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Feed can be one of the most expensive supplies for running a chicken farm, but it is also the most essential element. Good high quality feed can ensure your chickens are healthy and their products taste good. While you may be tempted to allow your chickens to forage in pasture to reduce your feed costs, this will likely lead to a coop of hungry chickens and less eggs produced. Instead, buy enough feed in bulk to last you two months. This will allow you to save money and ensure you do not run out of feed for your chickens. Most backyard chicken farms start with a flock of baby chicks, so it is important that you give the chicks the right amount of nutrients and care so they grow into full, healthy chickens. Look for chick starter feed at your local farm supply store. Chick starter feed usually comes in a mash or crumble form and contains a protein content of 18-24%, which helps the chicks to gain muscle and weight.  Give the chicks just starter feed once a day for the first two days, then introduce chick grit into their feeders on the third day. This will help them digest their food better. You can give them grit until they reach maturity and switch to oyster shell once they start to lay eggs. All chick breeds will consume around three pounds of starter feed during the first three weeks in the coop. You should make sure the water troughs are not too deep in the coop, as the chicks can drown in them. They should be shallow and cleaned daily. Have about a one gallon-sized waterer for every hundred chicks. If you have pullets, you can use one waterer for every six to eight birds. Chicks will need a red brooder lamp on at all times in the coop and no drafts or cold areas to grow properly. The temperature of the coop should be around 92 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the chicks start to feather out, you can reduce the temperature in the coop by five degrees per week until they are six weeks old. Make sure the chicks are close to water and food in the coop. You can do this by spreading four inches of pine shavings on the coop floor and then several layers of newspaper. Scatter chick feed on the paper so it is easy to access and make sure the feeding trough is full of feed. Remove one layer of paper a day until the chicks are comfortable using the feeding trough. Picking is common among chicks and chickens in coops, as well as cannibalism and pecking to death. You can prevent this by making sure there is enough space in the coop for all of your chickens. You can try to mix the ages of your flock and keep them in one coop, with older chickens living with young chicks. They should not pick at each other as long as there is enough space in the coop for all of them. If you are raising a fast growing breed, you will need to give the birds grower mash feed that has 18-24% protein content until they are ready for processing, about six to nine weeks. These fast growing birds can consume about 20 pounds of feed from the age of three weeks to processing at six to nine weeks.  If you have Heritage breed chickens or Ranger breed chickens, you should give them a grower mash with an 18-21% protein content to ensure they grow healthy and full. Ranger breeds can consume 25 pounds of feed from the age of three weeks to butchering time, about 11-12 weeks old. Egg laying breeds will need a grower mash with a 17-20% protein content until they begin to lay eggs at five months old. Switch to grower feed with a protein content of 15-17% with a supplement of oyster shell once they start to lay, as this will allow the hens to produce strong egg shells. Once your chickens have matured and are ready for laying, you can start to collect eggs from their roosting area. As long as they have access to 12 to 14 hours of light, most hens will lay eggs in the spring, summer and into fall.
Buy feed in bulk. Give young chicks starter feed. Use a brooder lamp to keep the coop warm. Ensure there is enough room in the coop to prevent picking. Switch to grower mash feed once the chicks start to feather out, at about six weeks. Collect eggs once to twice a day.