How Often Should You Feed Your Flock?

[Barred Rockstar]

Chickens will eat more than they need to if you let them. I free range mine and feed them twice a day, morning and evening. Feeding them more just seems like more chicken poop to deal with.

 

[ourflockof4]

Quote:
This should be very useful information to you peaches. Since you are raising for production you should do a cost analysis for increased production/food consumption. You may find that increasing their food slightly will increase production enough to offset the additional food cost.

To answer your main questions though, I tend to agree that several feeding throughout the day would probably be better for them. Food for breakfast and dinner and a snack between makes sense to me. However, you should do whatever gives you the best production. Your birds & enviroment are different the what ours are so you will need to figure what works.

 

[schellie69]

I offer food 24/7 and let them free range all day and give them snack scratch 1 or 2 times a day then I also give them the weeds out of my garden I am in the process of trying to figure out how to make a tractor so I can take them to the front yard to eat the grass and weeds out front. since they have wiped out my backyard. I found that my birds do not over eat since I put their food in a feeder when I was feeding on ground and twice a day they would eat a lot more but since I made my feeder they are eating it at different times of the day but not over eating.

 

[EggSpudition]

My chickens 8 get a full scoop (about three cups) of layer feed in the morning and then all the weeds, bugs and juicy leaves they can eat.. so long as they stay out of my garden..

 

[fl_deb]

I have seen others mention that increases in feed consumption is not always translated into increased production; for example, are you sure it is just your chickens eating the feed? Also, are your birds benefiting from the increased feed and not losing it to worms or other paracites(sp?) ?

just my 2 cents

hope you can figure out what is best for you and your chickens

 

[domino7]

I started out keeping my feeders full for my free range chickens, but I really thought they ate too much. Now I feed them in the morning and again in the evening. I've noticed no reduction in egg production. If anything, I think they've just learned to forage better.