How much grain should i feed my newly laying chickens?
Image by chez pim
Chickens are one of the few sources of protein for Bokang Khatala and her family.
Bokang Khatala lives with her husband and six children in the village of Malimong Tebellong in Lesotho. She is 44 years old and has lived in Malimong all my life. Her family used to be very poor and always hungry until she started conservation farming. Now she produces enough food for her family and even some extra to sell. This year she used the money she made to pay for her children’s school fees.
Question by Jo: How much grain should i feed my newly laying chickens?
My chickens have started laying eggs for the past 10 days,i wasn’t sure if i’m feeding them enough,i have about 60 of them.How much kilos of grain would i feed them daily?Also i feed them in the morning and evening with fresh water.
Thanks in advance.
What do you think? Answer below!
4 Responses to How much grain should i feed my newly laying chickens?
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I give laying chickens a layer pellet, water and oyster shell 24/7. Mine are free range and do not get too fat. I treat them with scratch feed, wild bird seed mix and scraps of fruits and veggies.
Charles D. M.
June 27, 2012 at 9:41 pm
I have about 15 chickens, that are cage free/ pasture raised. I did some conversions from what i feed.
50 lb bag lasts about 2 weeks. (14 days.) (22.6 kilos) 22.6 kilos/14 = 1.62 kilos per day. Mulitiply by 4 because you have 60 birds to my 15.
=about 6.5 kilos a day.
Mark G
June 27, 2012 at 10:32 pm
It really depends on your grain mix and how nutritionally balanced it is.
With most good mixes a group of 10 laying hens will eat approximately 9 kg of food a week, however if at all possible you should avoid ration feeding and allow the bids to “free feed” which means allowing them to eat as much as they like whenever they like- simply buy large feeders to top up each day (best to buy tube feeders so the birds eat the older food first- it means you have to clean the feeders out less often and there is less risk of the birds eating musty or mouldy grain that has ben sitting on the bottom for a while). Feeding this way you’ll generally see that the birds will eat more when they need it- for warmth in winter, to aid with the laying cycle, or boost feather growth during the moult and less when they don’t such as in the middle of a hot summer- a much more natural method of feeding. (You’ll notice that different grains will go first at different times too- more corn will be eaten in winter because it is warming, more oats during the moult because of its protein levels, more wheat in summer because it provides energy without producing as much heat as corn….) Ration feeding is only of value to those with huge rodent or wild bird problems and exhibition breeders who need to handle their birds regularly.
With some of the large heavy breeds such as Wyandottes they are supposed to be prone to becoming fat, but this doesn’t happen if you provide enough incentives to exercise and monitor their activity levels. The average laying breed is not prone to over eating and commercial hybrids can be a real pain to keep weight ON at times.
Hope this helps
Araucana
June 27, 2012 at 11:18 pm
ditto on that charles but be careful how much you treat them they get greedy
Lexi Jane
June 28, 2012 at 12:07 am