They keep eating! Help!

[omalicha]

Hey all... So I have a large number of chickens am rearing for both commercial and personal use. They eat a bag of starter feed in two days! Do I keep feeding them non stop or do they need a schedule? They are broilers and only reared for their meat and is normally mature to sell at 7 to 8weeks. They are 3 weeks and have consumed 13 bags of starter feed!

 

[CluckerCottage]

I use the 12 hour on, 12 hour off feeding schedule for my broilers.
You really HAVE to do that to slow their growth and hopefully avoid feet/leg issues and heart failure.
I switched mine to meat bird feed at 3 weeks.
Make sure their food and water are a fair distance apart as well. This makes them get up and get some exercise.
Best wishes.

 

[omalicha]

12 hours? Means they are fed once daily ? Thanks for that tip . The water should be a different angle from their feed. What is the meat bird feed? Did u make it urself? Or bought in stores?

 

[CluckerCottage]

I purchase my feed. It's called Nutrena Naturewise Meatbird Non-Medicated Poultry feed.

Specs:
A complete, nutritious vegetarian meatbird diet—no need for supplementation22% protein and fortified with vitamins and minerals to support strong, healthy birds. Contains a proprietary blend of nutrients to naturally support the immune system and overall health of the bird. NO added antibiotics or hormones. Added marigold extract to improve skin coloration. Added prebiotics, probiotics and yeast culture that support digestion. Formulated for multiple species of meatbirds, including broilers, turkeys, ducks, geese and pheasants. Crumble form encourages consumption.

Feed free choice all day (say 6a to 6p). Remove feeder for the rest of the night.
Resume same next day. Always have water available.
Some folks have more strict feeding schedules but this works well for us.

 

[omalicha]

Thank you clucker cottage . How do U measure the quantity to feed?

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Make sure they are eating it and not throwing it. When I first got keets I thought they were bottomless pits until I saw how much food ended up under the bedding.

 

[Cindy in PA]

How can anyone answer this question without knowing how many broilers this person has? If they are raising 150 broilers and using a 40 pound bag, this may not be an unusual amount. Chicken eat & broilers chickens probably eat more! The 12 on & 12 off is correct if they are not a week old, but giving advice blindly may end up badly. Everyone thinks their chicks eat too much, but are many times uninformed.

 

[omalicha]

I have 200 broilers and 100 layers. I totally forgot to include that detail .

 

[keesmom]

Yikes, that's a lot of chickens. If you use Meyer's meat bird chart, the broilers will have consumed about 2 lbs of feed each by 3 weeks of age. That's 400 lbs of feed for just the meaties. They will go through around 2600 lbs by the time they reach butcher weight. Then you have 100 layer chicks that are growing quickly now too and eating a lot.

Do you get your feed in 40 or 50 lbs bags?

 

[CluckerCottage]

You do have your broilers and egg layers separate, correct?
Egg layers do not need meat bird feed.