← Chickens H20-05 · Module 5 of 7 · Pages: 18 · Worksheets: 5

Feeding and care through the year

What and how much hens eat at each stage of life, how to use the run and garden greens, and what to do with the flock every day, week and month

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Feeding and care through the year

In short

  • A laying hen eats roughly 110–130 g of feed a day (4–4½ oz), in the homestead plan 45 kg a year with a run and garden greens.
  • Grain alone isn't enough: a layer needs roughly 16–18 % protein, and maize has about half that.
  • Oyster shell and grit always in separate pots; eggshells go to the compost.
  • Water: 0.3 L per hen a day, up to double in summer. No water, no eggs.
  • The autumn moult is normal: more protein, peace and patience.
  • Work with 10 hens: roughly 10–15 minutes a day and a bigger clean-out twice a year.

What's inside

Chapters

  1. How much and what they eat
  2. Ready-made feed or your own
  3. Pullets and meat birds
  4. Run, greens and garden produce
  5. Water, calcium and grit
  6. The flock's year
  7. Daily work
  8. Old hens and renewing the flock
  9. Common mistakes
  10. Printable checklist

Worksheets

  • Feed and cost calculator
  • Work calendar for the flock
  • Monthly laying record
  • Yearly flock record
  • Winter stores and weekly jobs

Fields and checkboxes can be filled in with Adobe Acrobat Reader (desktop and mobile), and the calculator adds up by itself. Filling in may not work in some browsers. A print version comes with the screen PDF.

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