poultryOne.com's Guide to Feeding Chickens and Feeding Layer Hens (by Joshua Duvauchelle)
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annievukich, a member of our online poultry community, asked the other members if they "feed their chickens feed other than grain? I am wondering about amounts per day per chicken and what you feed them. Thank You!"
Community contributor Heidicat added to the many responses, saying that "A layer feed is the best." She also added that she feeds her own chickens healthy kitchen scraps. " The goodies from your kitchen, should be not rotten in any way, as it will make the chickens sick. But they LOVE greens, i.e., grass, lettuce, apples, leftover veggies from dinner the night before, and bugs." Continuing on, Heidi pointed out that "the main source of their food should come from the layer feed, as it has all of the vitamins [that] they need to be healthy."
As you can see, feeding chickens offers you some flexibility so long as you provide your chickens with the essential nutrients that they need to be healthy, be happy, and perform well (in this case, lay lots of eggs!).
A chicken, whether it is a meat chicken or an egg laying hen, needs: Grit, fresh/clean water, a good layer feed (or grower feed if he's a meatbird), oyster shell (or similar calcium supplements), healthy snacks, and lots of fresh air. That makes for happy, healthy chickens!
The purpose of this poultry article is to provide you with a brief glance at what most chicken feeds should have in their ingredients, methods of feeding chickens, and how to supplement their diet with healthy kitchen scraps.
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Essential Nutrients in Chicken Feed:
- Protein: Protein is an essential part of your chicken's feed requirements. Protein supplies crucial amino acids. Too much or too little protein is bad for your hens, so be sure to check that you're buying the right food for the type of chicken that you are raising.
Minerals: Minerals are very important. Important ones include calcium, phosphorus and salt (also known as sodium chloride), all in the proper ratio. Calcium is especially crucial for layer hens, and a deficiency in this mineral will manifest itself as weak (or no) egg shells. We offer a short article about proving layer hens with calcium.
Vitamins, Carbohydrates, and Fats: Energy, in poultry terminology, is portrayed as M.E., or metabolized energy. Your chickens will demand more carbohydrates and fats during the cold winter nights when they need extra energy to keep warm. This goes both ways when you notice your chickens eating less during the heat of summer.
Vitamins are important to chickens, just like with people! Common vitamisn include the B complexes, vitamin C, and vitamin D (essential to prevent rickets - discussed in our "Diseases" section)
Important Qualities of Chicken Feed:
- 1. The feed you give to your chickens, whether they're egg layer hens or meat birds, should have enough nutrients for the needed result. For example, high-protein feeds for meat birds should not be fed to layers (doing so will result in a decline in egg production).
2. The feed must appeal to the chickens. It needs to be fresh, not musty or moldy, and not wet (although some feeds are intended to be mixed with water to make an oatmeal-like, mushy texture).
Did you know that a chicken's body is more than 50 percent water? Water is a very important thing to provide your chickens with. Too little water results in dehydration, excessive stress, and a decline in egg production. Depriving them of water for 24 hours will take 24 more hours to recover completely (not something we recommend doing!). If you are starting your flock from chicks, a gallon of clean water per day should be enough for one hundred birds. Mature birds need about 1 to 2 cups of water a day, with layers needing more water than non-layers. The weather/heat also affects how much water a chicken will drink. Water should be clean, fresh, and available at all times.
Besides feed and water, you will also want to provide them with a calcium supplement (if they are layers) and grit (which all chickens need). Grit helps the chicken to digest his food.
poultryOne member cguardman advises that "oyster shell (calcium) should be given when they start laying. If given too early, they could have egg binding issues."
Both calcium supplements, if needed, and grit (essential!) should be offered free-choice in a separate dish. You can leave it out all day for them to pick at when they need to. One of our members, Heidicat, suggests "a bowl, or a pet self feeder works just fine for the grit. [Give] Oyster shell after you see the first egg. I picked up a couple of self feeders for cats, at a garage sale, and cut the bottoms bigger to let the grit and shell flow easier. Put them up on a cement block, to keep them clean, and it has worked for years now."
Besides the "essentials", some hobbyists feed their chickens something called scratch, which is basically a mix of two or more types of grain. Do not feed them too much, since that can throw off the nutritional value of their regular feed. However, it makes a great treat and something healthy for your chickens to peck at.
Many hobbyists also feed their chickens kitchen scraps. This is a great way to supplement their diet. Keep in mind that you should only feed your chickens HEALTHY kitchen scraps such as vegetable and fruit scraps. Certain things that shouldn't be fed to your chickens include meat, fat, spoiled food, onions (it will taint the eggs), raw potatoes, and sugary human food.
How To Feed Your Chickens:
When you buy your chicken feed, it should have a label with general guidelines on how/when to feed your chickens that specific feed.
We generally do NOT recommend that beginners formulate their own chicken feed. It is much easier to buy chicken feed, often times doing so is cheaper, and you can rest assured that the feed is formulated for the type of chicken you are raising.
poultryOne Community member Burlsun says "I feed my chickens Hi Lay 16 pellet. They do get the grain also. The brand of the feed is Honor, same with the grain. I have chicks also. I feed them All-purpose poultry."
How do you feed your chickens? Do you put it in a trough and leave it out all day, or do you throw it to them?
cguardsman, another poultryOne forum member, uses general purpose crumbles, but will "generally throw out scratch grains in the evening...mine have not started to lay yet so I have not switched to layer rations."
There are many ways of feeding chickens, and no "right" way. One method is the "all-you-can-eat " buffet-style. A hopper of food is placed before the chickens for them to eat out of whenever they want to. It saves time over feeding them at regular intervals since you leave the food out. Unfortunately, leaving feed out also increases the chance of pests (wild birds, rodents, etc.) getting to it, as well as increasing the odds of the chicken feed getting dirty, wet, spoiling, etc.
The alternative is the "restrained" method in which the chickens are given a measured amount at a certain time of the day (usually the morning and the evening). It takes more time to feed your chickens this way, but you won't have to worry about the feed spoiling or about attracting unwanted visitors. It also helps keep your chickens from getting fat.
How much should you feed your chickens? Quite honestly, it varies. Chickens kept in confinement (cages) will consume less feed than a chicken that is allowed to run around in a coop. Other factors include whether or not you feed your chickens supplemental material like kitchen scraps.
For meat birds, 100 4-week old meat birds should eat no less than about 7-8 pounds of chicken feed/day.
Hens, on the other hand, depend on their size and breed and the rate of their lay. Generally, small layers like Leghorns will eat about 4-5 ounces of feed per day. Larger breeds, like Barred Plymouth Rocks (which is the type of chicken that I have), eat a little more.
The amount of feed you give them only matters if you are using the "restrained" feeding method.
Reader Comments About This Poultry Article:
Jennifer: Very interesting article. However, could you please advise as to how much food I should be feeding my chickens on a daily basis. I have a flock of 20 and usually give them half a bucketful every day. Egg production is very good.
Pamela: where are the gizzards found in a chicken
Pat: how long after a hen has chicks does she start laying eggs again
Barb: This article is the best I've read, as a beginning chicken farmer, as far as clarity, being concise, and attending to the most important issues. Thank you!
Anonymous: Well, the info is good. Seems I have a prolapsed chicken. Do they make chicken hemorrhoidal cream? Or are you referring to use of a HUMAN medication? Does it go on the INSIDE? Or the outside? If the prolapse immediately sucks back into the nether cavity, what does one do then? Oh, apply inside? Does it take two people to do this? I do have a prolapsed silkie, and am a new chicken owner. Trying to find out: 1) if this is what I have. 2) EXACTLY how to treat. 3) What causes this and how to prevent in the future. It is a good article, but a bit non-specific when popped up on a Google search #1 in the gate on search criteria: prolapsed vent chicken.
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