50lbs a week????

[bryan8]

Well my 17 chickens and 5 nine week old Ducks are going through a 50 lb bag of flock raiser in about a week or so. Is this normal?

 

[Happy Chooks]

Gosh, that's a lot.

My 6 hens go through 50 lbs in a month. I write down each time I open the bag of feed.

 

[3goodeggs]

about. It settles down a bit once they are up to size. We have 20 hens. It takes a lot of food to raise up my boy too...I hope that will settle down a bit also.

 

[HEChicken]

That does seem like a lot. My 10 chooks take about a month to go thru a 50# bag. But they also free-range all day. I have the feed available free choice so they can help themselves to as much or little as they want to according to how much they were able to forage that day.

 

[bryan8]

Yea my hens are full grown, there all mostly laying. Except my ee cockeral he has yet to lay haahahah.

It's just costing me alot of money, and being a student without a real job it's hard to pay $13.50 a week for flock raiser

 

[Keri78]

I had a very simliar situation when I was feeding my 14 chickens(half banties & half standard size) "High Protein Starter" from The Tractor Supply. They were 10 weeks and 25 weeks old(I have two batches of chicks) when I switched them all over to 3/4 cracked corn and only 1/4 layer/finisher 16% protein. I do have to pick up some oyster shells next time I'm out...but overall..THEY EAT WAAAAAY less!!!! It's amazing! I keep full large bowls in each coop and it lasts them all week long! I bought one 50 lb. bag of cracked corn and one 50 lb. bag of finisher and it's going to last me very well over a month at least!!! I also let them out to free range so they are getting protein and greens too. The guy at the tractor supply suggested giving 3/4 corn and only 1/4 finisher. So far so good...I thought I was raising PIGS for a while there!

Blessings, Keri

PS. I was going through two 50 lb. bags a month and that was only feeding them once in the morning a HUGE amount that they would gobble up within an hour!!!

 

[bryan8]

Quote:
cracked corn should be fed as a treat not 3/4's of their diet.

 

[runamuck]

You are complaining lol

I'm feeding 25lb of feed a day 20 lbs of layena pellets and either 5 lbs of scrach or corn depending on how cold it is my feed bill is 100 a week and thank goodness hubby has a good job or id be in the poor house .

 

[Sillystunt]

Quote:
cracked corn should be fed as a treat not 3/4's of their diet.

I totally agree!

OP, i have 17 standards, 4 bantams, 4 meaties and several chicks and i go through 50lbs every 2 weeks and a 50lb scratch a month. Maybe find a milling company near you?? Maybe your feeding them to much or have alot of waste. I would measure an amount in the morning and they should be finished it by noon. then let them scratch and forage the rest of the day.

 

[enola]

Switching to 3/4 cracked corn and 1/4 finisher is going to cause a lot of expensive problems down the road......