how much is too much

[bugkiller]

I have 2 Bared rock chickens about a year old. They were eating about the equilevent to 2- 600 ml pop bottles of feed per day. About a week ago they started eatin ALOT more. Like tripple that amount. I have had to fill the feeder 2 per day sometimes 3 times. It has not realy got any colder than before ( i did notice they eat more when it gets cold) But if any thing it has been warmer than 3 weeks ago. The only change or thing that happened that i can think of is i ran out of food for them on a sunday and could not get food til monday afternoon so they went just under 24 hrs with no food. This is not going to kill them but i am wondering did this cause them to start competeing for food. If not any other ideas why the drastic increse and should i give them a set amount??

Any help would be great

 

[Judy]

Most here feed free choice. Maybe they will slow down in a few days if the feed is there.

When you run out of chicken feed, you can feed them almost anything you would eat. Oatmeal doesn't even have to be cooked, for example Leftovers, cooked eggs, canned beans -- whatever. In that situation they might have skimpy meals but I'd find them something. And yes, they could be doing this because of the period of no feed. Many animals gorge if they have been without food. I have a 10 year old dog who stays overweight (I don't know what all he finds to eat outdoors) who was nearly starved to death when i found him at around a year old. He has never lost that desperation for food.

Another thought is, chickens will eat more if they are full of worms, because the worms are eating the food. After a dose of Valbazen, my feed consumption dropped almost by half. It's a pretty safe bet that chickens will get at least some worms if they are on the ground.

 

[ScottM]

Are you sure you can rule out mice or another pest?

/scott

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

X2... check for mice and worms.

 

[bugkiller]

X2... check for mice and worms.

No mice for sure. I am an exterminator. Got that covered. And forgot to mention when i ran out of food i did feed them 2 eggs and left overs there was just no supply of feed

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

A lighter weight hen is said to eat about 4 ounces of feed per day (found this while googling it one day). Your hens would probably eat a little more than that, then.

Squirrels, sparrows, any other potential feed-eaters?

 

[ChicKat]

Agreed,

Birds have discovered my chicken feed over this wintertime and they make a dent in the free choice feed. Also if I leave the run door open while mine free-range, the dogs sneak in when I am not around/ not looking and have a little snack of chicken feed.

Hope you find the culprit(s) if you do have some non-chicken critters feeding from your feeders.