How Much Feed Does a Laying Hen Eat Per Month?

Feed is the one cost you can never coop away. The coop gets paid off, the pullets mature, the bedding gets cheaper in bulk, but the feeder needs refilling every week for as long as you keep birds. So the single most useful number in backyard chicken economics is this: a standard laying hen eats about 1/4 pound of layer feed per day, which is roughly 7.5 pounds per month.

That is the university extension figure, and in my experience it holds for a typical laying breed like a Leghorn or Rhode Island Red in average weather. But it is a starting point, not a law. Breed, weather, ranging, and how much of the feed lands on the ground rather than in the beak all move the number. Let me give you the full picture.

Feed intake by bird type

The jump that surprises people is the one from pullet to laying hen. Feed intake roughly doubles in the last month before lay. If you started with chicks, your feed bill is small for the first two months and then climbs steeply. That is one more reason the chick vs pullet decision matters for year 1 economics.

Worked example: 6 hens and a 50 pound bag

Take a flock of 6 standard layers. At 1/4 pound per bird per day, the flock eats 1.5 pounds a day, or about 45 pounds a month. A 50 pound bag lasts roughly 33 days, so you are buying a bag every month with a few days to spare.

At $20 for a 50 pound bag of layer pellets, that is $20 a month for 6 birds, or $3.33 per bird per month. At $28 a bag, which is what premium or organic-leaning brands run near me, it is $28 a month, or $4.67 per bird. That $8 monthly difference is $96 a year, and it flows straight into your cost per dozen. Feed is half your ongoing cost, so bag price matters more than almost anything else in the budget.

What moves the number up or down

• Feeder waste is the silent killer. An open feeder that hens can scratch at will spill a quarter of the bag onto the ground. A treadle or tube feeder with a lip cuts that dramatically. If your birds seem to eat more than 1/4 pound a day, check the ground first.
• Cold weather adds 10 to 15 percent. Hens burn feed for body heat. In a hard winter, that 7.5 pounds can become 8.5. The opposite happens in a mild spring.
• Free-ranging helps a little, not a lot. Ranging hens might eat 10 to 20 percent less feed in bug-rich months, but they still need layer feed to keep laying, and winter wipes out the benefit entirely. Do not budget around the savings.
• Molting and winter layoff cut intake. A hen that is not laying needs less. But she still eats, which is why eggs get more expensive per dozen in winter even as the feed bag empties slower.

If you want the broader economics, not just the feed bill, the full breakdown is here: How Much Does a Dozen Backyard Eggs Really Cost?

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