My 17 hens are eating 50lbs in less than a day , is this normal ?

[ECBW]

Your birds are throwing parties.

 

[Fred's Hens]

This is a variation of what dad's always yell whenever kids leave the door hangin' open. "Hey!!! Shut that door! We're not heating the whole outdoors!"

Well, sounds like you're feeding the whole outdoors.

 

[JR79]

Wow I never though of sparrows that could very well be part of my problem , as I know they nest almost everywhere near my house and sometime even on my house.

 

[juststruttin]

you'd have to have alot of sparrows to go through 50# a day. I feed the sparrows and can hardly notice a difference. The sparrow population has certainly grown in the past couple of years due to all the feed they are getting. Please keep us posted as to what you find out. I am intrigued.

 

[wsmith]

Currently I have 13 Dominiques and 5 EEs, for a total of 18. I go through 50# of pellets and about 25# of scratch grains in a month. And, mine are still laying though not as much as 1 1/2 months ago.

Rodents, wild birds, and waste.

 

[JR79]

Yes there would have to be more than just the sparrows , and I am aware I have a rat/mice problem in my barn . I am setting traps but they always get away and chew open all of my bags of feed . But still with a few mice and a few sparrows couldnt get away with eating that much food. Im goiung to stittout there for 30minutes - and hour and see what eles might be getting in the feed .(I wont sit right by the feeder so i dont scare off what ever it is ) and I will be sure to post and keep you upadated on where my chicken feed is going .

 

[donnavee]

Wow! I agree with the others, something else is eating the food. I have 19 chickens & 17 ducks and don't even come near to using up that much food. Good luck on the detective work.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

I have 12 chickens that go through 50# in about 6 weeks! (now closer to 4 since winter is here.) I am interested to see what is going on! I'd guess mice or birds, I know my cats like chicken feed once in a while too.

 

[CedarRidgeFarm]

Way to much feed to go through for just 17, Something else is going on.

 

[eggorthechicken]

yeah I have 15 or so and I buy a 50lb bag a month. They get lots of scraps here and they do free range. I also give them a few handfuls of scratch every day thru the winter.