when we first went to buy chick starter, the man at the feed store told us that five pounds of feed would last 11 chicks several weeks. imagine our surprise when the little buggers powered through those five pounds of feed in less than two weeks! so today we went out and bought a 25 pound bag of feed, and since I no longer trust the feed store man's judgement, I'll ask here: How long will that bag last?
It depends on the chicks, and even more so, the feeder that you are using. Chicks love to root around in the feed and in so doing they can push a lot of feed out of the feeder and onto the floor. This is why the better feeders have a small lip around the edge. The most waste I have ever experienced has been when using the mason jar feeders. Now, I just use 5 lb feeders for my chicks and set them on the smallest gap. As for how much, don't put them on a budget. This is a crucial time for growth. My experience has been that a 50 pound sack of starter feed last about a week for 100 chicks in weeks 3-4. They eat considerably less at the start.
Keep CLEAN medicated chick starter in their feeders. All they can eat as long as they want it. Crumbled up boiled egg whites for a treat. Biggest enemy and number one killer of baby chicks is coccidiosis (sp?). Clean their feeders at LEAST once a day because the little critters will poop in the feeders. Waterers MUST BE STERILIZED! Everytime you put clean water in them. I change the waterers twice a day. Be sure they are warm, clean and have plenty of room. If they are climbing on top of each orher, they are COLD. Panting means they are HOT. CLEAN is the magic word for new chicks. If you keep medicated chick starter in their feeders, they will eat as much as they need. I buy 25 pound bags of Purina Chic Starter and they do well on it. The Amprollium in it is ALMOST enough to keep them from getting cocci if you keep feeders and waterers clean and sterilized.
Yeah, it will depend on the birds. 50 lbs will last 18 leghorns from birth till 7 weeks old or so... that same 50 lbs will last 5 cornish x 8 weeks. LOL I just put food and water up on blocks once they figure them out and keep them at back level. I clean water once a day and just add food to feeders. Cocci is an issue only if they have reached soil, and in most areas, you should expose them to the soil early on so they can build an immunity. Depending on climate, cocci can be terrible or not a problem. Don't raise them in a sterile enviornment, as they need to be exposed young to build immunities, but also don't raise them in their own poo. A balance is what you should consider trying to keep.
Quote:OMG they're eating more than the cornish! Are you sure you're not feeding a bunch of other critters?
Half of that must have ended up on the floor! 5 cornish on 50 lbs in about 8 weeks resulted in like 8 lb birds!
Quote: More than half, even at half that amount, it is more than double what the leghorns ate... I didn't notice that much different in how much they eat as babies (between my leghorns and my ee's)
