feeding

[mac-ali eggs]

Just a quick qustion for pullets do you feed 24/7 or do you regulate there food and at what age? They seem to eat none stop, they are 5 weeks old and are eating a starter from our local feed store wich is medicated. I have feed in there brooder 24/7 but always act starving and they do like there boiled yolks 2 times a week. is 1 yolk ok for 11 chicks 2times a week? Thanks Rick:/

 

[wing it]

I allways have food out for them all the time. When they are that age all they do is eat, poop, and sleep, oh and grow very fast Which is why they eat sooo much!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I also keep food out all the time, especially for chicks. As wing it said, they eat all the time because their growth rate is phenomenal as chicks. It will slow down as they get closer to full grown.

Cornish crosses bred for meat production grow even faster! Now, for them, people do sometimes restrict their feed at night, to try to keep them alive long enough to butcher. They can have heart problems and also don't take the heat well. When you read about people restricting feed in chicks, it would usually only be in that situation, not for normal chickens.

One yolk between that many chicks, that old, a couple of times a week is no problem at all. You could be giving them them the entire egg, if you want. The whites are good for them, too. It sounds like you have some lucky and happy chicks there!

 

[1eyejer]

My white rocks had food all the time, and 10 weeks later i had 10 to 12 pound birds in the freezer

 

[noitulover]

all chickens, whatever age they are, should have plenty of food and water at all times... they are not like us, where they eat a few "meals" a day... they will eat here and there all day...

 

[Ridgerunner]

These sites go into detail on feeding chickens. Probably a lot more information than you want, but I'll put it out here anyway.

Oregon State - Feeding Chickens
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/html/pnw/pnw477/#anchor1132074

Alabama - Feeding Chickens
http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1317/

I'll go into recommendations. Different people obviously do things different than these recommendations and do fine. These are guidelines, not absolute laws of nature where your chickens are going to drop dead the instant you do something differently. They are meant to improve your odds of success, not guarantee success or failure.

You should regulate the feed of chicks differently depending on how you want the chicks to develop. For meat birds, whether Cornish crosses or dual purpose, you feed a higher protein feed at certain ages than you would future layers. At some stages of growth, it is the same. You want the meat birds to gain as fast as possible but the layers to have enough time to develop and mature so they can safely lay eggs when they do start, even if it delays the first egg a week or two. But as far as I know, you regulate this by the type of feed you offer, not by restricting how much they eat, except the Cornish crosses.

I have not raised Cornish crosses and have not studied their feeding. I know some people do sometimes restrict their feed, but I don't know the details of exactly why or how. I do occasionally allow my chicks or chickens to run out of feed so they will clean up all the old feed before it gets old and moldy, but this is when I can be around to monitor it. As soon as I see they have cleaned it up, they get new feed. I try to make feed available, 24/7.