I'm Going Broke on Chicken Feed!

[rapunzil]

I think my chickens might be either eating an awful lot, or wasting feed. Here's the scenario:

- I have 25 regular sized birds

- They are 6 months old

- I leave the coop door open, but they rarely venture out in the snow

- I have a hanging feeder that holds 25 lbs

- I have it hung about 1" higher than their backs

- After I fill it, its empty in 3 days

- I'm going through three 50 lb bags of Layena, and one 50 lb bag of scratch per month.

- When I refill it, they all go crazy trying to get at the feed like they haven't eaten in weeks!

Does this seem like too much feed? When I pick them up, they don't feel light, but not heavy either and I can feel a bit of their breastbones.

HELP! Any advice would be great. Thank you!

Cindy

 

[jerseygirl1]

Something wrong here, I think
I have 16 hens, 11 large, 6 bantam
I go thru one bag of feed every two weeks
Could something be getting in your coop at night?

 

[bibliophile birds]

have you checked for worms?

i would also suggest bringing the feed in every night for a week and see if something changes. you may have rodent's and other birds helping themselves to your feed at night.

 

[icrowther4iam]

when we had bantams, we fed once a day, usually about 1 handful of feed per bird in the coop. this was more than enough.

I think what is happening with your birds is since they have feed always available, they are eating more than they need. So you are going through more feed than is necessary.

 

[jerseygirl1]

Quote:
I second that!!! I never bring my feed in, and they still don't go thru that much food in a week!!!!!! And mine don't free range during the week!

 

[CTChickenMom]

What are you feeding them, pellets or mash/crumbles? Chickens can be terribly wasteful. Mine used to put there beaks in the crumbles and swish it around like they were mixing it up. This caused lots of it to be on the floor. I switched to pellets (50lbs) which lasts me a good 3 weeks for 13 chickens that eat free choice (I built a feeder that holds 50 pounds).

Another possibility is that they may have worms. This would cause them to eat more to compensate for what the worms are doing. You can add food grade DE to the pellets (just sprinkled on top) or use a commercial wormer in their water.

Something I just thought of...maybe it's your feed itself. I've never used Layena but maybe it doesn't have enough protein in it and they are eating more to compensate for the lack of protein. I use Nutrena Layer pellets.

I usually give my chickies treats in the morning so when I go out there, they swarm me, even if its only refilling their water! They love the fresh bag of feed too!

Hope this helps.

 

[bethandjoeync]

i agree with checking for worms

went through that last fall, and thought I was going to go broke.

Also do you throw in kitchen scraps? maybe they are bored considering they aren't going outside. Mine tend to eat more if it has been raining or snowing and too cold to go outside for long and they just hang out in the coop and eat. buy them a head of lettuce and toss it in there, and they will be busy for a while lol and you could get a good laugh at the "chicken rugby" that they will play.

Also if you let their food run out for a few hours they will scratch around on the floor at the stuff they spilled and that will help get all that up. that's what we have to do, because ours are messy eaters.

 

[chicknjane]

Hi Rapunzil,

I'm going through about the same amount of food. I have a 20lb feeder in one coop with 16 chickens and a 20lb feeder in another coop with about 20 chickens. I fill the feeders up every three days. They are eating way more than what they ate when they could forage for food. I also supplement their feed with BOSS and Scratch (corn and barley mix) as a treat to encourage them to come out into the snow and to stir up the shavings in their coop. So its about 200lbs of feed per month for just under 40 chickens.

I don't know if that is too much or not, but it does seem like a lot.

Marcy

 

[Kittymomma]

I have 26 chickens all between 10 and 22 months old, free range during the day and go thru about the same amount of feed you do. I don't see much waste from the hanging feeder and am 90% sure nothing else is getting into the coop to eat it. I wish I was more help, but that sounds about right based on my experience.

ETA: That will get cut by around 30% or more in another couple of months when they actually have new grass and bugs to eat when free ranging.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Chickens need more feed in the winter to help them keep warm, they need the calories to burn. What breeds? Dual purpose or heritage will eat more than the traditional egg layers. Do pick the feed up at night and see if that makes a difference. For my chickens in winter it does not seem alot.


Shovel a path thru the snow and put down some shavings or hay, scatter some scratch out there to tempt them out of the coop to stretch their legs.