How much food will I need to buy?

[lazy gardener]

According to that PDF, the OP might get away with 2 bags. I find that PDF hard to believe. Can the little piggies actually eat THAT MUCH????

ERROR, correction: that PDF said 10 birds could be expected to consume 20 - 29# in a 6 week time period. Therefore, I'd not buy more than 1 bag at a time. Do you have any where closer that you can buy feed if you need to? I'd rather buy a less favored brand that was fresh than buy too much of my favorite brand and end up giving them stale feed. This holds true with all birds, but especially for chicks where you have no margin for error.

 

[Joeschooks]

I agree, two bags of chick crumb should be about perfect to take your 18 chicks to 8 weeks of age when you’ll want to switch to a grower. Good luck.

 

[bruceha2000]

I think a 50# bag will last you a LONG time, way more than the 6 week "best by" timeframe. My 17 adult large fowl are going through one bag every 2 weeks. When they are out free ranging in warmer times with bugs and growing plants it is half that.

I didn't even get through one 5# bag of starter with my last two batches of 7 chicks each. They chose to eat out of the adults' feeder around 2 weeks. Had to fly up to the tray to get the food, not near as easy as getting grower out of their feeder in the brooder pen. I ended up pouring the rest of the starter into the 10 gallon can with the adults' food.

What is special about that feed place? No one closer carries their feed?

 

[AllenK RGV]

So, how many bags of grower, and how many bags of starter? I'm going to put them on layer at 20 weeks.

I would just buy some oyster shell and offer free choice first before arbitrarily switching the flock to a "Layer Feed" before everyone is laying also what to do if the chicken fairy gives you a roo(he could be harmed by a layer feed)?

Will you be able to keep it, what breed are you considering some are 100% sexable like the Sex Links, but others can only be vent sexed with 80-90ish% accuracy.

 

[Latestarter]

One 50 pound bag will easily last you more than a month and probably through an entire 6 week period. Buying two would almost ensure the 2nd bag would be well out of date before you crack it open. I second the thought to see if you can mail order it shipped direct to you.

 

[bruceha2000]

I would just buy some oyster shell and offer free choice first before arbitrarily switching the flock to a "Layer Feed" before everyone is laying also what to do if the chicken fairy gives you a roo(he could be harmed by a layer feed)?

I know there is supposed to be a big no-no with non layers eating layer feed but ALL of my 2015 and 2017 chicks started eating layer from the age of about 2 weeks. They did this on their own, plenty of starter in their feeder in the brooder area they could eat instead. Even Trouble the cockerel ate the layer and I saw HIM eating oyster shell when he was maybe 4 months old.

I'm not so convinced that the extra calcium is necessarily bad for them.

 

[K813ZRA]

Okay, my memory was way off. I did not raise new chicks last season so forgive me. But looking at my books my 18 Buff Orpingtons ate 25 pounds the first month of their lives.

Month two was 69 pounds. Month three 110 pounds. Month four was 166 pounds. Yeah, these are rounded to the nearest whole number.

They eat a fair bit less feed now as life changed and I can allow them to free range from sun up to sun down 9 months of the year, give or take. Plus garden scraps etc.

Point is, I was way off with my first post. One bag should suffice.

 

[coloradowildflower]

I live a long way from a feed store, too, so I'd recommend 2 bags. You can always mix any leftover in with their adult food as they grow, so it won't be wasted either way, and you'll want to be sure not to run out.

 

[bruceha2000]

Month four was 166 pounds.

That is amazing given my 17 adults are only eating 100# a month through the winter when there is no forage. They also get BOSS and whatever little bit of kitchen scraps I have in the morning and scratch at night. But I last opened a 40# bag of BOSS on 5/31 when there were 13 adults and 7 week old chicks, no BOSS for them right off, I'm just now running low. Got a 50# bag of scratch at the same time, it lasted through the end of December.

 

[K813ZRA]

That is amazing given my 17 adults are only eating 100# a month through the winter when there is no forage. They also get BOSS and whatever little bit of kitchen scraps I have in the morning and scratch at night. But I last opened a 40# bag of BOSS on 5/31 when there were 13 adults and 7 week old chicks, no BOSS for them right off, I'm just now running low. Got a 50# bag of scratch at the same time, it lasted through the end of December.

I feed mash from the local feed mill so they probably waste a bit of it. They do tend to eat a fair bit less now that they free range so often. However, I stopped weighing the food long ago. I will say that my Orpingtons do eat a lot more than my other breeds though.

Take my EE's for example, they want nothing to do with feed so long as the grass is showing they are hunting something!

Overall I go through 400# of mash per month. Give or take a week in the really hot or cold months. I have 50 birds. Most are chickens but about 1/4 are ducks. Ducks eat everything in sight...Chicken feed, table scraps, my garden, bugs, fish...you name it.