How much to feed?

[Tuffoldhen]

To insure your chickens are getting enough feed they should have access to a feeder of any kind, 24/7........Mine are kept in the henhouse away from the weather outside...That way I know my hens are never hungry.....

 

[picklespickles]

i don't know the measurement equivalents. (i used to use a large coffee creamer thing as scoop. now i use a bundt pan. lol.) if you have cookbooks, sometimes those have conversions between pounds, ounces, cups and so forth.

i don't have official feeders either. mine have the yards available to get things in (wish i had six acres) but i don't keep a feeder like is talked about here available twenty four seven either. i liked what you said about you being the feeder. that was pretty funny. and pragmatic.

mine do fine without a lot of supplemental in the warm months but like more in the cold ones. it is a paradox that they get more natural food when they can run around but then they get so much more excercise than cooped ones. of those funny things. i think they stay healthier though when they get to run around.

if you feed them first thing in the morning, do they act less starving during the rest of the day? also, the fat ones might be eating the skinny one's food so then they will always act starving no matter what. i toss food a few places to help with that. in the winter i have been adding some extra oil or fat to my scraps and that seems to make them happy in the winter. in the summer i wouldn't really bother.

 

[skeeter]

I think chickens always act like they are starving ive seen them when their craws are so full it looks like theyll bust and they still run after food

 

[silkiechicken]

I too have never bought a feeder for my big birds. They eat out of coffee can's tied to pans hung from the ceiling. Cost me $0 and about 15 mins of time. There's alot of stuff you can make. Past chick stage, I don't even use poultry waters... I use rubber buckets.

 

[ginasmarans]

I feed mine once a day. Mostly I judge how much to feed them by how much they eat. If they have lots left over,I feed less, if the act starved to death,I add more. A good rule of thumb is that an adult chicken should eat about 4 oz of feed/day. That's 1 pound/4 birds. I probably feed mine about 5 oz/day. You should be feeding yours between 3 1/2 to 4 lbs/day. I don't know how big your coffee can is.