Overfeeding???

[Big Joe 77]

Yea, that seems like alot, 50lbs in a week. While I only have 3 hens, & only feeding them starter feed, I am now getting to the end of a 20lbs bag that I've had since Easter weekend. I give them the feed as needed, as I only fill their feed bowl when close to empty. Thanks.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

How much they actually consume will depend on a lot of factors. Whether or not they free range is a big one. 50lbs a week for 6 hens seems like way too much. It is possible they are wasting a ton of food or there are rats or mice or wild birds who are getting to it or some other issue is happening here.

I have 6 hens - 4 large fowl and 2 bantams. When they were eating only a standard commercial feed with no free ranging I was going through 1 50lb bag a month. I switched this year to a high protein soy-free, corn-free organic feed and that I am carefully supplementing with blocks of barley, wheat and BOSS fodder to simulate a free range diet in my very small yard. I am now going through 1 50lb bag of feed every two months plus all the whole grains.

I would say 1/2 lb per large fowl bird for budgeting purposes if you have confined birds is fair to assume to make sure you stay within a budget. They may likely eat less.

Again, meat breeds like Cornish X are a very different story - if you have those birds I would post in the meat birds section to get feeding advice.