Am I not feeding enough? Or is this normal?

[NovaAman]

Wow... I am bad then. I just keep my feeder full. I fill it about 3 times a week. Its under the coop and they do a good job keeping it clean under there. I used to have a problem when it was on the ground, but once I hung it, problems ended. I put a little step up for the smaller bantams to stand on to feed, but the full sized ones stand on the ground. I very seldom have a mess. They are going on 5 and 6 months, and I remember that tall skinny awkward stage. I thought for sure something was wrong and went back to chick starter for a minute, but mixed it with the grower finisher 50/50. Now I am doing a 50/50 mix of layer/grower finisher cuz I have some laying and some not and they free range all day. And my layers will eat the grower finisher over the layer if they have a choice. Silly chickens.

 

[Olive Hill]

First, and this should really just be made sticky as often as it needs to be said here, the prominence of the keel is not an accurate indicator of a birds condition in and of itself.

Second, I tend to agree with Oregon Blues, you should be feeding 360+ lbs of feed per month. I don't see that happening at a rate of "2 1/2 coffee cans" per day.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
x2. That doesn't sound like enough feed.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Except we still don't know, really.

The OP never did answer or define what a "coffee can" is or what a "scoop" is. Coffee comes in 14oz size all the way up to 3 pound size and a few inbetween. Scoops also come in an infinite array of sizes. Unless I missed it, we were never told.

Without that information, it's all just a guess.

 

[sourland]

With the change in the weather and approaching autumn, natural forage is decreasing. I would suggest feeding in the AM as you are doing but also offering as much feed as they will consume in the PM. I do not think that the amount of feed offered is sufficient for that many birds.

 

[suki'smom]

Oops sorry I wasnt more specific. Did I mention that these birds are only 3 months old? The scoop I use measures 2 quarts so they get approximately 6 quarts of feed every morning then 2 quarts of scratch. Does that make sense? Then they free range for 4-5 hours at least, with our grass still being very lush yet this time of year. They pick through horse manure and pick up the bits of dog food the foxes toss free of their enclosures. They also get whatever kitchen scraps I accumulate which equates to about 1 quart a day. I might add that these are mostly heritage breeds and are far from laying age, 5 of these birds are only 2 months old, and 8 of the older ones are polish hens (which dont eat very much). I go through 50 lbs of starter a week and a bag of scratch every two weeks or so. Hope this helps..