Overfeeding hens?

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

Ok help me out here.

I’ve come to the conclusion that our hens are over eating.

We have 25 birds total. 4 ducks, 21 chickens. (Currently 2 drakes & roos are in the bachelor pad.)

Our m & f runner ducks are in the run with the hens.
We have 3 Orpingtons - laying (7mos old).
We have 13 Cochin - some are laying (5-7mos old).
We have 6 misc. - not laying yet (20wks tomorrow.)

That many birds are going through a 50lb bag of feed in 10 days give or take a day or two.
Is that too much or about normal?

The males aren’t eating that much.

But the main reason I say they’re over eating is they won’t eat things given to them sometimes.
1. I hit chicken jackpot when I turned my compost last week & found tons of soldier fly larvae/grubs. So I scooped up some and a bunch of large grubs. They just stared at the worms. They got the bigger grubs but were like ehh not interested.

2. Gave them some beet pieces & beet greens Mon. they would barely touch them. All they wanted was their pellets.

3. Tues I bought them a large pumpkin & put light holes so they could scratch it & eat it. They had barely touched it by the time it was time to be put up.

Now I do not want to starve them at all. I even have changed their food up after realizing the protein level wasn’t as high as it should be. (Layer feed 16.5% so went back to chick starter because it’s 18%.)

But I also do expect my chickens to eat scraps/garden stuff. We have no income currently so wasting food isn’t going to fly. (I’m already feeding 4 freeloading males.)
Which they also have done in the past. They will make a mess of their crumbles & wont eat it off the ground for some reason.

So we are currently taking their food out in the middle part of the day and putting it back a few hours before bed & as soon as they get up for a few hours.
(We have 2 large feeders they eat from. So they all have plenty of time to eat a lot.)

Any advice?

 

[sourland]

Chickens hate change of any sort. Unless you have been giving them scraps all along, it will take them time to decide that they are edible.

 

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

Chickens hate change of any sort. Unless you have been giving them scraps all along, it will take them time to decide that they are edible.

Oh I have been. Like they did tear up the two mini watermelons that didn’t make it for us. Lol

 

[SueT]

My 11 chickens eat 50 lbs in 6 weeks. I think that’s about equivalent…

 

[TXchickmum]

Chickens are interesting. My first flock would eat anything that crawled, walked, flew, or grew out of the ground. My second flock picks and chooses. They stare at fresh blueberries like they're from outer space - won't touch 'em. The first flock would peck every last one off of the bushes if I didn't net them. I agree that they don't care for things being changed up much. I've never known chickens to over eat (not saying they can't). I've always kept a full feeder available, and have observed that they eat what they need. -eat more in cooler weather than hot, here. Anyway, best of luck on figuring out the best feeding routine.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

The average recommended amount for poultry feed per chicken is 4oz of feed daily. You have 25 birds so that equates to roughly 100oz of feed needed daily. 50lbs is 800 oz. Which means if your chickens are eating the average recommended amount a 50lb bag should last an average of 8 days.

 

[teach1rusl]

Those are large breeds, and if just starting to lay or getting ready to lay, just about at the peak of their energy needs. We free range days, so mine go through less simply because they eat grass and such. If you free range, putting feed away in the middle of the day is doable...if your birds are penned, I wouldn't advise doing that. There are many scraps that my birds have zero interest in. Meat scraps are always wanted...many veggies are a no-go.
TXchick and Hollow both made good observations.

 

[Cindy in PA]

That is just about right for 21 chickens alone, don't know about ducks. Chickens do not eat like a bird, LOL.

 

[triciayoung]

This is an interesting conversation...I observe my chickens eating everyday and watch them when new food is introduced. I agree with @TXchickmum, I don't ever observe them overeating. If fact, their pickiness about what they eat, and seemingly they eat what their bodies need....make them better eaters than us as humans.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Yeah, roughly 6.5 pounds of feed per day for 25 birds or quarter pound per hen, ignore the roosters as they eat very little. So a fifty pound bag lasting ten days is pretty good, you know for sure than vermin aren't getting much if any of it. Just stick to commercial pellets or crumbles so the diet is balanced and be moderate in any treats provided.