Need Feeding Help

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

How long since the change? They do sometimes overeat a yummy new food but settle back to needed amounts as it becomes less of a novelty.

We have just started. But when their crops are squishy soft in evening, that’s for sure a sign they’re not getting enough food. My leghorns usually go to bed with almost a softball size crop. Lol

 

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

1/4 pound per laying hen per day is only an estimate, and is too low for some kinds of chickens. So there's one possible problem with your numbers.

The bigger problem with your numbers is that you figured food for 40 chickens. You actually have 42 birds, and each duck or goose will be expected to need more feed than a chicken. So you almost certainly need to feed more.

Yep already considered that. This was for the chickens as the ducks & geese barely ate any on the second feeding we have to do. In fact, in watching them, the waterfowl always eat less in comparison to the chickens even though they should eat more.

If they act hungry, give them more feed. Weighing the dry feed is a good way to keep track of how much you are giving, but keep increasing until you find the amount that is right.

It sure seems like a lot though as we fed around 16lbs yesterday & had like a few pounds leftover in evening.
With the pellets, we weren’t doing that.

The amount of feed may change as different seasons of the year (hot or cold weather, laying or not, molting or not, etc.)


If they are overeating and freeloading, you should figure out which ones are too fat and butcher them.

lol really don’t see any too fat is the issue. Just know a few of them seem to lay way less than others.

Or you can just provide plenty of feed and trust them to know how much they actually do need.

For the most part we do. But I also don’t want to have waste/over eating chickens.
I want them to have a good quality feed they don’t have to engorge on but also one we can afford. Seems to be a unicorn. Lol

As for the pellets vs. crumbles, if they are wasting the crumbles, that is the obvious explanation. If you are comparing with wet crumbles that are not being wasted, I don't know for sure. @saysfaa has a good point:

Hmm…not sure what you mean, but the switch was to hopefully help them feel/be better with a higher quality protein.
The water added was so they didn’t waste. Also read that helps them stay more hydrated too.

Just trying to figure out the best options for the girls.

 

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

The pellets probably go farther because there's less waste with them, if the birds are able to pick them out from the ground, where the crumbles get ground into the dirt and lost. If pellets work better for you in terms of minimizing waste, then go back to a pelleted feed. A lot of people prefer pellets to crumble for that reason. There are feeds that come in both pelleted and crumbled form, so you can still pick one that has the protein level you need, but is in pelleted form. For example Purina Flock Raiser is 20% protein and comes in either pellets or crumble.

I wish ours has that option. But because we feed a no soy/corn/gmo feed, you get crumbles (18%) or mini-pellets (16.5%). Thats it.

 

[K0k0shka]

I wish ours has that option. But because we feed a no soy/corn/gmo feed, you get crumbles (18%) or mini-pellets (16.5%). Thats it.

Yeah, the picky feed preferences leave you with more limited options. Look for a better feeder then. I have no experience with waterfowl (I know they are extra messy) but this DIY feeder has been working great for my chickens, and is completely waste free even with crumble:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-waste-free-funnel-bucket-feeder.67218/

 

[NatJ]

Hmm…not sure what you mean, but the switch was to hopefully help them feel/be better with a higher quality protein.
The water added was so they didn’t waste. Also read that helps them stay more hydrated too.

What I meant:
If they waste crumbles but not pellets, then they "need" more crumbles because they are wasting it.
If adding water means they cannot waste the crumbles, but they still go through more crumbles than pellets, then yes they are eating more. Maybe it's because of what the other poster suggested, that they eat extra when they first have access to a new feed they like, but then settle down to a lower level once they are used to having that feed available.

I wish ours has that option. But because we feed a no soy/corn/gmo feed, you get crumbles (18%) or mini-pellets (16.5%). Thats it.

Can you post a picture of the label for each bag? (Guaranteed Analysis and ingredients.) Maybe there's some other nutritional difference that someone can spot, that would explain what is going on.

Of course it could just be that chickens sometimes do weird things

 

[charlie1051]

Best purchase(s) I ever made...Thank you Duncan's Poultry

https://duncanspoultry.com/duncans-poultry-55-lb-2-sided-feeder/

 

[K0k0shka]

If feed is being rationed and isn't always available, then it becomes an unreliable resource so it makes sense that the chickens will overeat to compensate - to load up if they don't know if/when the next feed is coming. But if they can trust that it's always there, they don't need to gorge themselves on it.

 

[Al Gerhart]

I asked what kind of feeders to understand why you are wasting so much feed on the ground. If it is a uniform feed, most hens won't develop raking habits.

Sounds like your flock is doing fine with the quarter pound of feed per day. People try to argue it depends but it is the most reliable rule of thumb unless you have a bunch of roosters and aren't counting them (usually you ignore roosters and count just the hens.). Not losing much if any to the rats so far so your feeders are costing you some in waste but not enough to justify buying good feeders if you are at 1/4 pound per day of feed use.

As another poster has already said, not having feed available 24/7 leads to all kind of problems with gorging, bullying, feed waste. You are far better off letting them control their own feed intake. Chickens and other fowl are not like horses that will overeat and kill themselves.

 

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

What I meant:
If they waste crumbles but not pellets, then they "need" more crumbles because they are wasting it.
If adding water means they cannot waste the crumbles, but they still go through more crumbles than pellets, then yes they are eating more. Maybe it's because of what the other poster suggested, that they eat extra when they first have access to a new feed they like, but then settle down to a lower level once they are used to having that feed available.


Can you post a picture of the label for each bag? (Guaranteed Analysis and ingredients.) Maybe there's some other nutritional difference that someone can spot, that would explain what is going on.

Of course it could just be that chickens sometimes do weird things

What I meant:
If they waste crumbles but not pellets, then they "need" more crumbles because they are wasting it.
If adding water means they cannot waste the crumbles, but they still go through more crumbles than pellets, then yes they are eating more. Maybe it's because of what the other poster suggested, that they eat extra when they first have access to a new feed they like, but then settle down to a lower level once they are used to having that feed available.


Can you post a picture of the label for each bag? (Guaranteed Analysis and ingredients.) Maybe there's some other nutritional difference that someone can spot, that would explain what is going on.

Of course it could just be that chickens sometimes do weird things

Ok here’s the crumbles:
https://tuckermilling.com/product-items/naturecrest-chick-starter-grower/?portfolioCats=93

The layer: https://tuckermilling.com/product-items/naturecrest-layer-pellet/?portfolioCats=93

You can see the ingredients above each also.

Yeah, so far they’re eating way more with these crumbles. Which in turn is going to only hurt us because I’m trying to get them a better feed, this costs more than layer & they’re going through this way more than layer. Probably going to have to go back to the Layer.

I think some of the issue is also that because the feed is soaked they’re filling up but it’s water/feed mix instead of feed alone. So they’re going through it faster; if that makes sense.
But I know my leghorns also, white maybe don’t overeat, eat a ton. They will go to bed with such massive hard crops. Even tonight w us guarding two of the younger Sapphire gems to allow them to eat; the full cropped leghorn came over to engorge herself on their feed. Just because it was a new bowl. So while they’re not fat at all, I think the leghorns may eat too much. But they’re so used to it, idk if I can change that.

 

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

I asked what kind of feeders to understand why you are wasting so much feed on the ground. If it is a uniform feed, most hens won't develop raking habits.

Sounds like your flock is doing fine with the quarter pound of feed per day. People try to argue it depends but it is the most reliable rule of thumb unless you have a bunch of roosters and aren't counting them (usually you ignore roosters and count just the hens.). Not losing much if any to the rats so far so your feeders are costing you some in waste but not enough to justify buying good feeders if you are at 1/4 pound per day of feed use.

As another poster has already said, not having feed available 24/7 leads to all kind of problems with gorging, bullying, feed waste. You are far better off letting them control their own feed intake. Chickens and other fowl are not like horses that will overeat and kill themselves.

I asked what kind of feeders to understand why you are wasting so much feed on the ground. If it is a uniform feed, most hens won't develop raking habits.

Sounds like your flock is doing fine with the quarter pound of feed per day. People try to argue it depends but it is the most reliable rule of thumb unless you have a bunch of roosters and aren't counting them (usually you ignore roosters and count just the hens.). Not losing much if any to the rats so far so your feeders are costing you some in waste but not enough to justify buying good feeders if you are at 1/4 pound per day of feed use.

As another poster has already said, not having feed available 24/7 leads to all kind of problems with gorging, bullying, feed waste. You are far better off letting them control their own feed intake. Chickens and other fowl are not like horses that will overeat and kill themselves.

We have a hanging feeder; they flick the food out w their beaks & drop it to the ground. But the ducks are especially messy. Bite fulls & drop a quarter or half to the ground; does not matter what feeder we use!

Just one rooster over the backyard group. 1 gander & 2 drakes.
Rest are all female.

They def are not going to allow the whole 1/4th lb.
We had to feed them morning, afternoon & evening today.
We fed 12-13lbs of feed today. And the hens were the worst ones.

We use a plastic gutter hanging on the fence, a hanging feeder, and because we are soaking some 1 gal buckets or dog food bowls.