Food consumption...

[cnicho05]

Hello,

Over the last several weeks I have been raising 4 Rhode Island Red, 2 Jersey Giant and 4 Sebright chickens. The average age of these birds are about six weeks old...and they have been living within my main home since birth. They have done extremely well and have grown quickly (especially the Jersey Giant's)....until recently...

A little over a week ago I decided it was time to move these birds from our main home into our garage. Before making the transition I removed the heat-lamp, a week before the transition, and moved them into the garage on the warmest day of the week. As it is cooler in our garage I did re-install the heat lamp to keep them comfortable (lamp only provides heat to small section of housing).

Before making the move my chickens were consuming a half-gallon feeder and quarter-gallon feeder daily. In the morning I would fill both feeders and at the end of the day they were empty. I would then add additional food for the evening and refill the main containers the following morning. Needless to say, these chickens have grown quite large in a short period of time...

This growth has changed, however, since the chickens were moved into my garage. Since this transition my chickens have started to eat much less food...only about half of a half-gallon feeder per day. At first I believed this was caused by the transition into a cooler/new environment...but this has gone on for over a week...

Is this normal for chickens and/or is the temperature playing a significant role in the matter? How can I encourage these birds to consume more food? Should I wait to transition them outdoors or go ahead with the move later next week?

 

[Granny Hatchet]

that sounds like a ton of food for 10 chicks. outside feed sounds about right. you sure they didnt have help eating when they were inside?

 

[Mrs. K]

Really, let the birds decide how much feed to eat. Put out what you think is enough feed in the morning, if it is empty at dark, the next day add a bit more feed until there is just a little at dark. Chickens do not need food 24/7. If there is a lot of food left at dark, then feed a little less. The amount of feed will change depending on their age, on the season and on the temperature.

If the birds are active, bright eyed, with good healthy looking feathers, their needs are being met.

Mrs K

 

[donrae]

Ten grown, producing laying hens should only eat 4-5 cups of feed per day. Your birds might average that out, between the growing birds and the bantams, but I'd still expect them to eat less. I'm not sure where your feed was going, but I'll bet a ton was getting lost in the bedding. Did you change their environment/brooder when you moved them outside? Their current intake--about 4 cups per day--still sounds like a lot of chicks of those ages and breeds.

Go ahead and move them outside. You don't need to encourage them to eat more--you never need to encourage a healthy animal to eat more if they have appropriate feed available. Animals are much better at self regulating than humans. Healthy animals won't starve themselves.

 

[cnicho05]

Thanks,

Ten grown, producing laying hens should only eat 4-5 cups of feed per day. Your birds might average that out, between the growing birds and the bantams, but I'd still expect them to eat less. I'm not sure where your feed was going, but I'll bet a ton was getting lost in the bedding. Did you change their environment/brooder when you moved them outside? Their current intake--about 4 cups per day--still sounds like a lot of chicks of those ages and breeds.

Go ahead and move them outside. You don't need to encourage them to eat more--you never need to encourage a healthy animal to eat more if they have appropriate feed available. Animals are much better at self regulating than humans. Healthy animals won't starve themselves.

Thanks for the reply,

As I said before, I was just worried about the change in food consumption. The brooder I am using has stayed the same, and has drop-through flooring to catch waste/food. I do have some food fall through the flooring...but not much...

I only ask this question because the people at TSC had not heard of temperature impacting food consumption. Instead, they believed the birds were simply not eating the food as they were scared. I ensured them that the birds were alone in the house/garage and have no thing which should be scaring them (other than a daily check by myself).

Thanks again...