how much feed per chicken per day??

[crzychknluvr]

Wow! Well I have 3BR, 4GSL, 3ancauna, 1EE hens & 1EE roo, & 1polish crested roo! I love my variety! Not so sure about the visitors though. I have never seen any sign of mice or rats. We have plenty of cats and a dog, & theres not really any place in the coop for them to make nests or anything like that. The worms thing I knda wonder about? I had read some where not to feed them(chickens) earthworms because they could have eggs in them and infect the birds? Not sure how true that is, but the kids thought it was great watching them scramble and chase eachother for them!
I went and got some DE cause I noticed mites, if we have worms it's supposed to good for that too! Right? so we'll see what happens?

Oh yeah I feed a layers crumble18% protien?

 

[chickaddict]

The visitors you might not be seeing are squirrels. I lose a lot of feed to squirrels and they are bold.

 

[crzychknluvr]

Very well could be? But I have never seen one and with three cats, I don't know I really think they are just PIGS. Iwas reading what people are paying for feed. Mine is 15.00 for 50lb bag Jacks layers crumble. Oh well what are ya gonna do even if it is squerrels hanging the feeder wont help!

Now that I have been paying more attention they do spill alot, they get in the pan and scratch it out, but usually clean up pretty well if I make them!

 

[rstampa]

Quote:
My chickens hate earthworms anyway. But to clear things up. Earthworms won't harm your chickens. They are dead when they are eaten. However the warms that you should be concerned with are Parasites.
Check their poop and see if you see anything wiggling in it. Or if their poop is watery.

 

[rstampa]

Quote:
Oviously you are doing the right thing. Free Range is the best but 50 lbs. a week? You could make 200 loafs of breed for yourself and you family with 50 lbs of flour. Jut think of it that way. Something is definitely wrong. And it's more then worms.

 

[the lemon tree]

I agree. My chickens free range a few hours a day and it takes 5 of them to go through a 50 lb bag in about 5 weeks. If you extrapolate that to 13 chickens, holding steady the few hours of free range, it's still a pretty high rate.

Quote:
Oviously you are doing the right thing. Free Range is the best but 50 lbs. a week? You could make 200 loafs of breed for yourself and you family with 50 lbs of flour. Jut think of it that way. Something is definitely wrong. And it's more then worms.

 

[TMNTCkins]

I have 15 chickens and they free range on 1 acre everyday. They also get left overs and scratch for a treat and I go through 50 lb bag of pellets in two weeks. They seem to waist the crumble and I go through it faster.

 

[bkate]

What exactly should i give my future chickens? What is crumble?

 

[the lemon tree]

Quote:
Crumble is essentially pellets, but ground up roughly. My chickens prefer crumble but a lot of people go with the pellets since it's easier to salvage when it spills or gets billed out of the feeder.

 

[ShaggysGirl]

That does seem like a lot. I haven't a clue how much we go through in a week ...lol I try not to think about it I just keep the feeders full

I had 17 EEs we are down to 11 ( extra roos went bye bye ) that are 14 weeks old, 26 four week olds and six 12 day old. Since we got our first chicken 14 weeks ago I have went through 250 pounds of medicated starter.

eek don't tell DH