Expect to offer each laying hen somewhere in the region of a quarter of a pound of formulated feed across the day — roughly 100 to 120 grams — with the exact amount shifting as breed, size, weather and ranging change. Treats and scraps should stay a small extra on top of that ration, not a substitute for it, or egg quality and shell strength slip. Feed should be available through the day with clean water always beside it, because a hen that runs out of water stops laying faster than one that runs short of feed. If the feeder is emptying far faster than expected, check for spillage, wild birds and rodents before blaming the hens.
What Moves the Daily Figure
A large heritage hen maintaining herself through a cold snap eats noticeably more than a small hybrid ranging over insect-rich ground in June. Cold weather pushes intake up because hens burn feed energy to stay warm, while heat pushes it down just when laying demands stay high. Range and forage cut both ways: good pasture, kitchen garden trimmings and insects genuinely contribute, but a hen cannot range her way to a balanced laying ration, and the formulated feed remains the part that carries the protein and calcium laying requires. Moulting and coming back into lay also shift appetite, so judge intake across a fortnight rather than from a single day's empty feeder.
Weigh the Feed, Then Watch the Hens
Guessing by the scoop is how flocks drift into over- or under-feeding. Weigh one level scoop of your actual feed once, write the figure on the bin, and you can translate the 100 to 120 gram guide into scoops per hen without daily scales. After that, the hens themselves grade the ration:
- Shells thinning or going rough suggest the diet, not the quantity, needs attention
- Feed left scattered and stale each morning points to overfilling or spillage losses
- A feeder emptied and crowded by midday means the amount or the access is short
- Steady egg numbers with bright, active birds say the ration is about right
Body condition settles arguments: feel the breastbone through the feathers. It should sit in a smooth covering — neither sharp under your fingers nor buried.
Keep Changes Slow and Water Constant
Switch layer feed brands or types gradually, mixing the new feed into the old across five to seven days, because abrupt changes put hens off eating and can dip laying for a week. Store feed dry and sealed; damp or stale feed loses value and hens eat less of it, which looks like a smaller appetite when the real fault is in the bin. Water deserves equal billing with feed: a laying hen drinks roughly twice what she eats, more in heat, and even a few hours with a frozen or empty drinker costs eggs the following days. In winter, checking drinkers for ice belongs on the same round as filling the feeder.
Hand the morning feed round to KinsLe's Care Teams instead: helpers receive their assigned hen-feeding duties in KinsLe, and each completed task carries a timestamp.