How to much to feed my mixed Poultry Flock?

[ARandomChickenLover]

Hello, I have been concerned with feed lately since it feels like my Chickens, Chicks, Quail, and Guineas are eating it too fast or being messy with it. I mainly want to know how much feed they are supposed to eat (each poultry type) and how conserve it.

I have 12, 8 month old chickens, 11 6 month old chicks/chickens, 8 1-2 month old chicks, 7 4-5 month old Cotournix Quail, and 6 5 ish month old Guinea Fowl.

So I don’t know what is recommended feed or how much weekly or monthly. I got 3 bags of feed like 2/3 ish weeks ago (7/17) and am now almost out. One of the hens is the mother of the 8 chicks.

I also want to know what is a good way to give them water and food without them spilling it or making a mess?

If anyone can help or assist me then thank you

 

[ARandomChickenLover]

Hello, I have been concerned with feed lately since it feels like my Chickens, Chicks, Quail, and Guineas are eating it too fast or being messy with it. I mainly want to know how much feed they are supposed to eat (each poultry type) and how conserve it.

I have 12, 8 month old chickens, 11 6 month old chicks/chickens, 8 1-2 month old chicks, 7 4-5 month old Cotournix Quail, and 6 5 ish month old Guinea Fowl.

So I don’t know what is recommended feed or how much weekly or monthly. I got 3 bags of feed like 2/3 ish weeks ago (7/17) and am now almost out. One of the hens is the mother of the 8 chicks.

I also want to know what is a good way to give them water and food without them spilling it or making a mess?

If anyone can help or assist me then thank you

Also I heard about how mixing the feed in water and leaving there for a day helps them eat “less”, I haven’t tried it, but should I do that? Also they are 1/3 free range since a relative is keeping their bigger dog here temporarily.

 

[SueT]

Is there any chance that wild birds, or maybe mice or ? are sharing this feed? I have 11 chickens and go thru 50 lbs in 4-5 weeks. I put it in dog bowls and they don’t spill it or waste it. I am using Kalmbach Flock Maker now, but formerly fed Purina Flock Raiser. Moistening the feed makes it expand. My chickens do like moistened feed. But I don’t think they’d eat less. I don’t try to limit how much they eat, if they finish it all before bedtime, I add more. I want to see a little leftover to make sure they’re getting enough.
For water, I use nipple waterers, which keep the water completely clean, but also I put some water in a dog bowl that I clean every evening.
Edited to add: Any uneaten feed is removed at night

 

[RubelliteRose]

We free feed our flock of 16 chickens. I think we go through a 50 lb bag of Purina Flock every 3 weeks or so depending upon the time of year and how much time they spend free ranging. The brand of food will also affect how much food your flock will need to eat.
We were using a lot more food, but we found that placing gravity feeders in rubbber feed pans has greatly reduced the amount of food that they waste. At the end of the day, I pour the spilled food back into the feeders before bringing them in for the night.
Also, do you leave the food out all night? Chickens don't eat at night, but rodents will also lead to food waste if the food isn't protected somehow - taken out of the run, Grandpa feeder....
I believe an adult chicken eats a 1/4 lb of food each day on average. I'm not sure about other ages or types of poultry.

 

[ARandomChickenLover]

Is there any chance that wild birds, or maybe mice or ? are sharing this feed? I have 11 chickens and go thru 50 lbs in 4-6 weeks. I put it in dog bowls and they don’t spill it or waste it. I am using Kalmbach Flock Maker now, but formerly fed Purina Flock Maker. Moistening the feed makes it expand. My chickens do like moistened feed. But I don’t think they’d eat less. I don’t try to limit how much they eat, if they finish it all before bedtime, I add more. I want to see a little leftover to make sure they’re getting enough.
For water, I use nipple waterers, which keep the water completely clean, but also I put some water in a dog bowl that I clean every evening.

I think there is a chance that we could have some rats or mice stealing as our neighbor used to have horses and hay and a lot of mice and rats, they haven’t been moving and I have caught some rats and mice in traps but there seems to be an indefinite amount. Also I have the green fencing from TSC 3 ish so the holes are like 2 in by 4 in ish, so yes sometimes smaller birds get in and at rare times I find a pigeon in there, I don’t know how to prevent the birds and the mice and rats just seem to be spawning out of no where. I have poultry netting for the top.

 

[SueT]

I think there is a chance that we could have some rats or mice stealing as our neighbor used to have horses and hay and a lot of mice and rats, they haven’t been moving and I have caught some rats and mice in traps but there seems to be an indefinite amount. Also I have the green fencing from TSC 3 ish so the holes are like 2 in by 4 in ish, so yes sometimes smaller birds get in and at rare times I find a pigeon in there, I don’t know how to prevent the birds and the mice and rats just seem to be spawning out of no where. I have poultry netting for the top.

I would set traps for the mice at night. I can’t keep the wild birds out, but there are not a lot of them, at least not right now.

 

[ARandomChickenLover]

We free feed our flock of 16 chickens. I think we go through a 50 lb bag of Purina Flock every 3 weeks or so depending upon the time of year and how much time they spend free ranging. The brand of food will also affect how much food your flock will need to eat.
We were using a lot more food, but we found that placing gravity feeders in rubbber feed pans has greatly reduced the amount of food that they waste. At the end of the day, I pour the spilled food back into the feeders before bringing them in for the night.
Also, do you leave the food out all night? Chickens don't eat at night, but rodents will also lead to food waste if the food isn't protected somehow - taken out of the run, Grandpa feeder....
I believe an adult chicken eats a 1/4 lb of food each day on average. I'm not sure about other ages or types of poultry.

Yes I leave the feed out at night, should I empty them back into the feed container at night? Also do you hang your feeders? I don’t since I have a mesh netting so I don’t know how but I might make something. Thank you for the advice

 

[ARandomChickenLover]

I would set traps for the mice at night. I can’t keep the wild birds out, but there are not a lot of them, at least not right now.

Okay, I have the ‘humane traps’ since I don’t want to use a vector trap and accidentally hurt a chicken. I have noticed that a stray cat has started to stay by at night, which is helpful, they seem to be helping as well. Thank you for your advice

 

[RubelliteRose]

Yes I leave the feed out at night, should I empty them back into the feed container at night? Also do you hang your feeders? I don’t since I have a mesh netting so I don’t know how but I might make something. Thank you for the advice

We just place the feeders into the rubber bowls. We tried hanging the feeders thinking that they were using their feet to scratch the food out of the feeders, but they were using their beaks to throw the food around
The spilled food gets poured back into the feeder each night and the feeders are placed into an extra large rubbermaid tote on our back porch. We weight the lid down with a cement stepping stone to keep the mice out. So far, that has worked for us

 

[User105877]

I only feed what my chickens can clean up by the time they go to roost. If there is extra feed left by the time they go into the coop the next day I would feed less and less until you find what amount is right for you. This will help with waste along with keeping down the rodent population.