How much feed for ....

[gunnichick]

I have 18-12wk old RIR & Australorp and we live in a pretty cold part of CO. They are going through 50lb bag of feed in about 10-12 days- with little extra food. They don't free range and our night time lows are below 0 now. I assume that chickens will eat when they are hunger and stop when they are full...but I may be wrong. Are they eating the feed to quickly or just growing. I think the latter.

 

[TheSpeckledRoo]

I have thirteen hens who will go through a 50 lb back of food every 14 days. They are nine months old right now and they free range as well. I always have food set out for them. Have you ever considered giving your chicks scratch in the morning and at night? by doing this it will raise their internal temperature, which will help during the cold nights.

 

[mcoleman12]

In my wee bit of experience most eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full, I have 47 six week old chicks and they eat about the same per week. I live in west tn and our temps are still bouncing around but on colder days they eat way more than warm days. Hope this helps!

 

[Fred's Hens]

The larger the birds get, the more they eat. At 12 weeks, they are just coming into the first stages of maturity. Chickens also eat more in winter as they use the food to produce body heat. Feeding a slightly higher protein level in winter helps them produce body heat and sometimes limits the sheer volume of food required. It becomes virtually impossible for chickens to find grubs, bugs and insects during the winter. Ranging has diminished benefits, in terms of them finding their own food.

Finding a local feed mill that grinds and sacks their own feed can often result in a 25-40% savings in the cost of feed, especially if purchased in 100# bags.

 

[gunnichick]

Thanks all. I will go out and get some scratch for them to eat in the early morning and at night.