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Feed. Chicks can stay on starter feed for 6 to 8 weeks, and then go to a chick-grower feed until they’re ready to lay, at 20 weeks of age. At that point you’ll switch them over to layer feed. Feed is available (back at the feed store, or at some pet stores) as crumble or pellets, and it’s designed to meet their balanced nutritional needs. A chicken eats approximately 100 pounds of feed per year.


Going organic. Organic chicken feed is often available for an additional expense. Word on the street is that rats love it. Rats are already a problem in many urban areas, even before your chicken feeder becomes their all-you-can-eat buffet. Reduce rat problems by feeding chickens in the morning, so that they have all day to eat then leave the feeder empty at night when the rodents roam. Or use commercial (non-organic) chicken feed, which rats seem to leave alone.


Storage. Keep chicken feed dry in an airtight container; otherwise it gets moldy, which can make your birds sick. Don’t buy more than a couple month’s worth at a time to ensure they’re getting fresh feed.


Calcium. To help make strong eggshells, supplement the diet of laying hens by providing a dish of crushed oyster shells for added calcium. Hens will eat as much as they need. Some people also save old eggshells, toast them, crush them up finely, and give those back to their hens.


Grit. If your birds have an outdoor run area, they won’t need grit. Otherwise, provide a pan of grit (crushed rock, also sold in feed stores) which helps birds grind up the feed inside their gizzard (stomach).


Scratch. You’ll see “scratch grain” sold at feed stores. Scratch is OK as a treat, but it’s not a balanced diet, and uneaten grains can sprout weeds.


Water. Chickens must have access to clean fresh water at all times. Each chicken can drink about a pint of water a day, even more in very hot weather. It’s a basic necessity; besides, they’ll quit laying if they get thirsty.


Kitchen scraps. Your chickens will be delighted to devour kitchen scraps—vegetable trimmings, over-ripe fruit, stale bread, and almost anything else you can think of. Leftover rice and leftover plain spaghetti are always a favorite, as are bananas and cantaloupe. Your household may play the game “What WON’T the chickens eat?” Transform leftovers into fresh eggs—how efficient! Just avoid feeding meat to chickens so that they don’t develop a taste for it, since excessive pecking and cannibalism can become a problem in a flock. Also, give the chickens only as much as they’ll consume during that day so that food scraps don’t attract rodents and other pests to your yard at night.


Treats. Cracked corn is a favored treat. It’s not a complete food (being high in fat and low in protein), but do keep some around. Corn is an excellent bribe for when you need to lure an escaped chicken home from a neighbor’s yard or coax them back in to the coop before dusk. Get them used to coming for a handful of corn when you call them. Training them to come this way is a whole lot easier than trying to chase and catch them!


Medications. Chicks are vaccinated at the hatchery, and starter chick feed contains some medications. Some owners recommend feeding them pumpkin seeds a couple times a year to cure any worms they might have; others give them vitamin C in their water once in a while.