How much food?

[ving]

I have 1 bantam Cochin and a standard Cochin and I realise now I have no idea how much to feed them per day!
Any sugestions?

 

[teach1rusl]

Chickens will not overeat layer feed, so most folks free feed. If you have rodent issues, you might want to put the feed away at night time. Technically, they'll probably eat about 1/4 cup of feed per day each...less if they're able to free range in season (plenty of bugs/grass). I would never want to see my chickens' feeders empty.

 

[mljohnson05]

How old are they?
Are you talking about their regular feed, or treats?
I have always put out a feeder with their regular food in it. They are good and will eat only what they Need.
If they free range, then they will not eat as much feed.
I also give mine scratch

 

[ving]

so about a 1/4 cup a day each... good, i am on track.
they also get treats but not daily.
one is post egg production (i think) the other just into egg production.


scratch? one of my loves a scratch on the neck or back... the other not so much (whats scratch)

 

[terryg]

How much pelleted food they eat depends very much on what else they have access to. If they're free ranging they'll get about half their intake from what they find. But, it's good to offer free choice pellets during the day and make sure that they have a full crop going to roost at night. It takes 25 hours to make an egg, and much of that time is when the hen is sleeping. The egg process depletes their reserves, and it's much better for them to be digesting food while it's happening. I have sensible info for feeding backyard flocks here:
http://hencam.com/faq/what-to-feed-your-chickens/