Chicken tractor: how much feed will they consume?

[Heather118]

I do not currently have chickens. I'm doing my research first. I'd will keep my chickens in a chicken tractor. How much food will a single standard size chicken eat in a day if kept in a chicken tractor? Week? Month? I think I'm going to start out with a small flock and then go from there.

 

[duckinnut]

They say about 4oz per chicken a day then the following.Well there is more to it than just feed.Are they going to be in a run or are they going to free range? Free range birds will eat less food. free range lets them eat grass,weeds,bugs and whatever else they can forage up. They have been known to eat frogs,toads,lizards,salamaders and even mice. Also if you give them scraps from the table reduces the feed bill. I give mine scratch grains in the morn. Treats are also factored in.

 

[classicsredone]

We go through a bag of feed in about 3-4 weeks with 7 girls, depending on how much the girls are eating of grass, veggie scraps, etc.

 

[Heather118]

Quote:
The run will be built onto the tractor, so they will have a fresh patch of grass every day or so. I'd also like to just let them roam around when I can. There are so many critters around here who would love to make a meal of them that I may have to only let them out of the tractor when I'm close by. So just so I can get an idea, assume that they will live exclusively in the tractor and be moved about every day. Would they still eat about 4oz daily, taking into account all the bugs they'll have access to in the tractor?

 

[duckinnut]

Well 4oz is an average. Depends on type of breed. young birds tend to eat more as they are growing,when they start laying they have to eat a certain amount. I recently switched to flock raiser from layer feed because I 've got young birds in with older ones and it seems like I am using less food combined with free rangeing. the raiser has more protein in it so I think they feel fuller. Also its been hot and that slows food intake.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
What size is your "bag"?
5lb 10lb 25lb 50lb 100lb

Chris

 

[Chris09]

About 4 oz. per bird per day is about average.

Per Bird -
4 oz. a day
1/4 lb. per week
1 lb per month
12 lbs per year

Chris

 

[swmalone]

I would be careful with that calculation, be sure to calculate for food loss, like when they scratch it out of the feeder. I have had 3 pullets from day old and they are now 16 weeks old and I have gone through a 10 lb bag of starter, a 50 lb bag of grower and I have probably put out another 10 lbs or so. I keep mine in a tractor with attached run, I usually let them roam around the yard an hour or so in the evening.

Of course they are growing and preparing to lay so they may be eating up a lot more now.

 

[Medicine Man]

In spite of what some will say, or repeat on BYC, there is no magic number to quantify how much a chicken will or should eat. Based on what I feed my flock, each hen is consuming an average of 2.667 oz. per day. This is my own proprietary feed formula. If mine were on commercial "layer pellets", then I would naturally expect them to require more intake due to the decreased digestibility of these "cheapest possible" feed formulas. Always offer free, ready access to feed.

 

[zookeeper15133]

Quote:
4 oz/day
28 oz/week = 1 3/4 pound per week, 4.3 weeks/month
7 1/2 lb/ month
90 pounds/year