What Do Chickens Eat? A Beginner's Guide to Feeding Your Flock
Edited by Jennifer Bryant · Poultry breeder, Animal Science graduate, and Poultry Nerds Podcast co-host.
Chickens eat a complete chicken feed as their main meal, plus clean water, a few treats, and whatever tasty things they find in the yard. Get the feed right, and almost everything else falls into place.
Chickens are not picky. They will happily eat bugs, weeds, kitchen scraps, and your tomato plants if you let them. But a happy flock starts with a good bag of feed.
The Main Meal: Chicken Feed
Store-bought chicken feed is made to give your birds what they need in every bite. The right kind depends on age.
Chicks: Starter feed from day one.
Growing birds: Starter or grower feed until they're close to laying.
Laying hens: As pullets approach laying, follow the feed label's directions for moving to layer feed. It has extra calcium for strong eggshells and isn't meant for young chicks.
Aim for at least 90 percent of the diet by weight to be an appropriate complete feed. It comes as crumbles or pellets. Both work fine, so pick the one your flock wastes less of.
How Much Do They Eat?
A full-size laying hen eats roughly a quarter pound of feed a day, though her needs vary with size, weather, and production. Most keepers just keep the feeder full and let hens eat when they're hungry. Chickens are pretty good at knowing when to stop. Mostly.
Water Matters Most
Fresh, clean water is the most important thing you give your flock. A hen who runs out of water can stop laying fast. Check it every day, scrub the waterer often, and keep it from freezing in winter.
The Fun Part: Treats
Chickens go wild for:
Leafy greens and garden scraps
Pumpkin, squash, and melon
Mealworms
Scratch grains (best on cold days)
Keep treats to about 10 percent of the diet. Too many treats is like a kid eating only dessert. The hens love it, but their eggs and health can suffer.
Some foods aren't safe for chickens at all. Check whether a food is safe for poultry before sharing leftovers.
Extras for Laying Hens
Set out a small dish of crushed oyster shell next to the feeder. Hens eat it when they need more calcium. If your birds eat lots of grass, scraps, or scratch, they may also need grit to help grind their food.
A Free-Range Bonus
Chickens that roam the yard find bugs, seeds, and greens on their own. That's great exercise and a tasty bonus, but it doesn't replace feed. Keep the feeder available even for free-range birds.
Ready to start your own flock? Find breeders offering chicks and hatching eggs at Hatching Egg Directory.
