How much and how often should I feed?

[karyn72]

I have acquired 2 hens and a rooster just today and was wondering how much I should be feeding them and how often.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Start this way. In the early morning, put a healthy portion of feed, 6 cups, into their feeder. Check the feeder in the late afternoon. If it is empty, give them more. If in the next morning, there was still feed in the feeder, you've feed them more than enough and can dial back the afternoon feeding a bit, if you wish to do ration feeding.

Or, just fill the feeder with enough to last two/three days and forget about it. Of course, with that much feed hanging around all the time, you'll likely be feeding rodents, eventually, at night, when the chickens are asleep.

 

[karyn72]

Thank You so much!!! can you give me any more advice as this is all very new to me?

 

[ChickenAl]

Fred's advice is right in the money. We leave the feeders pretty much with enough for one day, and the coop feeder always has some if I get up late to let them out.

 

[Nicole01]

My dh built an automatic wood feeder that holds over 50# of feed. The chickens can not scratch it out, so there is zero waste. He put a removable lid, so at the end of the bag I can clean out the feeder if needed. We are both really happy with the feeder and we got the design from another BYC member. Our food is in the coop 24/7.

 

[KDK1]

Ditto what Nicole01 said... she seems pretty proud of that thing.

 

[booker81]

I prefer to feed free choice - like Fred said, putting enough for 2-3 days or so in the feeder (I have a 15lb feeder for 12 chickens). In the warm weather, they have a kiddie pool that I clean about once a week, so more than enough water for a week. Winter we have to water them every 2-3 days - we use a bucket heater to keep ice at bay.

This isn't to mean I feed them and leave them for days - I go in daily, it's just simpler for me. Mine do well on not "overeating", but if they do get the feeder empty, they do bumrush me like I've starved them for a week (though I know they finished off the feed about an hour earlier).