# What should I feed my chickens?



## ^Kaylor^ (Apr 21, 2020)

Hi, I’m new! I am going to be getting four chickens soon and I don’t know what to feed them. Any suggestions? 

Thanks so much! -Kaylor


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## ^Kaylor^ (Apr 21, 2020)

Also we are going to be building a coop and run soon and the run will be 118 square feet. Is this okay for four chickens?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Your coop should be a minimum of 16 square feet of open floor space. There have been reports that that isn't quite enough space. 118 square feet should be good on the run.

I feed mine a 20% protein feed with calcium (oyster shell) in a separate container for them to eat as they feel they need it.


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## ^Kaylor^ (Apr 21, 2020)

I know this feed is for chicks but it has 20% protein. Is it okay? https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/dumor--chick-starter-grower-20-feed-50-lb


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Absolutely. 

Like I mentioned, my birds were on 20% their entire lives. I kept quite a few roosters, layer is not good for keeping them long term. It's hard on their kidneys.

My oldest bird was 14 but it wasn't unusual for them to live 8 to 10 years old. Basically I'm saying that the higher protein feed did not harm them.


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## ^Kaylor^ (Apr 21, 2020)

Thanks so much @robin416! We are planning to have four hens (No roosters). So would a different percentage work better for them?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

No roosters then you can use layer for them. I just have this thing about the lower protein in the feed. 

Oh something to watch, the date the feed was bagged. Try to stay away from anything that is over a month old.


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## ^Kaylor^ (Apr 21, 2020)

Like this?
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/dumor-layer-pellet-16-50-lb?cm_vc=-10005


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm familiar with Dumor, I used to use their 20% chick feed for my chickens since it was unmedicated. 

Two things, it can be hard to get your girls to switch over to pellets once they've had crumbles so you'll need to watch for that.

The other is that TSC will sell feed that is six months old. The problem with feed is that it begins to lose nutrition as soon as it's produced. Six month old food is simply too old. I used to move bags to get at the newer feed.

It's also the reason I stopped buying feed at TSC. I get my feed from a small feed store now but where I lived before I got my feed from the co-op that also carried feed from a local mill.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

I feed dumor exclusively, I've never had a problem with old feed from TSC, I don't have a mill or other feed store to choose from (we have an orscheln's but they are terrible)
I guess my point is that you just need to watch carefully and do like Robin said, dig for the newer stuff. 
I use the layer pellets myself, firstly because my chickens didn't like the crumbles and secondly because when it was their only choice, they went through it like a camel goes through water, I couldn't afford to buy it (at the time, I had 4 chickens and was going through 50lbs in 2 weeks just for those 4) so I switched them to pellets and they liked it much better. All of my subsequent chickens have all been switched to pellets as soon as they were off chick starter. I have 6 chickens and 3 ducks and go through 50lbs of pellets in a month.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I guess that old feed thing at TSC is a regional thing. There was more than one place to get feed where I lived in TN and during the year you would see the date stamps on the feed bags get older and older.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

A couple other things about feed bags; when you open a bag and you see mold on the inside of the bag or on the inside of the "tear off strip," do not give the feed to your birds to eat. Return it immediately to wherever you purchased it and swap it out for another bag.
Also if you see clumps in feed, no matter the size, return it. That means that the feed was wet at some point, then dried. Grain mites are another issue. They feed and reproduce off the nutrients in the feed itself, turning the feed into powder. They steal the nutrients needed for your chickens. Return it and get another sack of feed.


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