Chicken boarders

[williamspencer98]

Its been 5 days since I bought them, and they are eating lots, they're eating 3 small feeders of pellets, 3 times a day!

Today, as I've been in the garden alot, I have given them corn, grit and mealworms mixed in with the pellets, and they're eating at the same rate!

 

But I'm just wondering do I keep feeding them everytime they empty the feeder or do I only top it up every so often?

 

They're food monsters!

[The Dogmother]

Depends on what size feeder you're using; hybrids can eat a lot especially when they are about to come into lay or are laying.

 

If you use one of the green and white gravity feeders then you should only need to fill it up once a day. Try to only give them corn and other treats in small quantities, at the end of the day to make sure that they eat their pellets. Allow one of these feeders per 4 chickens.

[Eggasperated]

I read somewhere that laying hens eat around 125g of pellets each a day, so I normally work out my feed on this basis. I'm one of those sad people that weigh the food out each day .

[Mollie333]

Would be best to feed Layers pellets in the morning, and only a handful of corn in the afternoon.

[Egluntyne]

They should have layers pellets available all day so that they can help themselves ad lib.

[sjp]

check that they are eating all of it and not throwing a lot out of the feeders they can be really picky eater and sort through the feed looking for the best bits. if they are eating more than 300-500 grams of feed beteewn they a day they they might need worming

[Lavenders_Blue]

Check you don't have any rats visiting too (although hopefully not if you have only had the hens 5 days). Yesterday afternoon I found one of my girls' feeders on the floor (it's usually hanging from a hook in the run) and just about completely empty - it had only been filled up the day before With the best will in the world, 5 hens couldn't eat their way through a whole feeder full of food in 24 hours and neither was the food spilled all over the ground.

Needless to say I'm off out to buy more bait boxes this morning...