When it comes to chicken feed, it’s essential that you know exactly how much your flock requires. Too little, and they may become hungry; too much feed will be wasted by young chicks who tend to overeat quickly. How much feed your flock requires depends on several factors like breed and age.
Not like humans, chickens don’t require complex carbohydrates, sugar or fat as part of their daily diet; therefore, they benefit most from consuming a diet consisting primarily of protein-rich and low-carb foods, such as commercially produced layer pellets. Although you may supplement their meals with kitchen scraps, garden plants or whole scratch grain from time to time (up to 10% total intake per day), or it could lead to nutritional imbalance.
Chickens tend to consume more food during the fall and winter months when their feathers need replenishing and they need an increase in protein to stay warm and warm their bodies up, but tend to consume less during summer as their body heat naturally builds itself up and they focus on laying.
A hen’s diet will change throughout the seasons as certain foods become more appealing at certain points in time. When temperatures heat up, many people feed leftover garden scraps such as weeds, bugs and zucchini peels to their chickens for food – however be wary not to give too many high-carb foods such as bread and cereal as this will add too much sugar and fat into their diets.
Make sure your chicken’s diet includes herbs and vegetables that will promote its overall health, such as dill, cilantro, oregano, garlic or oatmeal, which help break down its food to increase nutrient absorption; or wheatgrass which is high in antioxidants with vitamins A & C content.
People looking to save money on chicken feed may attempt to reduce costs by restricting their chicken’s daily feed allowance or feeding at certain times of day, but while this will cut feed costs it won’t increase egg production or cause health issues; limited feedings could actually lead to dominance between chickens as more dominant ones gobble up what remains, leaving others lacking essential nutrition, leading to decreased egg production as a result of less dominant birds getting the necessary energy and lacking energy from eating less food themselves. It is strongly advised that chickens be provided free-choice feedings alongside having plenty of water available so your chickens never misses out. Always provide your chickens with plenty of fresh water when feeding free choice so there will always be ample water available for your chickens.