A cup a day for a busy red hen
Rhode Island Reds are medium-heavy, purposeful layers, and a hen in lay typically eats about a quarter of a pound of complete feed a day — roughly a cup of pellets. Birds in full production through short winter days may take a little more, and a hen ranging over rich ground in summer a little less, but a quarter-pound is the honest planning figure. Use it to work out storage: a small flock of Reds empties a sack at a predictable rate, and a sudden change in that rate is itself useful information about health, waste or uninvited diners at the feeder.
Built to forage, still fed from the hopper
Reds are famous for working a run hard, scratching up insects, worms and seeds, and it is tempting to cut their feed because they look so self-sufficient. Resist that: forage is unpredictable in protein and calcium, and a laying hen cannot build an egg a day from beetles alone. Keep the hopper filled with layer feed and let ranging top it up. In a confined run, hang the feeder so the rim sits at back height, check that lower-ranking hens get access after the bold ones feed, and consider two feeding points in a bigger flock so no Red is quietly fenced out of her share.
Calcium, grit and drinkers for steady laying
A separate pot of oyster shell lets each hen regulate her own calcium intake, which matters for a breed expected to lay heavily over a long season. Provide insoluble grit whenever birds get whole grains or range over ground where they cannot pick up suitable stones themselves. Water intake drives feed intake: a Red that finds an empty or fouled drinker eats less that day and lays less in the days after. Give drinkers a rinse daily and a proper scrub weekly, and in freezing weather carry out water more than once so the flock starts the morning able to drink.
Keeping condition on an energetic breed
Reds carry less spare fat than the heavier dual-purpose breeds, so feel along the keel when you handle a bird: a prominent, sharp keel on a hen that still looks glossy means she needs more access or more feed, not more treats. Scatter scratch grains sparingly and late, and pick vegetable extras that do not rot in the run. A treadle feeder or covered store helps if feed is vanishing faster than a quarter-pound per bird — sparrows and rodents can quietly double a flock's apparent appetite through a single season.
Appetite changes worth acting on
Expect intake to dip during a moult and in extreme heat, when hens eat early and late rather than at midday; those patterns are normal if the birds stay bright and keep drinking. Worry instead about a Red that stands fluffed away from the feeder, a crop that has not emptied by morning, rapid weight loss, watery droppings across several birds or an abrupt flock-wide fall in eggs, and take those signs to a veterinarian promptly. Note which hens you have handled and what you found, so the pattern builds over weeks. Logging feeder levels, shell top-ups and moult notes in KinsLe Care Teams gives every helper the same running picture of how the Reds are eating.