how much should chickens eat?

[theemon]

I have 24 chicks little over 1 month old, I been leaving food in there n 24/7. But in a month they've ate 70 lbs of feed... Really??

 

[Cindy in PA]

Not sure what small chicks will eat, but 24 grown chickens will eat about 8 lbs. a day or 240 lbs a month, give or take. For 24 chicks in the growth stage, I don't think 70 sounds too bad. Someone else should have an idea how much they should eat.

 

[Fred's Hens]

The "waste" rate is often as high as 50% if your feeders are inefficient. Chicks scratch out about as much as they eat.

 

[Den in Penn]

On a bag of starter I found that the feed company says that a chick will eat about 4 pounds in its first eight weeks. So if that is right then the first four weeks a chick will eat approximately 2 pounds in four weeks. That makes it out to around 48 pounds that yours will eat. However I think that is just what they eat and not what they will waste. The younger the chick the more they seem to waste. In my experience you are not to far off.

 

[theemon]

I don't think mine waste any.... They clean up the stuff they spill...

 

[Spangled]

I have 24 chicks little over 1 month old, I been leaving food in there n 24/7. But in a month they've ate 70 lbs of feed... Really??

They'll slow down when they get full size because they won't be trying to grow in size and grow a new set of feathers every few weeks. Plus, when they're older they'll be able to go out in a run or free range a little. As it sits right now, they may not have very many things to distract them like scratching in the grass, etc., and so they play with their food (maybe?). I know mine do. And mine also peck through it looking for millet and sesame seeds.

Chicks do eat a lot, but if they're layers, these first 5 or so months are crucial to the development of their egg laying organs. I kind of let them eat as much as they want and just try to keep them from wasting too much.

Do they have hanging feeders now? What about putting one of those big round rubber (18? inches across) animal feeders under their hanging feeder to collect any feed that they bill out? I save a fair bit of feed that way even with my adults. But then, you did say that they aren't wasting any, so

maybe that's a useless idea.