How much food can a chicken eat???

[cyndiscof]

Hi! I read a post that said someone had 36 chickens that ate 50 lb. of feed in 10 days. My chickens eat 3 times that much! 35 +- chickens, 8 young guineas and 1 turkey go through 3 bags of food in 10 days. And they come running when they see me coming in the golf cart. They are ready to eat!! How much should I be feeding them? They're eating us out of house and home!!

 

[Rnbwbrite1207]

I don't know the answer to how much, but I do know that soaking or fermenting your feed can reduce the amount your birds consume.

 

[fosterson]

Hi! I read a post that said someone had 36 chickens that ate 50 lb. of feed in 10 days. My chickens eat 3 times that much! 35 +- chickens, 8 young guineas and 1 turkey go through 3 bags of food in 10 days. And they come running when they see me coming in the golf cart. They are ready to eat!! How much should I be feeding them? They're eating us out of house and home!!

Chickens will eat themselves stupid (or fat, or dead). Using fermented feed, I feed about 1/2 cup per bird per day (though they do have access to some free range in the day). Cooped birds should have a bit more, I'd suspect. I think the rule of thumb I've heard most often is 'as much as they can clean up in 15-20 minutes'.

 

[Peplers chicks]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/98885/exactly-how-much-per-chicken-per-day

I just read that an grown chicken eats 1/3 pound per day.here is the link

 

[FuzzyButtz]

I read somewhere the average chicken needs 100 grams of (dry) food per day.. mine get 3/4 of a (large) coffee can per day, plus about a cup of 'treats' (Corn, BOSS, Flax and Wheat mixed in Warm Milk), and that's split between 6 of them. A large bag of pellets lasts me 3-4 weeks.

In the summer, when they free ranged 4 hrs per day, they got 1.5 Yogurt Containers (one is about 700G), and at that point I had 8 Chickens.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Chickens will eat themselves stupid (or fat, or dead). Using fermented feed, I feed about 1/2 cup per bird per day (though they do have access to some free range in the day). Cooped birds should have a bit more, I'd suspect. I think the rule of thumb I've heard most often is 'as much as they can clean up in 15-20 minutes'.

How is everyone calculating this 1/2 cup stuff? Chickens given nothing else eat 1/4 -1/3 of a pound per day. Does a1/2 cup of chicken feed weigh 4 ounces? Just because 1/2 liquid is 4 ounces, doesn't make 1/2 cup dry 4 ounces of food. I'm just curious, I think each type of dry ingredient put into a 1/2 cup dry measure would weigh a different amount. 1/2 cup dry will not necessarily equal 4 ounces of feed.

 

[FuzzyButtz]

Couldn't tell ya, but because I feed daily - I just base it on how much (or little) is left in their pan at the end of each day.