{"id":73,"date":"2021-02-18T00:09:21","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T00:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homesteadinghero.com\/?p=73"},"modified":"2021-02-18T00:09:21","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T00:09:21","slug":"how-long-can-chickens-go-without-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homesteadinghero.com\/how-long-can-chickens-go-without-food\/","title":{"rendered":"How Long Can Chickens Go Without Food"},"content":{"rendered":"
Every species is potentially different in what it needs each day to stay healthy, and how long it can survive when it can’t get enough food or water.\u00a0 If you’re going to own even one chicken, you need to make sure to know what it needs for optimal health and what it can handle when things go wrong.<\/p>\n
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How Much Food Does A Chicken Need Per Day?<\/span><\/h2>\n
Chickens have a very high metabolism as they use their calorie intake and hydration for a wide variety of energy demanding bodily functions; from growth to egg laying, digesting food, regulating body temperature, and keeping their immune systems functioning. Regular and plentiful access to food and fresh water is absolutely vital for a chicken\u2019s health and function. <\/span> \n<\/span> \n<\/span>How much your chicken eats per day will greatly depend on a number of factors such as breed, if they are actively laying eggs or growing, and how active they are. A general rough estimate for how much food you should provide is about \u00bc pounds of food per fully grown chicken per day. Or, put another way, about 1.5 pounds per chicken per week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Most commercial feed comes in 50 pound sacks and is generally fairly cheap, ranging from $10 to $40 per 30-50lb bag. You can find organic food for your chickens at roughly the same prices and quantities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
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How Long Can A Chicken Live Without Food?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
If you leave chickens alone without food for long enough you will find that even a sizable flock has dwindled down to only one or two chickens. This is because chickens naturally turn to cannibalism when their food supply runs out. If you forget to feed them or otherwise leave them for too long without an adequate food source, they will eventually turn on each other for food to survive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to say how long it will take to push a chicken to this point of food desperation, as a lot of factors will affect that, such as availability of grubs and weeds (seasonal and geographical), temperature, if the chicken is laying eggs, or still growing, and so on.\u00a0 In the end, the best way to avoid this grisly and undesirable outcome is to ensure that you are providing regular and adequate healthy food for your flock.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
It is fairly difficult to fully deprive a chicken of food to the point of cannibalism unless done so intentionally; chickens are adept at catching flies and other flying insects as well as digging for worms and various other bugs. <\/span>\u00a0 Chickens love a variety of naturally found foods, with grubs and weeds being considered tasty treats and will be highly sought after even when they are kept well fed. However, a most pens or enclosures that we keep our flock in will often not be large enough to allow them to get all of their food from natural sources, especially in cold weather and above all, a lack of adequate food and proper nutrition will cause a variety of health problems and interfere with egg laying and long term health.<\/p>\n
Simply put, for optimal health you shouldn\u2019t rely on their foraging abilities.\u00a0 You need to feed your flock in order to make sure they are getting the amount of food and vital nutrients they need to grow, lay eggs, and maintain other necessary biological functions in addition to general health.<\/span><\/p>\n
Providing your flock with commercial chicken feed as well as feeding them other supplemental foods is particularly necessary during winter when bugs, grubs, flowers and weeds aren\u2019t as available as they are in summer. During summer when these things are abundant and easily found by your chickens, supplementation is less necessary but still a good idea to ensure they are getting balanced nutrition and remove any chance of your chickens turning on each other. <\/span> \n<\/span><\/p>\n
Chickens are also known for eating their own eggs when problems with their nutrition arise, particularly when they are lacking in calcium and other nutrients needed to lay good, strong, fully developed eggs.\u00a0 Most commercial chicken feed will have a lot of vitamins and minerals added, but you can get chicken specific livestock supplemental products, but chickens also love human foods <\/span>like potato skins, cheese, cooked and raw fruit and veggies, cooked noodles, beans, cooked rice, dandelion and other greens, among other human food scraps in small amounts, which can supplement their nutrition.<\/p>\n