Keeping chickens healthy starts with what goes into their feeder. Chickens need more than just a handful of corn or scratch grains. Their nutritional needs change as they grow, begin laying eggs, moult, and move through different stages of life.
Understanding what to feed, when to change feeds, and why different nutrients matter can help support healthy growth, strong feathers, consistent egg production, and overall flock health.
Whether you're raising your first few backyard chickens or caring for an established flock, knowing the basics of poultry nutrition makes feeding much simpler.
What Should Chickens Eat?
The foundation of a chicken's diet should be a complete poultry feed formulated for its particular age and stage of life. Complete feeds are designed to provide an appropriate balance of protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals.
There are several common types of chicken feed.
🐣 Chick Starter
Chick starter is formulated for young chicks during their first weeks of life. It generally contains a higher level of protein than layer feed to support rapid growth and feather development.
Chicks should have continuous access to fresh starter feed and clean water.
🌱 Grower Feed
As chickens get older, they can transition to a grower feed. Grower formulas support continued development without providing the higher calcium levels intended for actively laying hens.
The exact age for switching feeds can vary between products, so always follow the feeding instructions on the bag.
🥚 Layer Feed
Once hens reach laying age and begin producing eggs, they can transition to a complete layer feed. Layer feeds contain higher calcium levels to help support strong eggshells, along with the protein, vitamins, minerals, and energy an actively laying hen needs.
🌽 Scratch Grains
Scratch grains can be a fun addition to a chicken's diet, but they shouldn't replace complete feed. Corn, wheat and other grains provide energy, but a scratch mixture isn't formulated to provide all of the nutrients chickens require.
Think of scratch grains as a treat rather than the main meal.
Why Does the Right Feed Matter?
A chicken's nutritional requirements change significantly throughout its life.
Young chicks need nutrients to build bones, muscles and feathers. Growing birds need nutrition that supports steady development. Laying hens require additional calcium and other nutrients because producing eggs places significant nutritional demands on their bodies.
Providing an appropriate complete feed can help support:
- Healthy growth and development
- Strong bones
- Healthy feathers
- Normal egg production
- Strong eggshells
- Energy for normal daily activity
- Overall flock condition
Feeding the wrong type of feed can create nutritional imbalances. For example, young, non-laying birds generally shouldn't be routinely fed high-calcium layer feed.
Who Needs Which Feed?
Not every chicken in the flock necessarily has the same nutritional requirements.
Newly hatched chicks need chick starter.
Growing pullets and cockerels generally move onto an appropriate grower feed.
Actively laying hens can be fed a complete layer ration.
Roosters and mixed flocks may require a different feeding approach because they don't necessarily need the elevated calcium found in layer feed.
Meat birds also have specific nutritional requirements and are commonly fed rations designed for their rapid growth.
If you have birds of different ages or purposes together, check the feed manufacturer's recommendations or ask for guidance on an appropriate feeding program.
When Should You Change Chicken Feed?
Instead of relying on one universal age chart, use the directions provided by the manufacturer of the feed you're using. Formulations and recommended transition ages can differ.
A chicken's life stage is usually the biggest indicator that it's time for a change.
Chicks progress from starter to grower feed as they develop. Pullets transition toward an appropriate laying ration as they approach egg production. Meat birds follow feeding programs designed specifically for their growth.
Make feed changes gradually when appropriate rather than suddenly replacing one ration with another.
Where Should You Feed Your Chickens?
Feed should be offered in a clean, dry feeder that's protected as much as possible from rain, manure, rodents and wild birds.
Wet feed can spoil and develop mould, so keeping both the feeder and stored feed dry is especially important.
Store bags of chicken feed in a cool, dry location and use secure containers where necessary to keep pests out.
Clean drinking water is equally important. Chickens should have access to fresh water at all times, with waterers cleaned regularly.
During hot summer weather, check water more frequently because chickens may drink considerably more as temperatures rise.
How Do Supplements Fit Into Their Diet?
When chickens receive a properly formulated complete feed, much of their nutritional needs are already covered. However, there are a few additional products chicken keepers commonly encounter.
🦪 Oyster Shell
Oyster shell provides supplemental calcium and is generally offered free choice to laying hens rather than mixed indiscriminately into everyone's feed. Hens can consume it according to their needs.
🪨 Grit
Chickens don't have teeth. Instead, their muscular gizzard helps grind food.
Birds eating whole grains, vegetation and other foods beyond complete commercial feed may need access to appropriately sized insoluble grit. Chickens with regular access to suitable natural grit outdoors may obtain some themselves.
Grit and oyster shell aren't the same thing: grit assists mechanical digestion, while oyster shell supplies calcium.
What About Kitchen Scraps and Treats?
Chickens may enjoy vegetables, grains and other appropriate treats, but extras should make up only a small portion of the overall diet so they don't displace nutritionally complete feed.
Avoid giving chickens mouldy or spoiled food. Also check that any food you're considering is safe for poultry before adding it to the run.
Fresh treats can provide variety and encourage natural behaviours such as scratching and foraging, but complete feed should remain the nutritional foundation.
Common Feeding Mistakes to Avoid
Some of the most common mistakes are surprisingly easy to prevent:
- Using scratch grains as the primary diet
- Giving chicks or other non-laying birds layer feed without considering its higher calcium level
- Providing too many treats
- Allowing feed to become wet or mouldy
- Leaving spilled feed where it attracts rodents
- Forgetting to clean feeders and waterers
- Confusing oyster shell with digestive grit
- Letting chickens run out of clean drinking water
Good poultry nutrition doesn't need to be complicated. Consistency and choosing the correct feed for the bird's life stage go a long way.
From a tiny chick to a mature laying hen, a chicken's nutritional needs change throughout its life. Starting with an appropriate complete feed, providing constant access to clean water, and understanding when extras such as grit or oyster shell are useful can help you build a healthy feeding routine.
The biggest thing to remember is simple: feed for the bird you have and the stage of life it's in. Scratch grains and treats can add variety, but they shouldn't replace a properly balanced poultry ration.
🛒 Find the Right Feed for Your Flock
Visit Ritchie Feed & Seed for poultry feed and supplies. Our team can help you choose products suited to your flock's age and needs. https://www.ritchiefeed.com/
