How much chicken feed?

[That guy Mike]

Hi and thanks for having a look I'm getting 20 meat chicks and I'm not sure on the amount of feed I'm going to need for there 7-8 week stay and I want to pick it all up because it's a 2 hr drive to get more. Thanks any help would be much appreciated.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

About 10-12 lbs. each to get a 5 lb. meaty. However, it depends a great deal on type of feeder and how much they waste.

 

[That guy Mike]

About 10-12 lbs. each to get a 5 lb. meaty. However, it depends a great deal on type of feeder and how much they waste.

Thank you for your reply, it will help me out very much.

 

[potatoesgonnapotate]

I have 5, 5 week old Cornish crosses. They've gone through about 20 lbs of feed total I believe. I anticipate that they will go through 30-40 lbs at time of slaughter. I have 10 red rangers coming on April 25th, I will measure their intake more closely and get back to you on those as well I started with small batches to get my feet wet and see how it went. Next year I'm thinking I'll do a couple batches of 15-25.

 

[That guy Mike]

I have 5, 5 week old Cornish crosses. They've gone through about 20 lbs of feed total I believe. I anticipate that they will go through 30-40 lbs at time of slaughter. I have 10 red rangers coming on April 25th, I will measure their intake more closely and get back to you on those as well I started with small batches to get my feet wet and see how it went. Next year I'm thinking I'll do a couple batches of 15-25.

Thank you for your reply and good luck with your flock.

 

[potatoesgonnapotate]

So I figured I would come back and update. I ended up losing one of my 5 to ascites/chf. I feel horribly. After some more research, I have found what I think is a more appropriate feeding time/scale. I am finding that people may have better luck with a 16-18% protein feed after 4 weeks (mine were 5 weeks and still on 22%, I have since switched them). I also have been reading that 4-6 hours total out of a 24 hour period may be better for the Cornish crosses instead of the 12 on/12 off schedule. So far my remaining 4 from the first batch are doing ok, but I'm noticing a decent bit of sneezing, which I believe can be attributed to fluid buildup. Hopefully I can improve their health and maybe reverse a bit of the ascites for their last two weeks. I did my best to properly research before getting them, and I failed to maintain their health. This is definitely a process of learning, and I feel that losing just one isn't too bad, and it will help me to know how to better care for my animals. I hope I haven't misinformed anyone with my inadequate research and I hope for the best for all of our flocks.

 

[Northern.Ontario]

2 pounds of feed to make 1 pound of live bird is the rule of thumb. So it all depends on how big you want to make your birds before slaughter.