How to Feed Chickens: A Comprehensive Guide to Healthy Nutrition

Feeding chickens is the single biggest lever you have over their health, egg production, and your feed bill. Whether you keep three hens in a backyard coop or raise broilers by the dozen, the same rules apply: match the feed to the bird’s age and purpose, measure the right amount, and keep water clean and available. This guide covers how to feed chickens at every life stage, with exact amounts, schedules, and the mistakes to avoid.

You may also want to read about the best chicken feed.

Chicken Nutrition Basics

Chickens need a balanced diet built from four groups of nutrients. Protein drives feather, muscle, and egg development. Carbohydrates from corn, wheat, and barley supply most of the daily energy. Fats add concentrated energy and support skin and feather condition. Vitamins and minerals — especially calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D3 — build eggshells and bones.

Protein quality matters as much as protein quantity. Chickens cannot make ten essential amino acids — methionine and lysine are the two most likely to run short — so quality feeds build the ration on soybean meal, canola meal, or field peas rather than relying on grains alone. Feathers are roughly 85% protein, which is why a flock that looks dull or picks at each other’s feathers is often telling you the protein level is too low for its stage, especially during molt or heavy laying.

What changes between birds is how much of each nutrient they need:

Life stage	Protein	Calcium	Feed goal
Chick (0–6 weeks)	20–24%	~1%	Fast skeleton and feather growth
Grower (6–18 weeks)	16–18%	~1%	Steady growth without fat
Layer (18+ weeks)	16–18%	3.5–4.5%	Eggshell formation
Broiler (meat bird)	18–24%	~1%	Rapid muscle gain

The calcium line matters more than people expect: feeding layer ration to chicks can damage kidneys and bone development, and feeding grower ration to laying hens produces thin, weak shells. Match the stage first, then fine-tune the brand.

If you want to understand what goes into a bag of feed — grains, protein meals, and the premix — we break down what is in chicken feed here.

Types of Chicken Feed

Commercial feed comes in four stage formulas and four physical forms. The formula does the nutritional work; the form is mostly convenience — for you and the bird.

Feed type	Protein	Best for
Chick starter	20–24%	Chicks 0–6 weeks
Grower	16–18%	Pullets and cockerels 6–18 weeks
Layer	16–18% + calcium	Laying hens from first egg
Broiler/finisher	18–24%	Meat birds, fast growth

• Pellets — each pellet is a complete ration. Less waste, harder for chickens to pick through, and they can’t sort out favorite bits.
• Crumble — broken pellets. Good for young birds transitioning from mash; some picky flocks prefer the texture.
• Mash — finely ground meal. Cheapest, but birds scatter it and can sort ingredients, so nutrition per bite varies.
• Scratch grains — a treat, not a feed. Whole corn and grains with ~8–10% protein. Cap scratch at about 10% of the diet or hens fill up on energy and skip the protein and calcium they need.

Always store feed in a sealed, dry container and buy in quantities a flock finishes within 4–6 weeks — moldy feed is one of the most common causes of flock health problems.

How Much to Feed Chickens Per Day

A laying hen eats about 120–130 g (¼ lb) of complete feed per day — roughly 1.5 kg (3–4 lb) per hen per month. Size and purpose move that number:

Bird	Feed per day
Bantam hen	60–80 g
Standard layer (Leghorn, Australorp)	110–130 g
Heavy breed (Brahma, Orpington)	140–160 g
Broiler, week 4	~110 g
Broiler, week 8	160–190 g
Chick, week 1	10–15 g

Rather than weighing every ration, most keepers offer layer feed free-choice and watch body condition. For exact numbers for your flock size, mixed ages, and purpose, use our chicken feed calculator — it converts birds and weeks into bags of feed and monthly cost.

Two benchmarks help you sanity-check what your feed bill should look like: a good broiler converts about 1.6–1.8 kg of feed into each kilo of live weight by week 7, and a productive layer needs roughly 2 kg of feed per dozen eggs. If your numbers run far above that, the usual culprits are wasted feed from open troughs, rodents eating at night, or too much scratch diluting the ration.

Overfeeding complete feed is hard with active birds; the real risk is treats and scratch crowding out the ration. Keep everything that is not complete feed below 10% of daily intake.

Feeding Schedule by Age

Age	Feed	Notes
0–6 weeks	Chick starter, 20–24% protein	Free-choice; fresh water in a chick-safe drinker
6–18 weeks	Grower, 16–18% protein	Free-choice; no added calcium yet
18–20 weeks	Transition to layer over 7–10 days	Mix increasing amounts of layer feed; offer calcium separately
20+ weeks	Layer feed, 16–18% protein + 3.5–4.5% calcium	Free-choice; oyster shell in a separate dish
Broilers 0–3 weeks	Starter, 22–24% protein	Free-choice with 12h dark periods to slow leg problems
Broilers 3–6 weeks	Grower, ~20% protein	Watch leg soundness; keep feeders reachable
Broilers 6+ weeks	Finisher, 18–19% protein	Feed to target weight, typically 6–9 weeks

Transition gradually whenever you switch formulas — a week of mixing old and new feed prevents digestive upsets and feed refusal.

Daily rhythm is simple: fill feeders in the morning, check water, and let the flock top up through the day. In the evening, remove wet or spoiled feed and refill for layers, whose shell formation peaks overnight.

Feeding Laying Hens

Once hens lay regularly, calcium becomes the limiting nutrient. A hen puts 2 g of calcium into every eggshell, mostly drawn from her diet overnight. Two practices keep shells strong:

1. Complete layer feed as the base — it already carries 3.5–4.5% calcium, correctly balanced with phosphorus and vitamin D3.
2. Oyster shell or crushed, baked eggshells free-choice in a separate dish — hens with a high lay rate take what they need; those laying less don’t overdo it.

Skip mixing crushed shell directly into the feed — free-choice lets each hen self-regulate. For a full layer nutrition plan, see what to feed laying chickens. Egg production also drops when daylight falls under 14 hours — that’s lighting, not feed, so don’t over-feed a winter slump.

Grit and Water

Two things flocks on commercial feed still need from you:

• Grit — small stones that sit in the gizzard and grind whole grains and grass. Free-range birds find their own; confined birds need insoluble grit offered free-choice. Chicks on mash don’t need it; birds eating scratch or forage do.
• Water — a laying hen drinks 0.5 L (about a pint) a day, and up to 1 L in heat. Hens will drop egg production within hours of running dry. Check drinker cleanliness daily; algae and droppings in water cut intake more than keepers realize. In freezing weather a heated waterer pays for itself in a week — see our guide to winter waterers.

What Not to Feed Chickens

Chickens are robust scavengers, but a few common foods are genuinely dangerous:

• Chocolate and caffeine — theobromine and caffeine are toxic to birds.
• Avocado skin and pit — persin damages heart tissue.
• Raw or undercooked dried beans — contain phytohemagglutinin, toxic even in small amounts; cooked beans are fine.
• Green potatoes and tomato or potato leaves — solanine.
• Moldy or spoiled feed and food — mycotoxins.
• Salty snacks, alcohol, and anything sweetened with xylitol.

Onions and garlic in large amounts can affect red blood cells; kitchen scraps in general are fine in moderation as long as the base ration stays complete. When in doubt, skip it — a hen’s complete feed already covers her needs.

Seasonal Feeding Adjustments

• Winter — birds burn more energy staying warm. Expect 10–15% higher feed intake and consider an evening handful of scratch (fed after dusk, digesting generates heat). Keep water liquid with a heated drinker, and if you heat the coop, compare safe options in our coop heater guide.
• Summer — appetite drops, water intake can double. Feed early morning and evening, keep feed cool and dry, and add extra drinkers in shade. Add electrolytes only during real heat stress.
• Molt (fall) — feathers are 85% protein. Switching molting hens a higher-protein ration (18–20%) or adding mealworms speeds regrowth; see what to feed molting chickens.

FAQ

How much feed does a chicken need per day?

A standard laying hen eats 110–130 g (¼ lb) of complete feed per day; bantams eat 60–80 g and heavy breeds up to 160 g. Offer layer feed free-choice and monitor body condition rather than strict-feeding adults.

How often should I feed my chickens?

Once or twice a day works for every flock. Fill feeders in the morning and refresh in the evening; birds regulate their own intake from complete feed. Consistent times keep the flock calm and make appetite changes — often the first illness sign — easy to spot.

Can chickens find their own food?

Partly. Free-range birds pick up insects, seeds, and greens that can cover 10–25% of their needs in a good season, but pasture alone cannot supply laying-level protein and calcium. Forage is a supplement to complete feed, never a replacement.

What is the best feed for more eggs?

A complete layer ration with 16–18% protein and 3.5–4.5% calcium, offered fresh and free-choice, with oyster shell available separately. Feed brand matters less than freshness, stage-matching, and clean water — the three things that actually move egg numbers. Our tested picks are in the best chicken feed roundup.

Are table scraps OK for chickens?

Yes, in moderation: keep all treats and scraps under about 10% of daily intake, and never give chocolate, avocado, raw beans, green potatoes, moldy food, or salty snacks. Scraps should supplement — not replace — the complete ration.

Conclusion

Match the feed formula to the age, measure the base ration, keep the calcium coming for layers, and guard the water. That is 90% of chicken nutrition. Use the chicken feed calculator to plan exact amounts for your flock, and check the best chicken feed roundup for feeds that performed best in our testing.