How much should I feed my chickens?

[upitty]

I am the proud owner of a small three girl flock however recently they've been eating a little bit more than what I feel is healthy. I fill their milk-bottle feeder to about 4cm high (layers mash) and allow them access to it all day but recently when I've been comming home, I've realised that their crops have been extremely full. Right now I've stopped and am just giving them a handfull in the early morning. I want to use the feeder again due to it's convienience but I'm worried that if I give the feeder back to them they'll become crop bound. What should I do?

 

[7L Farm]

I have feed out for mine 24/7. They need a full crop to make it through the night. I've never heard the term crop bound. My chickens crop is usually real big at roost time & by morning its gone & they start again. I wouldn't deprive them from feed they no how much to eat & what to eat.

 

[debid]

They won't get crop bound from layer mash. Crop binding happens when they eat things that can tangle into a mass (like hay) or that are not food.

The purpose of the crop is to fill when food is plentiful to help the chicken survive when food is not. And yes, they will fill it before bedtime if there is food available to do so.

Unless you are measuring the feed and tracking their weights, it's best to make feed available at all times. Most chickens will self-regulate.

 

[zbraswell92]

Chickens also have a automatic 'nutrition gauge' programed into their DNA. They know when they need more protein, starch, fat, calcium... If there crops are full most of the time it might be because it's hot outside and they've been drinking a lot of H2O to cool down?
One can know that chickens know their own individual nutritional needs because if providing crush Oyster Shell, the hens will pick at it as they please and when they need it.
Chickens will always have a preference for scratch grains, bugs, plants and so on, but if they feel they need more protein, they will go to a layer feed and eat just enough to get by. The hens might not lay as well when fed free-range because they're feeding on other things instead of purely nutrition-packed pellets/mash/crumbles.
My 9 hens and 1 lil Serama Roo free-range... they seem so much happier this way! I free-range for their happiness and pleasure, plus they keep the grubs, bees, grass-hoppers, and flies out of the backyard and stop them from breeding under the rabbit's hutch!
That's always good!

I feed Nutrena CF Layer Feed, Scratch, BOSS, and some value bird seed each day, plus they free range all day. I don't even close them up at night... they roost in my huge Crape Martel bush in the backyard! Never had a problem with predators cause I live in a residential neighborhood in ATL, Ga!! LOL

Hope this helps...

 

[upitty]

My oldest hen (wyandotte) never used to eat so much. The other two will feed for about ten minutes out of the feeder in the morning before running off to scan the garden for food but the wyandotte stays in there a lot longer than the other two. Sure she's bigger, it's just, she never used to eat so much before. A couple of times when I went out in the morning to let them out of the coop, I caught the wyandotte and felt it's crop before it fed and I could feel some feed still in there. I'm worried she may have ingested some plastic or something. She's in perfect health otherwise and laying regularly. By the way, her sister (Rhode Island Red) died because of impacted crop. She found a bucket full of crusher dust and ate about a handfull of it. We did everything we could to help but she died. Because layers mash is similar in size and shape I was worried about it.
P.S: You're lucky you don't have to lock your chooks up. We also live in a snug little neighborhood but we've had a snake and goanna in the bast six months. That's Australia for ya!

 

[sophiesmith]

I feed them 2 times a day. Sometimes they get a snack

 

[lahowardjr]

I think chickens can be fed too much. The thought is that regulating feed is more economical than free choice feeding. If paying for expensive feed isn't a problem, free choice. If you want the same number of eggs for less feed costs, regulate. I also like the fact that my hens are really active and chase those pesky grasshoppers in my wife's rose bushes for a protine "treat". My point is strictly economics.

Say you do butcher them, the skin and meat is "slimy" with yellow fat and labor intensive when cleaned.

 

[upitty]

Yeah, not intending to butcher my chickens. My chickens are pretty active even though they have access to feed throughout the day. They free-range through about 50m2 of grass, garden bed and brick. I've gone back to having the feeder out permenantly becasue one of them kept pecking the crap out of the other two when-ever there was food to be fought over. Their feeding has become more steady and their crops aren't bursting at the seems. Oh by the way, my wyandotte just layed a massive egg the other day when she was on a diet! I had been giving the chooks a handfull of feed a day for three days when all of a sudden I find an egg wieghing 87grams!

It was huge! She normally lays a 49gram egg which is between the smallest layer and the largest! The photos do the size no justice!


These are two of her usual ones and the big whopper! Can't wait to find out if it's a double yolker. My first one

 

[dl9976]

they should have access to food and water 24 hours a day! they are not like some animals..they DO NOT eat when they are not hungry! being hungry is NO fun!