OMG!!! 4 week old chicks eat ALOT!

[Armageddon]

Wow.....

I wish I had a pictue to post, my 4-week old shciks are HUGE. They are eating an enourmous amount of food. I have 16 chicks they are eating 3 quarts of feed a day (probably more if I was home) Plus I give them several LARGE handfuls of weeds in the evening and mornings in a cage...they scavenge it in NO time flat....and I give them meal worms.....I cant wait till I can put them in the yard!! I will have NO weeds in days!!!

 

[Tala]

When I put mine out on the yard I see a DRAMATIC drop on the feed bill.....until they get bigger then they start to eat more again simply because they are bigger.

 

[newchik715]

I went to the feed store where i got my girls and saw the day olds....at first i thought they were banty's bc they were so small! But they had banty's there and if i thought the standards were small....well....not compared to banty's! anyway i have four week olds as well and i told hubby that i did not think my girls were EVER that small. he insists they were!

 

[theFox]

Quote:
And no lawn in 4 days

.

 

[Armageddon]

ROFLOL!!! Yes....I can see that now....

 

[bigstack]

I know what you mean!!! I am feeding 42 B/B/S JG's They are 4+ weeks old. WOW!! I fill a gallon feeder with 24% chick starter in the morning and when I get home It almos completely empty! There is a lil bit spilled but not enough to mention. I hung the feeder and waterer over the weekend thinking this would help. NOT! I thought maybe they were scratching it all out. NOPE! they are eating it all. LOL

Good Luck and God Bless!!!

 

[bigstack]

P.S. I hatched the last 4 this weekend. It is amazing to see how small they started out compared to how big they are now. I'll try to get some pics posted tonight to show the diff.

God Bless!

 

[kateseidel]

I'm glad to hear this - my chicks are due next week, and I am hoping to free range them. They are intended to keep bugs out of my manure pile, but I was hoping they might help with weed control too. Sounds like they might. Now...to find a way to get them to eat the weeds in the woods and stay far away from the garden.

_________________________________________________________________
Kate - 1 husband, 2 daughters, 3 horses, 4 cats, a new puppy and soon...chicks!!

 

[Madcap621]

The ecological answer to Roundup!!

 

[catdaddy66]

I have 30 birds and feed them free choice medicated crumbles 3 or 4 quarts daily (24 hour day) and then sprinkle leftovers for them to scratch up. I thought that was alot but you have me beat!!

I am going thru 25# bags every 2-3 weeks, faster as they grow bigger. Maybe 10 #'s/week or 1/3 lb./ bird! Now it's more like 1/2 lb./bird!!

Can I grab weeds to feed to them, too? Will they like it? Or turn up their noses? What kind of weeds? help...