12 almost laying age hens, 5 small pullets, 5 turkeys eat about 50# in a month. They freerange and eat a lot of bugs every day. For now, they are all eating Sunfresh Flockraiser & the hens get some scratch.
smom1976 wrote:
does anyone know the food/chick ratio that we should be feeding?
I don't know, exactly. My thought is that if their feeder is empty when you check on them, they need more. If there's still some feed left in it, they're probably getting enough feed.
I know that's a pretty generic answer - Sorry. I obsessed over it at first, but now I'm more relaxed about the whole thing.
I have 400 chickens laying eggs that I sell at the farmers markets.
Chicks--be sure to get all CHICK feed, starter etc. The feed store and back of the bag will easily tell you want to feed. Chicks need to eat at least 5 times a day up to 6 weeks, 4 up to 8 weeks, and about 3 times a day after.
I keep open chick filled feeders in all troughs when raising young. I don't raise them any more, I buy 16 week old pullets that are close to laying from another local farmer. Easier for me in time and cost.
I go thru 2,000 to 2,300 lbs of bulk feed every 5 weeks.
I think I may be feeding them tooo much.. anyone how much is too much.?
Most everyone just keeps their feeders full and let them eat what they want. I have the gallon sized feeder and I refill it every three-four days for now. Of course as they get older that will increase I'm sure. They are 10 weeks old. They also free range for a few hours every night while we can sit out there with them.
Right now I have 31 chickens (about 16 weeks old) and they go through a 50 lb bag of feed every month. We also give them a bit cracked corn and any old fruits/veggies/bread that is laying around.