How much does a chicken eat a day?

A laying hen of a standard breed eats about a quarter of a pound — 115 g — a day; bantams less, heavy breeds more, and every bird more in cold weather. Broilers eat little at first and a great deal at the end, so the 130 g used here is an average across the grow-out, not a daily ration for week one.

How many bags of feed do I need a month?

The calculator counts a month as 30 days and rounds the bags up, because half a bag is still a trip to the feed store. The job sheet also shows how much of the last bag you will use and how much is left over — worth knowing with feed that goes stale.

Why does the pound figure not match my feeder?

Because birds waste feed, rodents and wild birds take a share, and a trough filled to the brim spills. What goes into the feeder is always more than what the flock eats; if your bags run out early, raise the grams per bird until the page matches your own records.

Can I plan starter and grower feed separately?

Yes — run the page once per stage, with the days each feed is used for. Chicks, growers, layers and broilers each have a preset daily amount that you overwrite with your own.

Chicken feed calculator

Twenty-five broilers eating 130 g a bird a day clear 50.16 lb of feed a week, 7.17 lb a day. Over a 49-day grow-out that is 351.1 lb: 8 bags of 50 lb, with just 1.1 lb needed from the eighth — and $154.48 at $22 a bag.

Your answer

Feed a week for the whole flock21.3 lb

Feed a day for the whole flock: 3.04 lb
In kilograms a week: 9.7 kg
Feed a month (30 days): 91.3 lb

Field job sheet

Add a bag size below to see how many bags the period takes, what is left in the last one and the cost.

How the answer is worked out

Flock feed is a multiplication, and the calculator shows every step of it:

birds × feed per bird per day = feed per day → × 7 for a week, × 30 for a month, × your days for the period

Feed per bird is entered in grams because that is the unit feed trials and bag labels use; 115 g is a quarter of a pound. Picking a stage fills a typical figure for it.
Bag size is entered in the unit the bag is sold in — 50 lb by default here — and the bag plan is cut in the same unit.
Cost uses the price of one bag, because that is the price on the shelf; the page does the division to a price per pound for you.

Bags, not pounds, are what you buy

A total in pounds is the right answer to the wrong question. The job sheet turns it into full bags, the amount you will use from the last one and what remains in it — and in the example above that last bag is almost untouched, which is the moment to ask whether a slightly shorter grow-out, or one bag of a cheaper finisher, would do.

Getting a real figure for your flock

Weigh a week. Note the bags opened over seven days and divide by your birds; that beats any table.
Separate the seasons. Winter intake is higher; a year planned on a summer week runs short in January.
Count waste honestly. A feeder that lets birds rake feed onto the floor can cost more than a better feeder does.

Send the result with the share link and the flock, days and bag price reopen exactly as you entered them.

A worked example

Every figure below is computed by the calculator above from this case — nothing here is typed in by hand:

Birds in the flock: 25
Stage: Broilers
Feed per bird per day: 130
Days to plan for: 49
Bag sold in: lb
Bag size: 50
Price of one bag: 22

Feed a week for the whole flock:50.16 lb

Feed a day for the whole flock: 7.17 lb
In kilograms a week: 22.8 kg
Feed a month (30 days): 215 lb
Bags a month: 5
Total for the whole field: 351.1 lb
To take to the field: 8 bags — In the last one: 1.1 lb
Feed cost: $154.48

Worked by Agrimetra with the same engine the calculator above runs.

What this means in the United States

Backyard flocks are the US search behind this tool: a dozen layers or a batch of broilers, feed bought in 50 lb bags. The question is almost always how many bags a month costs, which is why the answer is stated per bag and per dollar, not only per bird per day.

Questions growers actually ask

How much does a chicken eat a day?: A laying hen of a standard breed eats about a quarter of a pound — 115 g — a day; bantams less, heavy breeds more, and every bird more in cold weather. Broilers eat little at first and a great deal at the end, so the 130 g used here is an average across the grow-out, not a daily ration for week one.
How many bags of feed do I need a month?: The calculator counts a month as 30 days and rounds the bags up, because half a bag is still a trip to the feed store. The job sheet also shows how much of the last bag you will use and how much is left over — worth knowing with feed that goes stale.
Why does the pound figure not match my feeder?: Because birds waste feed, rodents and wild birds take a share, and a trough filled to the brim spills. What goes into the feeder is always more than what the flock eats; if your bags run out early, raise the grams per bird until the page matches your own records.
Can I plan starter and grower feed separately?: Yes — run the page once per stage, with the days each feed is used for. Chicks, growers, layers and broilers each have a preset daily amount that you overwrite with your own.

Last updated: September 22, 2026

Sources

Penn State Extension — poultry production and small flock management (checked September 22, 2026)
USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture — small and backyard poultry (checked September 22, 2026)