How much approx. should a chicken eat a day? I'm worried I may be overfeeding.

[NinjaGamer2022]

My chickens are getting given a little under a cup of feed per bird each a day.
Are they over eating? I have no giant breeds like cornish cross.
I looked it up and it sound like between 1/2 c. - 3/4 c. each is enough.
Thank you for your time.

 

[Mary Poopins Love]

I wouldn't worry about how much they are eating, what is your feeding schedule? I dump a lot of chicken food in their bucket and they eat whenever they want.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Thank you for your time.

They should go through up to about 1/4 # per bird per day.. a little more perhaps when days are extra long and a little less when days are extra short. Consumption also goes up and down according to weather and pasture availability/condition.

Chickens are grazers and won't over eat.. but will eat to meet their energy (not nutrient) need.

If you're going through way too much feed compared to bird # then waste and freeloaders should be considered. (song birds, rats, etc)

Limiting feed for a laying hen.. will ultimately limit egg production. In ways most home keepers won't notice.. slightly lighter weights, maybe one less egg every 10 produced..

The thing that also makes a difference and makes me crazy when suggesting something like say a cup.. a cup of pellets is highly likely to be less weight/energy than a cup of crumble due to how it fits in the space.

Also a cup of layer may be lower in energy/calories than a cup of flock raiser.. since it has 4% calcium instead of 1%.. and calcium has no caloric energy value for the space it's taking.. if you catch my drift. Calorie counts have not been included on most chicken feeds in the past.

This may not answer your question well enough.. but maybe it will give some food for thought.

 

[Brooks_]

A quarter pound a day is the general base guideline for most standard size breeds. More or less for larger or smaller or even individual birds. Free feeding is generally considered the easiest as chickens don't really overeat.

 

[NatJ]

My chickens are getting given a little under a cup of feed per bird each a day.
Are they over eating? I have no giant breeds like cornish cross.
I looked it up and it sound like between 1/2 c. - 3/4 c. each is enough.
Thank you for your time.

The most common estimate is 4 ounces (1/4 pound) of food per laying hen per day.

Different foods have different weights, so it might be 3/4 cup of one kind but 1/2 cup of another kind and a whole cup of a third kind. (The differences can be pellets vs. crumbles, or even one brand of pellets vs. another brand of pellets.)

Individual chickens may eat more or less than the usual estimate, depending on how large or small they are, how many eggs they are laying, cold or hot weather, or a variety of other factors.

Most breeds of chicken do just fine with free-choice feed, available all the time they are awake. The main exception is Cornish Cross, but you said you do not have those. So if the amount you listed is how much they want to eat, it is probably fine. If they are eating it all up and begging for more, I would not hesitate to give some more.