Chicken Feed Cost
Free Chicken Feed Cost calculator with clear step-by-step results.
About Chicken Feed Cost
Feed is the dominant running cost of a flock. Daily intake per bird is scaled by head count, grossed up for spillage - which is easily 5-10% with open feeders - and priced over the period so you can compare bulk purchase against the cost per bird per month.
Formulas
Daily feed
Daily kg = birds x grams per bird / 1000 x (1 + waste)
Period cost
Cost = daily kg x days x price per kg
Worked example
With the default values below, Chicken Feed Cost returns Feed cost for the period of $41.99. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Number of birdsaccepts 1–100,000
- 12
- Feed per bird per dayminimum 1 g
- 120 g
- Feed priceminimum 0 $/kg
- 0.9 $/kg
- Period lengthaccepts 1–730 days
- 30 days
- Feed spillage and wasteaccepts 0–40 %
- 8 %
Results
- Feed cost for the period
- $41.99
- Feed used per day
- 1.555 kg
- Feed used over the period
- 46.66 kg
- Cost per bird per month
- $3.55
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Daily feed
- 3Period cost
- 4Feed cost for the period= $41.99
- 5Feed used per day= 1.555 kg
- 6Feed used over the period= 46.66 kg
- 7Cost per bird per month= $3.55
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 5 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation or tax into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a laying hen eat?
A standard brown layer eats roughly 110-130 g of complete feed a day. Bantams eat around 70 g and heavy dual-purpose breeds can reach 150 g.
How do I cut spillage?
Treadle or tube feeders with anti-scratch grids typically halve waste against open trays, and filling to no more than two-thirds stops birds flicking feed out.