How much should you feed your chickens to keep them happy and healthy? The exact amount depends on the type of chickens you have, their size and temperament. For example, a bantam will not eat the same as a large rooster.
Chickens like to eat a little and often. In addition to their normal chicken feed, they tend to spend a lot of their day foraging for food, particularly those that are barnyard chickens. They hunt for small grubs and other pests which they consider delicacies. Caged or confined chickens will need to be fed more often and their diet watched more carefully for nutritional deficiencies. They do not have the benefit of running around in the fresh air and foraging as barnyard chickens do.
Chickens should be encouraged to eat often as those that eat well will lay well too. Chickens don’t tend to overeat so obese chickens are a rarity, although there was a paper written about an obese strain of chickens at Connell University.
There isn’t too much else for chickens to do other than lay eggs, roost at night and run around chasing each other during the day so by ensuring there is plenty of food around will stop your hens from getting bored.
It is highly recommended you feed your chickens at least once a day. This will not only give them something to look forward to, but enables you to ensure they have fresh food and water each day as well.
Feed should be provided in feeding trays rather than just thrown on the ground. The ground is likely to have a lot of poop, so for good health and sanitization feed in feeding trays. Make sure your feeding trays discourage chickens from standing in them as this will move their poop from the ground to the trays!
Like us, chickens don’t like mouldy or stale food. All food should be kept sealed storage so it remains as fresh as possible and also don’t get contaminated by vermin. Uneaten food should be thrown out after a few days before it goes mouldy or attracts unwanted pests.
This is also a good opportunity to check the feeders are in good condition and the chickens haven’t pooped all over their food. Finally, chickens like fresh water, so this is a great time to also check the waterers and ensure they have plenty of fresh water that flows freely when the hens tap it.
{ 1 comment }
