I Have Three Road Island Red Chickens 1 Rooster And 2 Hens The Hens Are At Laying Age So How Much Should I Feed Them???????please Help.......and How Much Oyster Shell Per Hen........
I give 24/7 free choice layer feed and oyster shell. I have a tuna can full of oyster shell in the run, which they pick at here and there. Most breeds of chickens will NOT overeat.
At 6 weeks of age, I just started keeping food and water in the run, not in the coops. For the health of my chickens. There was mold under the waterer. The feed was getting spilled and wet. The older chickens would go into the younger chickens' coops to eat their food and terrorize them. All my problems were solved by this! Oyster shell and grit size #3 (there are 3 sizes, and #3 is the largest) should be free choice (set a pan out). Make sure you don't let the feed get wet (I take mine in at night.) I make sure I'm out there at sunup to let them all out of their coops. I let them put themselves to bed, so I don't rush them in the evenings.
You can just keep food available for them all of the time (some put the food away at night time). As someone else mentioned already, they will not overeat feed. Same with oyster shell...just keep a small dish out.
Yes, as much as they will eat, basically. The food is left out here also. And, of course, we give treats a few times a day
Ours have a 7lb feeder available all day along with water, at night when they roost they have a small chick feeder and water bottle incase they need to nibble at night.... Chickens will eat and poo all day long, really they are like feathered pigs, and the more they eat the more they grow.....
I have read somewhere...can't remember which chicken book/site/whatever that they generally consume 2-3 ounces of feed per day per bird for grown large fowl. If they start under consuming it could be an indicator of parasites or illness. I now have too many to measure out feed, but I do keep my eye out for abnormal consumption either way. Just so ya know...it does help maintain their health, and catch things beforehand. This past super wet winter when my chooks got mold on the wall of the coop due to too much moisture, I noticed feed consumption slightly down BEFORE the sneezing and the mold(which was on the inside of the roof in a dark corner). Mine get free choice everything as well. Sometimes it just helps to know Oh, and roos generally eat a bit less than hens do, so if you don't see him eating much don't worry.
