Hen scratch

[jackhorn01]

So I'm about to be on my third day with my new hens. Everything is going good so far. Was just wondering how much treat most of you use. I have six Rhode Island reds. I have a 16 oz sour cream container that i fill about 1/4 full ( about two inches deep In the container ) that I scatter in the coop for them. Should I throw more than that or what?

 

[Den in Penn]

Any treat that's more then 10% of what they eat in a day runs the risk of unbalancing their diet. Your six hens would eat about 1.5 to 2 pounds of feed a day, or 24 to 32 ounces. So does the amount your feeding equal 2.4 to 3.2 ounces?

 

[what did I do]

I feed whatever table scraps I have plus any other food stuff I have. Yesterday I put up corn so they got all the cobs. The may get more of one thing today and more of something else another. Mine free range so I don't worry about what they get. When we were calving they feasted on placentas and I didn't feed them anything else. I got all kinds of eggs. I wouldn't worry unless the chickens look a little off or egg production goes down.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I think that amount of scratch, for 6 hens is plenty and will do what you want, which I surmise, is to stir up the litter.

 

[jackhorn01]

Yeah, stir em up and its fun to watch. And yes Den, the contaier is 16 oz so the amount they are getting us about 4 oz give or take

 

[Den in Penn]

Some times I forget and get too precise. Feeding animals or people never is a precession thing. The amount is, as Fred said is plenty to give them something to scratch for.