Poultry FAQs

Raising a flock of birds can be a lot of work, but is also very rewarding! Some benefits of raising backyard birds include farm fresh eggs, meat production, flea and tick control, a form of entertainment, or they may be pets that are considered part of the family. Whichever reason made you decide to raise birds, there are still many decisions to make when getting started. How many birds do you need? Where will you keep your birds? How often do you feed them? What do you feed them? These are just a few of the many questions that poultry owners ask themselves when getting started raising their backyard flock. See below for some more frequently asked questions about poultry:

Henhouse Reserve® laying feed for chickens. This feed is crafted with real, wholesome vegetables and grains you can actually see! It also contains Lifeguard® to support gut health and immunity and YolkProud™ for increased egg-quality. Another best-seller is our 17% All-Natural Layer Pellets. This feed also contains Lifeguard® and YolkProud™ and comes in crumble form as well!

Choosing the right feed for your flock depends on both you and your flock’s preferences. If you care about quality and want to actually see the ingredients in your feed,Henhouse Reserve®may be the right fit for your flock. If egg quality and hen health are important factors, our 17% Layer Feedsmay be the best fit. If you care about the overall appearance of your birds, ourFull Plume Feathering Feed may be the right choice. We have a variety of poultry feed options that may be right for you. If you have questions about what to feed your flock, don’t hesitate to contact us via phone,social mediaoremail. We are happy to help!

In order for your flock to get the most out of our feed, you should feed your birds ad libitum, meaning that your birds have feed in front of them at all times. This ensures your birds are getting all of the nutrients they need in their feed to produce strong, nutritious eggs.

We offer a variety of feed options for your mixed flock of birds. If you just picked up your flock of baby birds, our 20% Flock Maker® is a great option. If your flock is full-grown, our 16% Flock Maintainermay be a good fit. We also offer Non-GMO options!

You can purchase Kalmbach layer feed from your local Kalmbach dealer. If you go to the “Where to Buy” tab at the top of our website, you can plug in your zip code and find your local Kalmbach dealer. If you don’t have a dealer close to your location, we also sell many of our products on Amazon.com and Chewy.com. When you click on a product you are interested in, there will be a “Buy Online” option for those products that are available online.

Yes! We have a variety of non-GMO and organic feed options. Some examples of non-GMO layer feed options we offer are our17% Layer Crumble and 17% Layer Pellets. Our organic feed line consists of our 17% Organic Layer Crumble and 17% Organic Layer Pellet.

If your birds are 16 weeks or 4 months of age, you can switch to a layer feed. A variety of layer feed options are available here.

On average, one hen will consume 5 ounces of feed per day. Your chicks will eat much less per day, with the average chick consuming 1-2 ounces of feed per day. This means that for a flock of 6 hens, you should be able to feed about 2 pounds of feed per day and 6 chickswill eat about ½ a pound of feed per day.

If stored properly, your Kalmbach poultry feed should be good to feed to your flock for up to 6 months. You should make sure to store your chicken feed at room temperature, off the ground, in a closed container, where it is not accessible to rodents.

Lifeguard® is a proprietary blend of prebiotics, probiotics, essential oils, and enzymes that are designed to help support digestive, immune and health function in your birds.

Our YolkProud™ technology is a blend of all natural ingredients added to promote vibrant egg yolks. If you compare your YolkProud™ eggs with other eggs, you will likely notice the YolkProud™ eggs have a rich orange color!

We have a variety of gamebird feeds available, varying by life stage. Our Wild Flush® Breeder is a great option for your breeding pheasants and gamebirds, and our Wild Flush® Grower is good for your growing birds. Find more options here.