how much food?

[ascott99]

My chickens are a little over four months. We recently switched them over from a ground up meal to pellets. I feed them when I let them out in the morning and in the evening. But they are ALWAYS wanting more! Am I feeding them enough?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

My chickens are a little over four months. We recently switched them over from a ground up meal to pellets. I feed them when I let them out in the morning and in the evening. But they are ALWAYS wanting more! Am I feeding them enough?

How much are you feeding at each of those feedings? Knowing you feed them twice a day is not enough to answer if you are feeding them enough.

 

[ChicksAndFish]

Hi!
Chickens should have food available at all times. It's a good idea to have a hanging feeder (and water) to keep the food clean, too. Good luck with your chickens!

 

[ascott99]

How much are you feeding at each of those feedings?  Knowing you feed them twice a day is not enough to answer if you are feeding them enough.

 

[ascott99]

Between the 5 of them they share maybe 5 or 6 scoops at each feeding

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Between the 5 of them they share maybe 5 or 6 scoops at each feeding

Not trying to belabor the point, but that still doesn't really answer the question as to how much feed the birds are getting because we don't know what size "scoop" you are using. Some folks might use a cup measure as a scoop while others associate the larger livestock feed scoops as a standard measure for "scoop". A generally accepted guideline in the poultry industry is 1/4-1/3 pound of feed per bird per day for mature birds - which for your flock of five would mean feeding 1 1/4 - 1 2/3 pounds of feed per day if they were mature, as young birds I would bump that up slightly to allow for the fact that their bodies are not needing just to maintain, but to grow. As suggested above, free feeding is an easy way to go as it allows the birds to take what they want and not leave you worrying about measuring and wondering if they are getting enough....but you can have perfectly happy and healthy birds without using that method and you don't actually "have/need" to have food available to them at all times.

 

[ascott99]

Thank you! That helps a lot!