I can't believe how much food they eat!!!!

[usalbrechts]

I filled the 40 lb. feeder over 3/4 full on Monday morning. On Tuesday morning I went out to check on the girls and it was just about empty!!! I have 12 standards and 5 silkies. Is it normal for them to eat that much?? The food is inside the coop and the coop is in a fenced in yard. We lock up the coop at night. Wow, if this is normal I am going to need to get a second job!!! How much should I feed and should I feed every day??

 

[silkiechicken]

So you are saying 30 lbs of food in 24 hours? I think you have a huge pest infestation that is squirreling away all your feed. My 11 in the laying house go though maybe 5 lbs a day? They are completely free range in the day though and only sleep inside at night.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

You don't by chance have 12 standards that are broilers do you?

Like SilkieChicken says, they shouldn't be going through that much food in a day.

 

[picklespickles]

i was thinking broilers, too.

 

[usalbrechts]

Gosh!! I will have to see about pests then. They are not broilers. I have RIR's, BR's, EE's, and Leghorns. The man at the feed store said they may go thru more right now as the weather has cooled down drasticly this week (Michigan) to build up stores for winter. They have a light on from 3am to 7am everyday (since it gets dark at 5 now) and they are not let out until around 8am. I wonder if they don't know what else to do but eat for those "cooped up" hours??? I will go out to the coop though and have a good look around for pests. Maybe I need to figure out how to make the pop door have a tighter close when it is shut. Thanks for the thoughts....

 

[spottedtail]

Our 16 New Hamps go through 4.5 to 4.75 lbs a day. That's when they spend the entire day indoors.
It would be very interesting to watch and see what is taking so much feed in so short a time.

spot

 

[silkieluvr]

We have 7 standard and 8 bantams that only go through about 3 lbs. of food a day, but they freerange from 7 am until almost 6.

 

[schmoo]

Check the coop floor too. I figured out mine were billing it out of the feeder. I was amazed at how much feed was on the floor under the shavings. It seems to sink. I changed to a rubber bowl type horse feeder (a small one for around $5.00 at TSC)with a bigger bowl under it to "catch" any that comes out and it saved me a TON of feed. They don't even bill it out because I don't fill it to the top. I have 21 girls and I went from using about 12 pounds a day to only 6 or 7.

1/2 of it was going on the floor before.

 

[usalbrechts]

well, since that one day we have not been going thru that much....I don't know if maybe something got in there or what....I think I will put some kind of thing under the feeder to catch what gets billed out too. I think the feed store guy said to not let the feeder get empty because the chicks will gorge themselves the next time you fill it thinking they don't know when they will be fed again.....I don't know if that is true or not....the day before that big feeding they were basicly out of food though....

 

[silkiechicken]

I can't imagine them suffing a little over two lbs into their bodies but someitmes my feed dishes go out of feed and they eat quickly, but don't gorge themselves. I actually like to let them eat all the dishes clean before I refill them. A cup of feed in the coop uneaten will turn completely green in about a week.. I fill and let all feeders empty every two days at minimum.