How much

[gagerohne1]

How much do your chickens eat in a day? i realize most feed freely but i am curious the average amount of feed to expect to go through in a day or week per chicken

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That is impossible to respond to. There are many disparate types/breeds of chickens. Does one have Seramas or Jersey Giants? The latter may need 4 or 5 times the feed of the former. Are you talking about bantams or large fowl?
Does one feed pellets, crumbles or mash? That determines the amount of waste.
Does one feed in an open container or a feeder that limits billing out and waste?
Does one ferment feed that dramatically eliminates waste?
Does one pasture their chickens in warm weather and a pristine environment or house their chickens in a barren run?
Winter free range chickens will need much more feed than free range chickens in May (northern hemisphere).

Much more information needed to answer in a remotely accurate way.

Just as an example, a light breed may eat about 0.15 lbs. per day while a heavy breed may eat about 0.4 lbs. or more per day. But that excludes considerations of waste and other nutrients provided.

 

[PirateGirl]

Many feed companies will provide a chart with ages and how much a day a bird will eat. I'd say mine eat approximately 2/3 cup of dry feed a day each. They do not free range.

 

[SueT]

Mine average 1/2 cup crumbles per day each.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Mine average 1/2 cup crumbles per day each.

Many feed companies will provide a chart with ages and how much a day a bird will eat. I'd say mine eat approximately 2/3 cup of dry feed a day each. They do not free range.

I have to ask you both, do you have the same breeds of chickens as the OP?
That would lend to the relevance of the responses.

 

[PirateGirl]

Don't know what breeds OP has. All my birds are different breeds as well. Just throwing out an estimate based on my personal experience. My feed amounts vary depending what type of feed I buy as well. It still gives someone new to chickens an idea. I got numbers off the internet before I bought chickens as well, I had no clue initially if a chicken would eat a pound a day vs 10 lbs a day, how long would that 50 lb bag of feed really last me with my size flock? a day? a week? a month? longer? The numbers aren't exact, broilers vs. layers, bantams vs. large fowl, whether they are still growing, hot vs. cold climate, many factors impact how much a chicken will eat... A few links to help out.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/know-how_pets-livestock_chicken_how-to-feed-chickens

https://www.mypetchicken.com/backya...ng-to-figure-the-expenses-of-keeping-H60.aspx

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I just didn't want someone to get the wrong impression that all hens would need the same amount of feed regardless of size, breed, conditions, etc..
What one should do is provide feed free choice till they get an idea of what their birds utilize given all the parameters in post #2.
One should never let their chickens run out of water and ideally - feed.
Chickens are voracious eaters. When their crop is empty, they'll eat. Whether that be feed, bedding, feces, tree bark or whatever. I prefer they eat feed.

 

[SueT]

I have to ask you both, do you have the same breeds of chickens as the OP?
That would lend to the relevance of the responses.

Right, I don't know what the OP has. I should have clarified... I have a mix of 6 standard size layers and 3 bantams, one of which is a rooster, and I have found that 4 cups dry feed gets eaten up, and if I give more, they leave some, I always aim to have leftovers. If there are no leftovers, I didn't give enough. It takes trial to figure out and it can vary. Oh, and I feed Purina flock raiser crumbles to everyone.
The OP might have wanted to get a general idea on what size bag to buy or what it might cost to keep chickens.....

 

[triplepurpose]

Not all feed mixes are the same either. Even after controlling for all the other variables already mentioned, the exact same chickens may eat more or less of different feed mixes. Example: we recently switched our mixed flock Over to a new brand of feed that has higher protein and better quality ingredients overall, and they often eat maybe 25% less of it, because it’s more satiating/nourishing to them presumably, all other factors being roughly the same (which they rarely are because these chickens also eat fruit, coconuts, greens, grass, insects, cooked root crops, peas, and whatever else good we can provide or they can find that is free).

I agree—the OP posed what is essentially an impossible question to answer in any universally relevent way, deceptively simple though it seems... And anything you read in print is only going to be a vague guideline at best—and it definitely shouldn’t be taken as a prescription.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

In my situation, I have a lot of poultry. The big house has more birds than the other smaller ones. In there, a lot of competition between the flock. With sixty birds, it is like feeding pigs. They compete and gord down more than they should be eating in fear their buddies won't leave any thing in the pans.
In my much much smaller breeding houses that contain maybe 6 per hutch, they don't have that frantic feeding frenzzy because less competition. Actually there is small amounts of previous feedings left.
My goats and pigs are the same way. EAT IT ALL before the others get it.