exactly how much per chicken per day

[ravenvalor]

Here is an interesting study on this subject. http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/2013/chickens-260313

 

[ravenvalor]

Maybe I can supplement the expensive feed with worms. Has anyone tried worm farming?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Maybe I can supplement the expensive feed with worms. Has anyone tried worm farming?

Lots of people here raise mealworms for their chickens. You can learn everything you need to know to get started on the first page of this thread.

 

[MeepBeep]

Here is an interesting study on this subject.  http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/2013/chickens-260313

Yes, that study focuses on the fact that select breeding by humans have altered/moved that 'full' trigger position and sensitivity and that is why domestic breeds of chickens can now grow to bigger sizes vs what their ancestors did... The trigger is still there it's just been moved or desensitized to allow chickens to grow to bigger sizes... As I stated in my previous post this issue is almost exclusively limited to meat bird hybrids like Cornish X not egg laying breeds...

As the last paragraphs states...

"All species regulate their appetites to make sure the amount of food taken in is just the right to maintain body weight and fat content.........."

What we have done in Cornish X for example is move that trigger to stupid limits to allow for rapid growth, so now Cornish X's try to eat to maintain a body weight of some absurd level a level so high their physical body can no longer support the size if left unchecked, this doesn't apply to egg layer breeds where the trigger is still within reasonable values...

 

[aunt betty]

hi, i'm new to chickens, i've had my 2 girls a week now,at the end of each day they have some food left in their dish, do I throw this away and give fresh each day or do I just top up.

 

[CrazyTalk]

Wow, I've got some chow hounds then... I have 13 right now... I free feed also, but they are going through a good deal more than that... just going by how fast I go through a 50 lb bag of pellets...

With 13 birds you should be going through roughly 3 bags a month - a bag every 10 days or so. If they're going through food faster than that, it's probably an issue with their feeders - they're not designed in a way that keeps the chickens from throwing food around.

 

[immel]

We have built the pvc tubes for the chicken feed, but find our girls just empty the tubes out the first day by throwing it all over the ground. We have been going through a lot of feed. We have 18 hens. Trying to figure out a full proof method where we are not going through so much dry feed.

 

[CrazyTalk]

We have built the pvc tubes for the chicken feed, but find our girls just empty the tubes out the first day by throwing it all over the ground. We have been going through a lot of feed. We have 18 hens. Trying to figure out a full proof method where we are not going through so much dry feed.

Take a picture of your feeders - I'd bet the necks are too shallow. Food waste (in chickens) is almost always a feeder construction issue.

With 18 hens you're going to go through a lot of food though - like 175+lbs a month.

 

[coolpow]

I also feed my free choice and I end up feeding 9 chickens and 20 to 50 pigpens and approximately 100 birds, is that about right?
I buy 40 lbs. Of lay mesh and 75 lbs. Of chicken scratch totaling 115 pounds of feed lasting 3 to 4 weeks, is that about right?