do they ever stop eating

[miracle acres farm]

i have 26 chickens 2 are roos. last week i found out i wasn't feeding them enough. in the past week they ate 100 ponds of layer crumble ,50 pounds of scratch, 10 cans of cat food. and asorted greens. is this to much ? they eat every bit with no waste. and they seem to want more.

 

[Dar]

they stop eating when they sleep...

i was shocked on how much my 10 hens eat

 

[WoodlandWoman]

That seems high, but if they haven't been getting enough food for awhile, then I'd expect them to eat more than average, until they get up to a normal weight.

When they calculate the amount of food an average layer eats per day, that's to maintain their body and produce an egg. If they need to maintain their body, produce an egg and put on weight from being previously underfed, that takes more food per day.

I'd see how they're doing in a couple of weeks.

 

[tomcio]

Out of curiosity, what breed are they? It seems a bit steep for them to eat ~.85 of a pound of feed per chicken per day!

I purchased 26 sex-sal-links in October, they are 6 and a half week old and 50lb of starter lasted me 3 weeks, they seem to be eating the grower at the same pace. They aren't the biggest breed, and according to charts should eat about 3.5oz of layer feed when full grown (less if they have greens/scratch feed). That is about 1/2 of what yours consume in a day.

 

[Guitartists]

That does seem high..... but most of mine are bantams or young... so I don't know. But, is it possible they are kicking it out and losing it in the bedding or on the ground? Do you have something else visiting your feeders??

 

[MissPrissy]

Using crumbles you might be seeing a lot of waste.

Try switching to pellets and you'll see them slow down.

 

[txchickie]

Gosh, that seems like a lot. But I have mostly bantams so maybe they don't eat as much? 40lbs of starter/grower crumbles lasts me nearly 2.5-3 weeks and I've had the same bag of scratch for nearly 2 months now.

And to think I thought mine were little pigs

 

[hankshens]

I would let them eat as much as they want. I have never heard of a chicken eating themselves to death. Mine eat alot too but with winter coming on I'd rather them be fat than skinny. They dont eat as much in the summer. They are busy eating bugs, but now the bugs are gone so they eat more feed.

 

[digitS']

Quote:
I agree with Tomcio - something wrong here. A per chicken average of .85 pounds plus, plus each day shouldn't really be possible.

Steve

 

[MissPrissy]

Crumbles is very easily billed out and wasted.

Also - mice and rats will eat it at night.