How to feed a flock with roosters?

[Pigeony]

Thank you! One last question.
Should I limit how much the chickens are eating? They go through a whole 50lb bag of grower feed in a week. I let them before because they are supposed to free feed at that age, but I can’t find any specific information as to when and how much to limit their feed.

Free-feeding is fine for a chicken's whole life if that's what you want to do. Some people do meals because they have problems with pests stealing too much food, but the chickens still should eat their fill.

 

[red horse ranch]

Thank you! One last question.
Should I limit how much the chickens are eating? They go through a whole 50lb bag of grower feed in a week. I let them before because they are supposed to free feed at that age, but I can’t find any specific information as to when and how much to limit their feed.

It sounds like your chickens may be wasting a lot of feed. Some types of feeders allow them to scratch or just throw it out while looking for that perfect bite. If there is a lot of feed on the floor then you might want to try a different feeder.
I never limit their feed. I have a mixed flock with chickens and guineas so I only feed all flock with oyster shell on the side. My birds all free range so I don't give them grit.
I have 31 birds and they go thru 40 pounds a week.

 

[Pigeony]

It is getting pretty expensive to have to fork out $20 a week to feed them

It might be that they're kicking out more food than they're actually eating. Do you put away or close your feeders at night when the birds are sleeping? You might be losing more than you think to mice and similar pests if not. I noticed a significant increase in how long a bag of feed lasts when I started locking up my feeders at night and putting them out in the morning.

 

[Noraaaaa]

Just get all flock feed then provide oyster shells (calcium) in a cup to your hens! They will eat when they need it

 

[BlueMeadow364]

I’m pretty sure they are eating it all because there is never more than a few crumbs on the ground from messy eaters, and I’ve watched them eat the feed. They just gobble it up with their mouths. The feeder also has high walls so they can’t scratch it out. I’m not sure if you can see from the pictures. I know I do have mice, but I haven’t seen a way for them to get in. I built the hutch pretty tight. I will start locking the feeder up at night and see if that helps.
Other than that, is there anything I can do to limit feed costs? I want to free range because it’s good for them and they like it, but I live next to a main road. It doesn’t have a high volume of traffic, but still. I have almost two acres of land, but it isn’t fenced and I have a creek in the back. If they get into the creek I wouldn’t be able to go after them to get them back, and there’s a horse ranch behind the tree line at the back of my yard, and I wouldn’t want them to go there either. Also, a couple of my neighbors have dogs that hate other animals. It’s winter, the the tractor is stationary for now.

 

[WingItRanch]

Try switching to pellets instead of crumble. You'll find it to be less wasteful.

 

[Altairsky]

4 roosters are way too many for just 15 hens. I suggest to chose 2 and get rid of the other 2. Extra roosters eat a lot and produce nothing other than meat and trouble.

 

[FrostRanger]

I second there being too many roos for that many girls. I would only keep 2 at the absolute most (honestly, just one is probably preferable) with that many. Aside from the feed costs, as they get older you may run into issues with fighting and the hens being overbred. If you absolutely cannot get rid of the mean roo, I'd actually house him separately so you don't get attacked when you go out there. You don't want him fathering chicks 'cause temperment is genetic. In any case he'd be the first obvious choice to remove.

I agree with everyone else on the feed situation though, all flock + oyster shell fed freely. Trying pellets + a different feeder + putting the feeder up at night might help with waste. You'd be surprised at how little of an opening mice need to slip in, they're absolute houdinis

 

[BlueMeadow364]

Thank you, I’ll try that! I really want to butcher the roo, but my little sister was literally crying in her room because I packed him up to be taken with our other five Roos to be butchered. I’ll see if I can coax her into letting him go

 

[talkinboutchickens]

All flock is recommended for a flock with both hens and roosters, but you have to provide a source of calcium on the side for the hens. Apparently the extra calcium in the layer feed is not good for roosters I read. I once switched my chickens over to all flock, and my brahma hen Dottie got a prolapsed vent from not enough calcium, even though we were providing it. Some hens don't know that they have to eat it separately from the food. Her prolapse was very hard to treat and we had to take her to the vet for it. It went away after 3 weeks or so, but we had to give her 2 pills a day. Additionally, she got flystrike because of the disgusting poop liquid leaking from her vent. The whole process was labor-intensive and caused her a lot of pain. All that said, I do not suggest All Flock. Instead, I feed them Kalmbach 16% layer feed I love my roosters so much and I know that there is a risk of them having internal damage- but the last thing I want is all 10 of my hens having health problems at the same time. This is just my opinion, and your hens may be a bit smarter than mine and they might know that they have to eat the calcium on the side lol.