How much to feed chicks?

[RazorDuck]

Hi, I'm wondering how much to feed a chick for the first couple of weeks. Not just how much feed a chick eats, but also how much it'll waste, too. I've looked everywhere and I can't find a straight answer, and I would appreciate any advice.
(P.S. they're barred rocks.)

 

[Peppercorngal]

Feed chicks as much as they want! I can't tell you whether that will be a cup or a quart or what. Watch your chicks. If they are hungry they will not relax, they will be pacing and scratching almost all the time. If they are well fed, able to eat and drink when they want they will spend time preening, resting, generally exploring for bugs and such. And if you provide something so they can learn to roost, they will experiment with that as well. I always use a large plant saucer or metal dish for their food. Yes, they scratch some out and yes, they get in it and sleep and poop, but I am not worried about waste at this point. They need to eat and as much as they want. Later when they leave the brooder I let my adult chickens in to eat the food that was strewn around! So nothing is really wasted! Good Luck with your chicks!

 

[Audrey Watson]

Feed chicks as much as they want! I can't tell you whether that will be a cup or a quart or what. Watch your chicks. If they are hungry they will not relax, they will be pacing and scratching almost all the time. If they are well fed, able to eat and drink when they want they will spend time preening, resting, generally exploring for bugs and such. And if you provide something so they can learn to roost, they will experiment with that as well. I always use a large plant saucer or metal dish for their food. Yes, they scratch some out and yes, they get in it and sleep and poop, but I am not worried about waste at this point. They need to eat and as much as they want. Later when they leave the brooder I let my adult chickens in to eat the food that was strewn around! So nothing is really wasted! Good Luck with your chicks!

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Yeah, pretty much. I just give them a chick feeder full of food and let them have at it. Once they're grown up enough to eat the adult food I just store the remaining chick food for the next time I get chicks(there's always a next time with me). And I usually raise my chickens in a separate pen in the coop, with a broody hen. I usually only get chicks if I get a broody hen(I have too many, it's a problem with me). So when the chicks are all grown up and move out, I'll just open that part up to the rest of the chickens and they eat the scraps. If for some reason I raise them under a heat lamp then there'll be a few crumbs wasted but it's really not that much.

 

[GC-Raptor]

My first Flock of day old Chicks, 3 years ago wasted about half of their feed while in the brooder.
My second Flock of Chicks wasted less this time. Instead of just putting the feeder and waterer on blocks, I hung them after a couple of weeks. .So they only wasted about a 1/4 to a 1/3.
In their coop I also hang the feeder so the trough is level with the back of the smallest chicken.
My Barred Rocks waste no feed. They clean up every crumble under the feeder. Such good girls. . Now my Golden Comets bill out their feed. So on my weekly coop cleaning day, I raise the feeder in the morning. By late afternoon, most of the feed under the feeder is consumed. GC