Am I feeding too little amount of feed?

[Firemedic442]

Am I doing it wrong? My chickens get about 2-1/2 to 3 of the #10 restraunt cans full of laying feed. Also a #10 can full of cracked corn. They have all the mulberrys they can eat and a free range grass garden. Plus I feed table and garden scraps. Am I feeding too little? I have about 40-50 mature laying hens and 20 chickens that are about 16wks old. I just put them in with the laying hens. I have never weighed food. It sounds like I should be feeding nearly 17lbs a day? I think I go through about four 50# bags of laying feed and three 50# bags of cracked corn in a month. But, the cracked corn is shared with turkeys and ducks that are kept in separate pen. How much should turkeys and ducks be feed daily? Sometimes there is left over for them. Sometimes they eat all the food. (turkeys & ducks)

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Several things. Chickens won't overeat and even though some people ration feed, most people make layer feed (or the appropriate feed for the birds' age/intended purpose) available all day.
Turkeys don't overeat, but ducks might.
The other problem is, that is too much cracked corn for chickens unless your layer feed is about 20% protein.
If you read the label on most feeds it will say something to the effect "This is a complete ration and no other supplement is needed".
Laying hens need at least 16% protein to maintain body, feathers and produce eggs. Your layer feed is probably 16-17%. If you feed cracked corn(10% protein or less) at the rate you are, their protein intake is now about 14% or less.
Table and garden scraps, unless made up of meat/fish/dairy are usually lower in protein than corn.
Free ranging in good weather will provide some quality protein in the form of bugs, cold weather - no protein.
If the pasture is grass, that's not their favorite green to nibble. Most of my pasture is alfalfa, clover, vetch, radish, beets, field peas and turnips. When they go through all that, the grass and a few poor tasting weeds are all that's left.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Several things. Chickens won't overeat and even though some people ration feed, most people make layer feed (or the appropriate feed for the birds' age/intended purpose) available all day.
Turkeys don't overeat, but ducks might.
The other problem is, that is too much cracked corn for chickens unless your layer feed is about 20% protein.
If you read the label on most feeds it will say something to the effect "This is a complete ration and no other supplement is needed".
Laying hens need at least 16% protein to maintain body, feathers and produce eggs. Your layer feed is probably 16-17%. If you feed cracked corn(10% protein or less) at the rate you are, their protein intake is now about 14% or less.
Table and garden scraps, unless made up of meat/fish/dairy are usually lower in protein than corn.
Free ranging in good weather will provide some quality protein in the form of bugs, cold weather - no protein.
If the pasture is grass, that's not their favorite green to nibble. Most of my pasture is alfalfa, clover, vetch, radish, beets, field peas and turnips. When they go through all that, the grass and a few poor tasting weeds are all that's left.

Great advice there.

I do portion feed. How do I know they've been fed enough? Because they stop eating. If your birds devour what you feed them at 7 pm and you go back out with more feed at 8 pm and they gobble all that portion down too, they likely were underfed. If they peck a bit and walk away, leaving feed behind and head to the roost for the night, they were/are full.

Portion feeding requires multiple trips to the troughs during the day. I don't recommend to someone not used to "reading" the birds well. It requires a 6 am feeding trip, perhaps an afternoon feeding trip and an evening feeding trip. If you like being with your birds, this is great stuff. If you're too busy or otherwise pre-occupied, just fill a feeder. If you enjoy feeding cracked corn or scratch for the fun of watching them, up your protein via a 20% Layer product. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Firemedic442]

Oh wow I guess I am goofing up. I was giving themcorn for a treat, I will change that.

 

[upthecreek]

Oh wow I guess I am goofing up. I was giving themcorn for a treat, I will change that.

please don't completely snatch the corn away from them as they have grown to love it .... just reduce it a little at a time , it might be good to start using other grains along with the corn that are higher in protein and offer a diverse value ......... wheat is very good !!! oats are good (i let them soak for a few days) -- they might get a smell but feed it to them ,,, once they start eating it they will absolutely love it (kinda like feeding ground beef which they go crazy over).
There are other grains but these are the basic ones that i can get .
One could also use seeds sparingly .... like Safflower seeds , Sunflower seeds(i give them a bit more of it that the other seeds) , also the sunflower hearts which i do in small amount and also Peanuts if you can get them (it does not take but a couple hand fulls) to a 5 gallon bucket that is about 1/2 to 3/4 full of your other grains and seeds ... mix well and you will see the peanuts mixed almost perfect .

I pick up all of these at Tractor Supply and Walmart....... believe it or not but TSC is actually cheaper on Safflower and Sunflower hearts & seeds than Walmarts .

I feed this grain/seed mix one day and feed everyone a wet mix of chick/starter grower the next day . And talk about healthy and robust chickens laying ( i never thought i would say i was getting to Many Eggs ) lol ........ just give oyster shell , granite grit(pullet size) and cool water in the shade all free choice .

Shannon

 

[upthecreek]

Quote: On the chick starter/grower i meant to say that not all brands will work ....... you need to find one with a good high meat/fish type protein that also has higher fat in it . You can learn a lot by looking online at their ingredients and what they offer but some companies don't offer this so there will be a lot of leg and brain work to do (but they/You are worth it) .

I was lucky finding Harold Milling Company close to me that still makes their feeds the old fashion way with NO ground cardboard , HMC uses real grains and meat protein and fats . When you look at it you can see the ground grains and supplements (it's all together a different look that the other feeds put out looking just like ground cardboard , floor sweeping , cereal fines and roughage byproducts .