scoop of feed a day, sometimes more and sometimes less. For a 50lb bag of feed, one week would not see me down to half the bag for sure.
Oh- also, yesterday I put myself out one of those metal large box repeating mousetraps- they catch them alive and then you have to drown them later
. But I caught EIGHT mice last night. On the first try! I just left it in the run. It requires no bait. I got it at the feed store.
Last edited:
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- #6
I don't leave my feeder outside. My coop's not big enough to house 12 chickens plus anything else, so the feed and water is outside. I have a 3 gallon galvanized feeder hanging from an eyebolt underneath the nestboxes on the side of my coop, and I take it inside every night when I close up the coop.
The few times I've forgotten to bring in the feeder, it's been almost emptied in the morning. I know I have chipmunks, mice, rats, squirrels, opossums, ground moles, voles, raccoons and weasels, along with lots and lots of wild birds, so it's anyone's guess who the culprit would be, gnoshing on the chicken chow.
The few times I've forgotten to bring in the feeder, it's been almost emptied in the morning. I know I have chipmunks, mice, rats, squirrels, opossums, ground moles, voles, raccoons and weasels, along with lots and lots of wild birds, so it's anyone's guess who the culprit would be, gnoshing on the chicken chow.
Quote:
I wanted to weigh in that I too don't have food and water in the coops (for the chickens' health). But there is spilled feed in the run that is magically gone the next am.
So hence the live trap.
I wanted to weigh in that I too don't have food and water in the coops (for the chickens' health). But there is spilled feed in the run that is magically gone the next am.
So hence the live trap.
I've had a 50-lb bag of grower pellets for four hens for three months and it looks as if I'll get another 3 weeks out of it. I also have a 40-pound bag of whole oats for treat purposes that is still half full.
My girls get some weeds I pull from the gardens, fruit, and veggie scraps (occasionally other table scraps) and they free range for an average of 3 hours a day in the summer.
I've caught a squirrel red-pawed hanging on their feeder and stuffing his face while the dumb chickens just looked on. I've also had to dump out the feeder 3 or 4 times when heavy rain blew into the covered run.
I only put a day or two's worth of feed in at a time to cut down on possible waste.
I offer cooked eggshells and oystershell separately. Only the two currently laying really eat them--the other two take a couple of pecks and then lose interest.
My girls get some weeds I pull from the gardens, fruit, and veggie scraps (occasionally other table scraps) and they free range for an average of 3 hours a day in the summer.
I've caught a squirrel red-pawed hanging on their feeder and stuffing his face while the dumb chickens just looked on. I've also had to dump out the feeder 3 or 4 times when heavy rain blew into the covered run.
I only put a day or two's worth of feed in at a time to cut down on possible waste.
I offer cooked eggshells and oystershell separately. Only the two currently laying really eat them--the other two take a couple of pecks and then lose interest.
Why would it not be healthy for the chickens to have feed in their coop? I have put food in their coop and never had a problem, is it because of rodents?
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