Are my chickens eating too much??

[tiki244]

I have 20 bantams and 10 pigeons so I suppose ypu can count them as bantams. They have gone thru 50# in 2 weeks. This doesnt seem right. It is Layena from Purina. That is all they are getting now except some greens grit and calcium and water.

They seem healthy. What can I do? I cant afford to feed threm like this. They are not overweight. Some of them appear to be molting. The temp outside now is approx 20-30s. It has been this last two weeks -5- the 20s variable.

I really need help here. something is wrong.

Thank You

 

[silkiechicken]

Hmmm... well, if it's cold, and they spend most their time indoors... 50 lbs in two weeks doesn't sound too bad really.. My birds eat 2x in the winter and between 22 of them, mostly standards, go though 50 lbs in about 2 weeks. AND this is with a bowl of table scraps, a few cups of corn on the side, and free ranging from sun up to sun down. On nights that get down into the 20's, I can see they eat an extra scoop of feed to stay warm. In the summer, it takes them two days or more to empty the feeder as more goodies are out for them to forage through.

Do however look into pests that may be eating your feed by night.

 

[Meesh]

Yeah, that works out to 3.5# per day for all of them
.15# per bird per day

That sounds reasonable from what I've read, as standard laying hens need in the range of .3# per day in cold weather.

Cheers,
Michelle

 

[tiki244]

Thanks Nice dog Meesh Ive never seen one of those that color I cant remember the name Mexican Hairless?