How much Food do Baby Chicks need a Day

[NatJ]

When I need to weigh a bird I weigh myself then weigh again while holding the bird. The difference is what the bird weighs.

That is so much easier than trying to get the chicken to stay on the scale! (Also works for cats, baby humans, etc.)

 

[MykaMom]

I have always free-fed my chickens. I have never had to put a chicken on a diet! The idea makes me laugh!

 

[Chickdeb7]

when i go to TSC I'm going to get two Rhode Island Red Pullets, i wanted to know how much fees they need a day? when i used to have baby chicks they over ate A LOT so much that they had to lose some weight.

Not likely that baby chicks overeat. They eat a lot and they grow alot. If you are referring to a swollen crop that is normal. It should go don in leass than 24 hours. You are supposed to free feed them. And water too.

 

[NatJ]

I have always free-fed my chickens. I have never had to put a chicken on a diet! The idea makes me laugh!

It does seem funny, when dealing with most chickens.

But there are a few kinds of chickens (meat birds, especially Cornish Cross) that really will eat enough food that it causes health problems after they get to be a few months old. They have been bred to eat a lot and grow fast, so they can be butchered at a young age. And almost no-one cares whether they would have died next month, if they were actually butchered last week. It only becomes a problem when someone tries to keep one longer, as a pet or for breeding purposes.

 

[MykaMom]

It does seem funny, when dealing with most chickens.

But there are a few kinds of chickens (meat birds, especially Cornish Cross) that really will eat enough food that it causes health problems after they get to be a few months old. They have been bred to eat a lot and grow fast, so they can be butchered at a young age. And
almost no-one cares whether they would have died next month, if they were actually butchered last week. It only becomes a problem when someone tries to keep one longer, as a pet or for breeding purposes.

That makes me sad. My girls have always been pets.

 

[WindingRoad]

I feed free food all day. My birds don't eat much when I first let them out into the run. But as soon as they lay an egg they will eat like crazy. Laying an egg makes them hungry. That's why I leave feed out for them all the time. My birds will lay right up until 3PM. Even though I have new feeders they can still flick the feed out of the trough. I put a large rabbit tray under the feeder. I sweep it up every night. Those feeder hold 66 lbs of feed and at 69 years old I can't lug it out of the run at night.

 

[VikingKing]

I don't have chickens at this time, but I plan to purchase and try an automatic feeder from Grandpa's Feeders. The Chickens step on the footplate, the trough lid opens allowing the Chickens to feed, when they step off the footplate the trough lid closes preventing rodents and other pests from getting to the feed. It can be left in the run so the Chickens can get food whenever they are hungry.

 

[wolfinator]

I've got about 50 chickens, 5 ducks and 10 ducklings between mainly 2 coops. The main coop is 10x12 houses all the nests, food and a waterer. Their feeders are hung from the rafters on chains so they stay out full time. My middle size coop is 5x8 and is for roosting only, no nests, no food or water. There are multiple waterers outside in warmer weather. Winter season I have a water heater base inside the main coop. A small coop houses one RIR hen who was terrorized by other hens, she like all my others are free fed and are free ranged within a fenced area. She's not overweight nor are any of my others.

As for feeding chicks, free feed chick feed until they're 16 weeks for sexlink "breeds" and 18 weeks for heritage and non-sexlink crossed breeds. Once they're 16-18 weeks old, switch to a layer feed and don't forget to have a container of oyster shell available at all times beside their feed.

My main coop and pen.

Side view of both coops (don't have photo of small coop) beside garden.

Feeders hanging.

 

[Vicker]

A chicken typically isn't going to overeat feed. It's the treats and scratch that people give in addition to feed. I do keep a feeder in the coop in case they are hungry before I let them out in the morning. Now, if you had a meat breed that has been bred to bulk up at a young age, I can see that they might have pudged up. I had turkeys, not knowing what breed they were, that got too fat to walk.

 

[kodster]

That's nuts. My hatchery had no minimum. In fact I ordered 4 chicks and got 6 for the same price! Mostly because though I wanted a mixed flock, she knew I wanted a silkie so badly. At least one, so she gave me extras because they're hard to sex. Now they're 16 wks. One turned out to be a rooster ooohhh he's so handsome and sweet! Wish I could keep him but I'm in the city...so dad took him. And one of the girls has a much friendlier personality than the other. I have 5 total and no regrets! Glad yours are healthy!

That's TSC's policy. In my area, 6 is the minimum you can buy at TSC. And yea, folks, TSC employees, for the most part, are ignorant as to what types of chicks are, so unless they're clearly marked on the shipping boxes they receive the chicks in, they have absolutely NO idea of what they have, and WILL mis-label them. I've gone in and said, nope, that's NOT what those are! Told them what they DID have.