What to Feed Chickens: Diet by Age, Cost per Bird, and a DIY Recipe

Updated July 2026 · Topic: chickens · Editorial team

The feed aisle at a farm store is a wall of near-identical bags, and the person who told you "just get chicken feed" left out that the wrong bag at the wrong age can stunt a pullet or hollow out an eggshell. Feed is also the one cost that never stops — it's the entire running expense of a flock — so knowing what each bird actually needs, and what it truly costs to fill her, is where backyard economics live or die.

The right feed at each age

A chicken's protein and calcium needs shift as she grows, and feeding the wrong stage does real harm. The two dangerous mismatches: layer feed given to chicks delivers far too much calcium for developing kidneys, while a laying hen on plain grower runs short on the calcium her shells demand. Match the bag to the age and both problems disappear.

Two supplements ride alongside the main feed for laying hens. Oyster shell, offered in a separate dish, lets hens self-regulate the calcium that goes into shells — don't mix it into feed, let them take what they need. Grit, small hard stones, is what a chicken uses instead of teeth; free-ranging birds find their own, but confined birds eating anything beyond crumble need it supplied.

What the flock actually costs to feed

A laying hen eats about 1.5 pounds of feed a week, or roughly 75–90 pounds across a year of laying. At bagged-feed prices of about $0.40–0.50 a pound, that's $35–45 a year per hen, or $3–4 a month — the number that drives the whole ROI question in are backyard chickens worth it. Two levers cut it: genuine free-ranging can trim the feed bill 10–20% in the growing season, and fermenting feed — soaking it in water for a few days until it sours — improves digestibility and can stretch the same bag noticeably further while birds waste less.

A DIY whole-grain recipe (and its catch)

Mixing your own feed appeals to anyone watching costs or wanting non-commercial ingredients. A workable layer blend by weight looks roughly like this:

• 60–65% grains — cracked corn, wheat, oats, barley for energy.
• 20–25% protein — soybean meal, field peas, or fish meal to hit the protein target.
• 5–8% calcium — ground oyster shell or limestone for shells.
• 2–3% vitamin/mineral premix — the part homemade mixes most often get wrong.

The catch is balance. Commercial feed is formulated to hit precise protein, amino-acid, and micronutrient targets, and a homemade blend that's a few points short on protein or missing methionine and lysine quietly lowers lay rate and feather quality. Unless you're pricing bulk grain well below bagged feed and adding a proper premix, DIY often costs the same or more while risking deficiencies — worth doing with a tested formula, not by eyeballing a bucket.

Common mistakes, in numbers

• Feeding layer to chicks. Layer feed carries roughly 4% calcium — several times what a growing chick's kidneys can handle. Keep chicks on starter until they lay.
• Too many treats. Scratch and kitchen scraps are candy; past 10% of the diet they dilute protein and calcium, and shell quality and lay rate slip within weeks.
• Skipping oyster shell. A 16% layer feed alone often can't fully cover peak-lay calcium demand; without free-choice shell you get thin, cracking shells.
• Assuming DIY is automatically cheaper. Without cheap bulk grain and a real premix, a homemade mix can match bagged feed on price while running short on nutrients — the worst of both.

FAQ

Educational information only, not veterinary advice. BackyardStead Lab keeps no commercial flock; figures here are compiled from USDA, university extension and published poultry data. Backyard chicken laws vary by city and county, so check your local ordinances before buying birds. Costs, lay rates and egg prices vary with breed, climate, feed prices and management.