Chicken Feed Calculator

A Chick Eats a Fraction of What a Finishing Broiler Does

Poultry feed intake changes dramatically across a bird's life stage — a day-old chick consumes a small fraction of what the same bird eats as a finishing broiler nearing market weight. Rather than a single average figure, accurate flock feed budgeting requires the specific reference intake for each production class: layers, chicks, and broilers at each of their growth stages.

The Formula

Where This Calculation Matters

• Flock-level feed budgeting — scaling a per-bird reference intake to an actual flock size gives the daily and total feed volume to purchase or mill.
• Transitioning broilers through growth stages — broiler feed needs roughly double from the starter to finisher phase, so budgets have to be recalculated at each stage transition rather than held flat.
• Comparing production costs — feed is typically the largest input cost in poultry production, making accurate per-bird intake figures central to cost-per-bird and cost-per-egg calculations.
• Storage and delivery planning — knowing daily total feed consumption for a flock determines how often feed deliveries or mill runs are needed.

Reference Feed Intake by Bird Type (500-Bird Flock)

These are standard poultry nutrition reference values; actual intake varies with breed, ambient temperature, and feed formulation, so use them as a planning baseline rather than an exact figure.

How to Use This Calculator

1. Select the bird type and production stage from the dropdown.
2. Enter the number of birds in the flock.
3. Select Calculate to get total daily feed for the flock.

Related Calculations

Plan storage for purchased feed with the Grain Storage Calculator, or check other species with the Livestock Feed Calculator.