How much feed do you go through a month??

[yinzerchick]

I have 54 hens and 2 roosters. They free range all day and are only put in the coops and run at night, but can, and do, go in and out all during the day to lay eggs, rest, preen, and just hang out. I have 2 coops, and both coops have feeders in them. I keep feed in them all the time. Lately they seem to be getting emptied pretty quick. I just switched from crumbles to pellets about a week ago hoping it would result in less waist, thought maybe this was at least part of the problem. I don't see any pellets on the floor. (I use sand so I can see the feed when it hits the ground.) Besides the chickens will eat it off the floor.

Anyway...I'm going through about 50lbs a week. They have all sorts of other options for food. Acreage for foraging, zillions of bugs and grasshoppers, I give them scratch in the evenings to call them in, and every few mornings they get fed some kind of breakfast treat like oatmeal or noodles...
Is that a lot of feed to go through? I don't want them to be hungry, and certainly not to start fighting at the feeders. It is very hot, so maybe they're just too hot to go hunting for food?

Anyone care to share how much feed they go through, and how many chickens they have? Like I said, I don't know if 50lbs a week for that many chickens is a lot or not.

Thanks!

 

[Cindy in PA]

Light breeds eat about 1/4 lb a day & dual purpose about 1/3 lb. That is without free ranging and getting anything else. That would be 14-18 lbs./day for your amount of chickens, so 50lbs. per week isn't bad, i would think.

 

[pgrommesh]

I have 17 full size chickens, they eat about 6 lbs per day and can free range 3 acres for 1/2 of most days. I dont have a lot of shade, so the days that it is overcast they eat quite a bit less due to foraging.

 

[yinzerchick]

Thanks!

 

[7L Farm]

I live in Texas as well wasn't last weeks weather nice ? Anyway your good to go they have bugs & grass to eat now. But that will change in the winter. The feed bill goes up in the winter. My feed bill pretty much stays the same because I have vegetable gardens & feed them veggies all year long. If you can plant something for them that would help. I'm fixin to plant my fall garden next week or so.

 

[NightHawk123]

We have about the same number free range birds. My wifes birds are lazy. If I fell the feeders up with food they don't range as much. If we are home we just give them a small amount of feed. Otherwise they hang around the coop and eat all the feed. If you have a bit of land like we do then they should be good. 50lb is about right tho. Not bad at all.