Amount of Feed Daily

[DawnSuiter]

Mac that's quite the operation you have there, I can't imagine the responsibility of so many! I only wish my chooks ate just to "fulfill their energy requirements" I strongly suspect they want to eat sometimes just because they are bored. Of course they are running around all the time and so do build up quite the appetite!

zz, good catch, it's late and I suspect I lost my brain for a moment

on that note, I should sleep now.

goodnight everyone, have to feed the chickens their 3.5 ounces per bird soon... that's nearly 10lbs of feed tomorrow

not including the Geese of course!

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
That's standard chicken physiology... If they want more then they need it. Their energy requirements vary by live weight, production level, stage of growth, ambient temperature, and activity level. If they are running around all of the time then they will have a greater appetite!

My examples are for a 4-5 lb cage-free layer in moderate temperatures at peak production. Much of the data available is based on caged production birds, but assumes that cage free birds will eat about 10% more due to increased energy requirements (say .275 vs .25 lbs per bird, which gibes well with my experience), not much of a difference as the majority of the energy requirement comes from basic maintenance and reproductive needs.

There are times when I cut them back on feed, perhaps if the protein level seems a touch high in a batch of feed (I judge this by the daily egg mass produced and average egg weight), I may allow them to empty the feeders in the middle of the day for a couple of hours, but any feed restrictions that introduce a deficit into their nutritional needs will hurt production. We adjust the feed to meet their requirements, plus just a little, so that they continue to grow ever so slightly during the production period.

 

[saladin]

Mac, I'm just glad to find someone that raises more birds than I do. Now I might go thru a 1000 in a year but we only keep in the hundreds of birds.

 

[ezekielSM]

@Mac in Wisco: I fill a freezer bag (10 lbs of feed) and mix in 4z of grit and 8z of shell (the right proportions of feed/shell to the feed as the bags' directions are usually four times that for 40 lbs). I've said before, there's nothing else eating their feed. We're indoors. So maybe it really IS in the bedding and I'm just not seeing it. Do the pellets degrade into powder??

I'd been reading on the forums it was better to mix it in with the feed than to waste it by getting it knocked around on the floor.

I'm also switching over to Blue Seal instead of Purina, since the BS is closer and cheaper.

Wow everyone- thanks for all the info! I'll start doing the 4z/day and see how that works. So pretty much, a pound a day- yep, definitely had been overfeeding.

Thanks so much!!

 

[Mac in Wisco]

There's got to be something mixed up in the interpretation here. You're going through 24 pounds of feed a day? That's half of a feed sack every day? You're going through a 50 pound sack every other day?

6 standard hens should eat just under 2 lbs a day at the very most. A bag of feed should last you about a month.

As far as the minerals, if you have a layer ration with calcium in it, then any extra should be provided on the side. If you have a layer ration that needs supplemental calcium (some clearly state on the bag that extra calcium needs to be provided at a specific percentage), then you can mix it into the feed in the correct proportions or just them them pick it up on the side.

 

[justmeinflorida]

Quote:
My 6 girls go through a freezer-bag full of feed thrice a day (almost 24 lbs of feed, shell & grit- almost 8 lbs of feed, 4z grit and 8z shell...).

I think what op is saying is 8lbs feed + 4oz grit + 8 oz shell X 2 daily= 17.5pds

She's mixing it all together...but that's still a lot of feed for 6 birds, they're getting 2.91pds each per day

But I could be wrong....

 

[WalkerH]

Quote:
My 6 girls go through a freezer-bag full of feed thrice a day (almost 24 lbs of feed, shell & grit- almost 8 lbs of feed, 4z grit and 8z shell...).

I think what op is saying is 8lbs feed + 4oz grit + 8 oz shell X 2 daily= 17.5pds

She's mixing it all together...but that's still a lot of feed for 6 birds, they're getting 2.91pds each per day

But I could be wrong....

I think it is 8 lbs in each freezer bag three times a day, so about 24 lbs a day.

 

[justmeinflorida]

Quote:
My 6 girls go through a freezer-bag full of feed thrice a day (almost 24 lbs of feed, shell & grit- almost 8 lbs of feed, 4z grit and 8z shell...).

I think what op is saying is 8lbs feed + 4oz grit + 8 oz shell X 2 daily= 17.5pds

She's mixing it all together...but that's still a lot of feed for 6 birds, they're getting 2.91pds each per day

But I could be wrong....

I think it is 8 lbs in each freezer bag three times a day, so about 24 lbs a day.

Well that's even more..oh my! Then that's 4pds per bird. Wholly!

 

[ezekielSM]

Holy crap-- leave it to me to JUST NOW recognize a typo, ugh!

What I -meant- to write, (I'm sorry... been working too long too much lately) was one freezerbag (8 lbs of feed/8z shell/4z grit) a day.

Each freezer bag lasts me a day and a half to two days, not one day. Sonofa... I'm SO sorry for those typos.

I feel so completely stupid... Usually I catch typos right away!!

-one- 8 lb bag of feed for about 2 days.

/headdesk

I'm sorry I'm driving yall nuts with this :<

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
Ok, now that we are back to something that is more in the realm of reality, it looks like your hens are consuming twice as much as they should. Given that you keep them inside under moderate temperatures, then they should be eating less than two lbs a day. Some is probably getting wasted by them billing it out into the bedding, or you have poor quality feed so they are eating more. (I wouldn't suspect the latter if you are feeding Purina). You could put a large cookie sheet or some other surface under their feeder and watch them eat for a while just to see if they are billing some out that you don't otherwise notice.

I can't think of any other reason for them consuming so much other than a weighing error...