So Much Food!

[LowesChickenRanch]

Hey guys! So I currently have 18 chickens and 2 ducks and I feel like I am forever buying food for them! We are currently buying a bag of layer pellets a week - $23 for 40lb bag of organic feed and they are out for at least 10 hours a day free ranging. I definitely dont plan on limiting their food, I am just curious if this is what others are feeding for a flock of about the same size? I dont typically give much table scrapes but know I definitely need to bring some more out for them! Thanks guys!

 

[Kayla's Lunch]

My chicks are only 10 weeks old and I am new to this, but I have been fermenting their feed and it pretty much cut the feed bill in half. I got a link from this group on how to do it. It's pretty easy. https://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

 

[21hens-incharge]

That seems like a lot of feed. Are other critters taking advantage?
Mice, rats, wild birds, pretty much anything that eats seeds will be willing to accept chicken feed.

 

[lazy gardener]

Are you leaving feed out at night? Is your feed in a sealed rat proof container? An adult chicken should eat no more than .25 - .3# of feed per day. When I offer free range, and ferment my feed, my feed conversion rate has been as low as .18#/bird/day. Ducks do eat more, but not THAT much more. Well, I just did the math. Assuming that a duck eats twice as much as a chicken: 18 + 4 = 22 x .25 = 5.5#/d. 40 / 5.25 = 7.27 days per 40# bag.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Ok, 20 birds eating 1/4 pound a day is 35 pounds a week. They could eat more (1/3/day if large breeds & I have no idea about ducks), but should eat less if free ranging, but then how big an area & how much they can glean from the free ranging is unknown! 40 lbs. in a week is not necessarily a lot.

 

[Stephjordan22]

Follow Justin Rhodes on YouTube for feeding instructions, he ferments his feed. I would start with .25 lbs per bird a day. This is dry feed. Example I have 12 chickens I feed them .25 lbs per bird so 3# of feed a day (first thing in the morning) then they get garden scraps because they are not free ranging at the moment. Justin talks about ways to reduce feed cost. I believe his says you can reduce that by 10% if you ferment. Check him out.

Side note I mix fancy scratch and meat bird crumbles (my chickens are 5 months old) when they start laying I will either add in oyster shells or change to layer pellets but keep the scratch grain.

 

[Cindy in PA]

The fermenting advice is fine, but again that is the amount they are eating NOW according to the OP use of feed & .25 lb./bird is not an unreasonable amount.

 

[Stephjordan22]

The fermenting advice is fine, but again that is the amount they are eating NOW according to the OP use of feed & .25 lb./bird is not an unreasonable amount.

I agree that 40# is not unreasonable according to the math. Just making a point you can decrease that by just 10% if you ferment.

 

[lazy gardener]

Agreed. FF is a great way to: decrease feed bill, keep birds hydrated in summer heat, boost their immune and digestive systems. And it greatly decreases feed waste b/c the birds won't be billing it out onto the ground, and varmints can't raid it as easily. Fermentation is super easy. It is as simple as putting water and feed in a bucket, stirring it up a bit, wait till it bubbles then feed it out. I keep a bucket going all the time. For your birds, a single 5 gal bucket should work nicely. Studies have shown that the fermentation process increases Methionine, Lysine, and often some of the B vitamins. There is a FF FAQ how and why article in my signature.

 

[lazy gardener]

@LowesChickenRanch , how old are your birds?