How Much Feed to Grow Chicks?

[Omniskies]

Does anyone know where I can find a chart that breaks down roughly how much feed chicks tend to go through each week?

I know that some of it will depend on the brand of feed, the protein percentage, breed of chicks, etc. I'm not looking for exacts, just estimates.

The chicks will be on starter and are dual purpose/laying breeds (Leghorns, Easter Eggers, Rhode Islands, Barred Rocks). Right now they are two weeks old and there are 100 of them. Any clue as to how much feed they may go through to grow for another month? One bag? Four bags?

 

[BooBear]

my 14 Wyandottes average a bag a month so far (50 lb bag). They are 9 weeks and I switched them to Flock Raiser feed this past Friday. The bigger they get the more they consume. My Wyandottes have mainly been in their Brooder Hutch the whole time. There has been constant light in the brooder hutch so they have no sense of night n day. Thus they eat more.

We just put them in a 10'W x 10'L x 6'H pen with their Brooder Hutch to give them more space and to allow them to forage on the grass. Since we did this they are not eating as much of the feed. Also, they no longer have the light so they are not eating at night anymore. (This setup is supposed to be mobilish but boy is it heavy. Dad has to help me as there is no way I can even think to move it. Yeah I am a weakling couch potatoe.)

I am not sure if there is a chart with specific food ratios for consumption.

 

[Omniskies]

There is a chart in a homesteading book that broke down exactly how much feed it would take to raise a laying hen to six months of age. The same book had a similar chart for Cornish-Rocks. Unfortunately, I'll have to do some hunting to remember the book. Plus the numbers for the hens was obviously for a breed like Leghorns - not for Barred Rocks or heavier set breeds.

Huge thanks for the estimate on the 14 chicks. That will definitely give me a starting point.

 

[Irene]

If you are talking about chick starter -- who measures the bags?! Just continually make sure their feeders are full, and the waterers freshly filled. I have 3 dozen grown chickens and guineas, plus 5 4-week old silkies. In the winter time when the temps are cold and the chickens are inside their coop all day and night, they like to eat me out of house and home! I go through 50 lbs of layers feed in 3 days flat. In nice weather, when the chickens can free range, I give them 4 good sized pans of kitchen food, like cooked oatmeal, turnip greens, corn, peas, baked potatoes, grated carrots, etc..., daily, and I can make a 50 lb. bag last at least a week or more. But for yourself?! Whew-- a 100 chickens? Never had that many, and don't want too, especially the way I keep my coop and do for them, and name them all, etc... My budget is almost $100 a month for feed and so forth with the 3 dozen we have. Feed and Scratch has gone up around $2-4.00 a bag around where I live. Don't know if you've seen the increase or not, but Glenn Beck (!) warns us that anything made with corn or wheat is only going to go up in price this next year.... Good Luck....
---Irene

 

[The Chicken People]

I have 36 hens 3 ducks and 6 roosters and we go through a bag a week of layer pellets and a bag of scratch or corn! I spend about 120 per month on feed! Cant wait till Spring and more free ranging! I will be growing corn and other feed for my birds this year!