How much feed should i be giving my 4 week old chicks?? seems I fill the 1qt feeder in the morning and then Im having to fill it again at night...I have 9 chicks
I have the same kind of feeder and have 13 chicks at alittle over 3 weeks old..they eat alot but I bet they are wasting more than it looks like. Is feeder on a plate or pie pan..I placed feeder on a pie pan (alittle bigger than base of feeder). So whatever is spilled lands in plate and there is alot of feed still there that they can eat. I have started filling feeder right before "bedtime"--8 pm and then check in morning (along with water and other chickie chores) usually they still have plenty b/c of course at night they are still pretty much sleeping and what they do throw they will scratch for...Seems to work for us and we are not "wasting" as much..
I got a chicken feeder for chicks. A long thin stand alone feeder with slots for the smaller heads of the young. I went through a thirty pound bag in about 3 weeks and had so much drifting around the cage. Then I got this feeder and I refill it about once a day, now their at five weeks.
Give them one of the long feeders with multiple holes. It'll cut down on SO much waste. If you have only an open container, you will have 70% go to waste as the chicks dig out most of the feed with their feet. Get one of those, and give them as much as they can eat. Good luck!
i only feed my chicks once a day and they get plenty food...they will scratch it out but they still have food to eat
thanks for all the great help...I have the chick feeder with the smaller holes but its the round 1qt one with about 10 openings...i put the plate under it and Ill see how they do with that....but now that I know you only feed them once a day maybe I wont worry about filling it twice and if they sleep all night like we do I guess it wouldnt matter much...again thanks everyone.
The round ones are the worst offenders. They can scatter that around like crazy, usually wasting 3 or 4 times as much as they eat. Go with the advice of others and get the long thin feeders. They tend to flip their beaks side to side while eating which throws the food completely out of the round feeders, but just moves it along in the straight ones. Have food always available for them, not just for a period sometime during the day.
I have the long straight one also, works great, now I have a large hanging one, adjusted to the heights of the chickens, now 9 weeks old. My little silkie, has a "step stool" made of a wood block...so she can reach also...so far, no wasting...I offer feed all day, plus several areas with water when they go out to free range.
