Are my chickens overeating?

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

I have a flock of 54 chickens + 8 ducks.
Oldest are a over a year, youngest are just starting to lay. We are still getting new layers starting.

We currently go through 5- 50lbs of feed every 10-14 days.

While I know we have a large flock, I feel some of mine are eating too much. While others are not getting enough.

We've been taking our feeders out mid morning and adding them back in the evening time before they go to bed.
They literally act like they're starving to death when we add the feeders back. But when we've checked their crops some have no business eating. lol They're full others could eat though as they're crops are not.

Is there something we could do to help with that? Because I can't afford to feed gluttons. lol Nor have tons of waste.
In between getting their food, they have pumpkins to snack on & the food they've made messes of that's all over where the feeders go. (Another reason feeders leave bc if not they won't eat the wasted food much.) Along with garden scraps at times or household scraps, plus foraging they do.

The last several nights we've taken to giving the ducks what's left of one of the feeders with water & letting them eat till they're full. Then letting the chickens have what's leftover. Seems to have helped our ducks because we've gone from 2 eggs a day to 5 this morning. And our oldest runner hen, has started laying again. (We thought she might have been defective as she's quit laying before she molted & hasn't laid since. Turns out, it's seeming that she's not been getting enough food thanks to the chickens.)


Advice is welcome.

 

[nuthatched]

You should be going through 13-15lbs of feed a day with that lot, you should be only be going through 3, 50lb sacks.
What type of feed? Protein content? What breeds? Some eat more or less than others.

 

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

You should be going through 13-15lbs of feed a day with that lot, you should be only be going through 3, 50lb sacks.
What type of feed? Protein content? What breeds? Some eat more or less than others.

Oh wow!
They’re way overeating then.

Tucker Milling Nature’s Crest Chick Starter crumbles (18% protein).

Have:
5 Buff Orpingtons
4 Leghorns
5 Easter Egger
1 Red Sex Link
1 Cinnamon Queen
1 Sapphire Gem
5 Cochins
3 Marans
2 Cream Legbars
2 Prairie Bluebells
2 Smokey Pearls
4 Starlight Green Eggers
1 Barred Rock
1 Rhode Island
1 Columbian Wyandotte
1 Light Brahma
2 Laced Wyandotte
2 Speckled Sussex
4 Silver Lakenvelders
7 Welsummers

2 Cayuga
2 Khaki Campbells
2 Black Swedish
2 Indian Runner

I may have missed a couple, but you get the gist. Lol

 

[Chicken poppy]

I had my vet friend check out my hens. They seemed ill and didnt get any better, the symptoms were as followed:

Lethargic seeming
Poop seemed to have lash like material at times
Not digging a lot and seeming out of it
Not eating foods like worms which required digging
Not able to lay, straining to poop, seemed egg bound but no prolapse or problem eating

Mine ended up being severely overweight. She did a little examination on them and she said that the problem seemed to be mostly genetics, since i had dual birds, and said it would require more effort to get them back to a proper weight.

How she figured out they were overweight, she put on a glove, felt around inside, also felt around the bones, like the keel, area below the vent, pelvic. Once she pointed this out it became clear to me how much fat was there that seemed normal to me before.

She gave me a diet plan for them, listing how much calories is a average for them to have and how much treats to give (if given at all)

Now they seem really great. They run and everything.

Again i will say that these symptoms can always happen with other diseases or problems so don’t dismiss it as being a weight problem all the time. (Although its also serious, just keep in mind it can be other things)


I think i went off track of what you were asking.. But i know my dual birds or meat birds eat way more so its possible yours may be too. Maybe try doing some tips she gave me? It might help.

 

[WingsysRoost]

If some are getting bullied away from food and not getting enough, increasing the amount of feeding stations might be an option. That is what I do to help one of my hens who usually ends up getting picked on and doesn't always get enough. It won't solve the overeating issue, necessarily, but it will make it so that one or two hens can't just sit there blocking access all day

Is it possible you have a pest problem? Last winter, I had an awful flock of starlings that kept raiding my feeders. They would literally fly inside the run to get to them. At one point, I think I was going through a 50lb bag of layer crumble every two weeks or so. It was ridiculous. I've seen sparrows try to eat the crumble, too.

 

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

If some are getting bullied away from food and not getting enough, increasing the amount of feeding stations might be an option. That is what I do to help one of my hens who usually ends up getting picked on and doesn't always get enough. It won't solve the overeating issue, necessarily, but it will make it so that one or two hens can't just sit there blocking access all day

Is it possible you have a pest problem? Last winter, I had an awful flock of starlings that kept raiding my feeders. They would literally fly inside the run to get to them. At one point, I think I was going through a 50lb bag of layer crumble every two weeks or so. It was ridiculous. I've seen sparrows try to eat the crumble, too.

Oh no this is all them eating.
I’ve wondered in the past when some wouldn’t forage nor did they want some treats.
I thought back then that they were getting fed to much then.

Yeah we are discussing diff feeders as it is. Ones that are less waste.
Thanks for all the tips.

 

[Smokerbill]

Try switching to pelletized feed. When I did there was much less waste.

 

[Cindy in PA]

I get 15.5/day if ducks eat the same as chickens (I thought ducks eat more). 15.5 per day for 14 days is 217 lbs., so it's in the ballpark. Depends if it's 10 or 14 & if ducks eat more etc. Going thru 50 lbs. wouldn't take long for that crew. I am always amazed that people think chickens eat like a bird, LOL.

 

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

I get 15.5/day if ducks eat the same as chickens (I thought ducks eat more). 15.5 per day for 14 days is 217 lbs., so it's in the ballpark. Depends if it's 10 or 14 & if ducks eat more etc. Going thru 50 lbs. wouldn't take long for that crew. I am always amazed that people think chickens eat like a bird, LOL.

Ducks eat less. Around 6oz a day.

Yeah, no that saying “eat like a bird” is crazy. Birds are always eating. Chickens are always eating! Lolol

We may be around the right amount but it sure seems that some of mine are over eating.

 

[nuthatched]

Redid my math as I forgot the dux and since you have mostly dual purpose and novelty breeds that are know to be productive, they likely even eat more than the average 4 ozs.

I reached 15.5 lbs like Cindy, which is 3.5 sacks of feed in an 11 day period
What type of feeders do you have? Do they have anything to do? Stimulation like hay bales or piles of leaves give then something to do other than eat