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Enter how many hens you keep. This chicken feed calculator multiplies hens by 120 grams per hen per day, the standard laying hen figure, to give the daily amount in grams and kilograms. Ten hens need 1200 grams, which is 1.2 kilograms per day, and about 36 kilograms per month. Keep feed available at all times and give clean water alongside it.
Feed grams equal hens times 120. Ten hens need 1200 grams per day, which is 1.2 kilograms, and 5 hens need 600 grams, which is 0.6 kilograms. Competitor guides put a laying hen at about 110 to 125 grams per day, about a quarter pound or half a cup, so 120 grams sits in the middle. Bantams eat far less at around 50 to 70 grams, while large breeds may eat up to 150 grams.
A laying hen needs layer feed with about 16 to 18 percent protein and about 3.5 to 4.5 percent calcium for strong eggshells. Even one day of restricted feeding shows up as reduced or soft shelled eggs within a day or two, so keep layer feed available at all times rather than rationing it. Offer crushed oyster shell in a separate feeder so hens can top up calcium as they need it, and offer grit separately so the gizzard can grind whole grain.
Chicks need starter feed with about 20 percent protein for the first 6 to 8 weeks and should never be rationed. Pullets move to grower feed at about 16 to 18 percent protein, with almost no extra calcium. From point of lay at about 19 to 20 weeks, hens move to layer feed with full calcium. Broilers follow a different path: starter, then grower, then finisher, eating about 8.6 pounds in 40 days and about 18 pounds over 8 weeks.
A broiler eats little in week one, about 20 to 25 grams per day, rising to about 130 to 150 grams per day by week six and 165 to 185 grams per day by week seven. Total feed from hatch to slaughter runs about 4.5 to 5 kilograms per bird, with a feed conversion ratio near 1.8 to 2.0. For 50 broilers over 6 weeks at 11.1 pounds per bird, that is 555 pounds, or 12 bags of 50 pounds rounded up.
A flock of 100 layers eating 120 grams per day needs 12 kilograms per day, 360 kilograms per month, which is about 7 to 8 bags of 50 kilograms, or about 15 bags of 50 pounds using the quarter pound rule. For 25 hens at a quarter pound per day, that is 6.25 pounds per day and about 188 pounds per month, just under four 50 pound bags. Use your local bag size for the final shopping figure.
Free range chickens find part of their own food, insects, seeds and greens, so they often need less bought feed, sometimes 15 percent less, but still need a complete feed for vitamins and minerals. In winter chickens eat more feed to stay warm and forage less, so plan about 10 percent more. Allow about 7 percent for waste: spillage from feed kicked out of the feeder or spoiled. A good feeder, fed twice daily or kept full, cuts waste far more than rationing does.
Chickens drink about twice as much water by weight as the feed they eat, so a hen eating 120 grams of feed drinks about a cup of water per day. Check water at least twice a day, especially in warm weather, because dehydration stops laying fast. For treats, follow the ninety ten rule: 90 percent complete feed and 10 percent treats such as kitchen scraps or scratch grains, given in the late afternoon after hens have eaten their feed.
To find feed cost per dozen eggs, divide monthly feed cost by dozens laid per month. As a worked example, 100 hens laying 80 eggs per day lay 2400 eggs per month, which is 200 dozen. At 375 dollars of feed per month, that is 1.88 dollars per dozen in feed costs. Small flocks with high waste often do not beat the shop price on feed alone, but home eggs still win on freshness and on knowing exactly what the hens were fed.
A laying hen eats about 120 grams per day, roughly a quarter pound or half a cup. Ten hens need 1.2 kilograms per day.
Laying hens need 120 to 130 grams of layer feed per day, with 16 to 18 percent protein and 3.5 to 4.5 percent calcium. Keep it available at all times.
About 360 kilograms per month at 120 grams per day, which is about 7 to 8 bags of 50 kilograms or about 15 bags of 50 pounds.
About 18 pounds per bird over 8 weeks, from starter through grower to finisher feed. One hundred broilers need about 37 bags of 50 pounds.
Often yes, by about 15 percent, because they forage for insects, seeds and greens. Still provide a complete feed for vitamins and minerals.
Yes. Chickens eat more in winter to stay warm and because they forage less, so plan about 10 percent more feed in cold months.
About twice the feed weight: a hen eating 120 grams of feed drinks about a cup of water per day. Check water at least twice daily.
Ninety percent of the diet should be complete feed and 10 percent treats such as kitchen scraps or scratch grains, given in the late afternoon.