What to Feed Chickens: Layer Feed First, Then Grit, Shell and Greens

Feed laying hens a complete layer feed, free choice, and keep fresh water beside it. Minnesota Extension says a 6 lb hen eats about 3 lb of feed a week. Put oyster shell and grit out in a separate dish, and keep scratch and scraps small.

A bag of complete layer feed does nearly all the work. It is balanced for protein, energy, calcium and minerals in one scoop. University of Maine calls complete feed the simplest way to feed a small flock, since it needs no extra mixing.

Everything else is a side dish. Oyster shell gives extra calcium for shells. Grit helps hens grind coarse food. Scraps, scratch and greens are fun for the hens and for you, as long as they stay a small part of the day.

Feeding hens is easy. One bag. One feeder. One waterer. Two small dishes on the side. That covers it.

The details below are for the questions that come up later. When do chicks change feed? How much does a flock eat in a month? Where should the bag live? Each one has a short answer.

Most backyard hens are dual-purpose breeds, such as Barred Rocks, Orpingtons and Easter Eggers. Their ages run a little later than the light Leghorn type. University of Maine lists layer feed for dual-purpose hens from about 22 weeks, at 14 to 16% protein.

Many feed stores sell one grower feed, not separate grower and developer bags. That is fine. The switch that matters is the last one: move to layer feed when the first eggs appear. University of Maine says not to start the layer diet more than 2 weeks before laying begins.

How do you know laying is close? Watch the calendar and the hens. Most dual-purpose pullets start somewhere past 20 weeks. Minnesota Extension says hens begin laying at around six months. When the first egg turns up, change the bag that week.

Change over gently if you like. Mix the old and new feed for a few days, then go to layer feed only. Hens are not fussy about it, and the mix uses up the last of the grower bag.

Read the tag on the bag before you buy. It lists crude protein and calcium. For laying hens, University of Maine suggests a layer feed with at least 2.5 to 3.5% calcium. The bag above lists 16% protein, which sits inside both ranges in the table.

Keep feed in front of the flock all day. University of Maine says to keep fresh feed available at all times. Hens eat to meet their energy needs, so they take more on cold days and less on hot ones.

Minnesota Extension says feed use may rise in winter, when hens burn more energy, and drop in summer heat. Use the table as a guide and watch the feeder. If it empties faster in January, that is normal.

Feed form is a matter of taste. Mash is a fine powder. Crumbles are small broken bits. Pellets are pressed rods. University of Maine notes that pellets stop hens from picking out the parts they like best, and that some mash is dusty. That makes pellets or crumbles the easy choice for a small flock.

Chicks are a separate story. They start on starter feed and move up in steps. Our chick starter feed guide covers the first 20 weeks, week by week.

Water matters as much as feed. Minnesota Extension calls continual access to clean, fresh water a critical part of the diet, and it matters most in summer. Set the waterer near the feeder, but not under it, so feed does not drop into the water. Check both every morning and again in the evening on hot days.

Feeder size follows from the table. Six hens eat about 18 lb a week. A 20 lb feeder covers about a week for that flock, and a 25 lb feeder a little more. Our chicken feeders page sorts feeders by hens and days per fill, and the waterers page does the same for water.

Oyster shell and grit are separate jobs. Oyster shell is calcium, and University of Maine says it can be offered free choice to laying hens, whatever the feed holds. Grit is hard granite that stays in the gizzard and grinds food. It comes in chick and hen sizes.

University of Maine says grit can be free choice or offered for 2 or 3 days each month. A feeder with two sections holds both shell and grit side by side. Young birds on starter or grower feed already get the calcium they need, so the oyster shell dish is for layers. Set that dish next to the feeder, not inside it. Do not mix shell into the layer pellets.

The pouch above holds 4 lb of flaked oyster shell. Serve it free choice in its own dish. Hens take what they need.

Refill the dish when you can see the bottom of it. A 4 lb pouch is the whole container. Buy the next one when this one is nearly empty.

Scratch and scraps are the fun part. Minnesota Extension notes that hens love fruit and vegetable scraps and that scratch is fine in moderation. Scratch averages about 10% protein, per University of Maine, so too much of it thins out the layer feed. Give only what the hens clean up in 20 to 30 minutes.

Fresh greens from the garden are welcome. University of Maine notes that young, tender plants are useful, while old, tough stems are not. Skip clippings from any lawn that was sprayed recently.

Keep scraps simple. Offer them in a dish or scatter them in the run in the afternoon. Clear what is left before dusk. University of Maine suggests scattering a little scratch in the litter late in the day, so hens turn it over as they search.

Feed keeps best cool, dry and sealed. University of Maine says to store feed in a clean, dry, rodent-proof spot. Keep bags off concrete floors, which pass moisture into the feed, and stand them on wooden pallets so air moves around them.

University of Maine also suggests watertight, nonmetal containers. It says to use feed within 1 month in summer and 2 months in winter. Buy bag sizes that your flock finishes within that window. For 4 hens, that is about one 50 lb bag a month, or two 25 lb bags.

Write the date on each bag when you open it. Pour the old feed on top of the new when you refill, so nothing sits at the bottom of the bin for weeks. A bin with a tight lid also keeps out rats, mice and raccoons, which find spilled feed quickly.

A few bags of feed a month adds up to real weight. Store them near the coop if you can. A dry shed or garage corner, a pallet and one lidded bin are all you need. The less you carry, the easier the daily round.