How many cups of feed: chicks, layers, broilers
How many cups of feed: chicks, layers, broilers
Measuring and monitoring your laying hen and meat bird feed intake will ensure they are attaining optimal production with minimal input. When common crumble layer or grower feed are weighed and measured the results are as follows: Small laying hens require 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp of feed per day, average sized hens need 3/4 cups, and large chickens eat 1 cup + 2 Tbsp of layer ration per day.
Broiler chicken’s required feed increases on average, 3 Tbsp every week, with the greatest jump occurring during the first 4 weeks. A 4 week old Cornish cross will consume 1 cup of feed per day, and a 9 week old meat bird will consume close to 2 cups of feed each day.
✅Quality and type of chicken feed
These recommendations are based on a complete, dry feed recipe; one that contains all the essential vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and proteins necessary to raise productive, healthy chickens.
Your local feed store will sell commercial starter, grower/ finisher, and layer ration that meet this criteria.
Commercial poultry feed is optimized for each stage. You do not need to add additional minerals such as calcium or grit to a hen’s diet when they are fed entirely on store bought ration.
🔹Chick starer- 1-42 days (6 weeks)
🔹Grower- 43 – 140 days (20 weeks)
🔹Layer ration- at site of first egg, approximately 20 weeks onward
Chicken owners can mix their own feed and the recommended feed amount will remain the same, assuming that the nutritional balance is met in the specific grain combination used. Good news, you can supply your flock high-quality feed solely from store bought ration, entirely on homemade chicken feed, or a combination of the two.
✅CHICK
How much to feed chicks per day in cups
🔹Week 1 -4: 3 Tbsp of chick starter per chick per day
🔹Week 4-8: 6 Tbsp (a heavy 1/4 cup) of chick starter per chick per day
✅PULLET
How much to feed pullets per day in cups
🔹Weeks 9-20 (until first egg is laid): 1/2 c + 1 Tbsp of grower feed per day.
✅ADULT HEN
How much to feed mature chickens per day in cups
On average, an adult chicken will eat 3/4 cups of feed per day. Different breeds have slightly different feed requirements based on their size.
🔹Small breeds – feed a heaping 1/3 cup. Silkies and other bantam breeds need 60 grams of feed a day.
🔹Medium sized breeds- feed 3/4 cups. Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds, Plymouth Rock, and Barred Rock consume 100 grams of feed a day
🔹Large poultry- feed just over 1 cup. Cochin, Brahma, Jersey Giants, or Orpington will eat closer to 150 grams of layer ration per day.