What to Feed Backyard Chickens: A Complete Feeding Guide by Life Stage
Chicken feed is not one thing. What you feed a three-week-old chick differs from what you feed a twelve-week pullet, which differs from what you feed a laying hen in full production. Getting this right makes a significant difference in bird health, development, and egg production. Getting it wrong causes problems that take months to surface.
Here is exactly what to feed at each stage, what supplements help, which scraps are safe, and what mistakes to avoid.
Stage 1: Baby Chicks (0 to 8 Weeks)
Chick starter feed, 18 to 22 percent protein, is the only complete nutrition source chicks need for the first eight weeks.
Medicated vs. unmedicated: Medicated starter contains amprolium, a coccidiostat that prevents coccidiosis, a common and potentially fatal intestinal disease in young chicks. Unmedicated starter is appropriate if chicks were vaccinated against coccidiosis, which many hatcheries do automatically. If you do not know, medicated starter is the safer choice.
Grit: Chicks that eat anything beyond their starter feed need chick-sized grit to grind food in their gizzard. If chicks eat only starter feed, they do not need grit.
What not to feed chicks: Layer feed is too high in calcium for chicks and can cause kidney damage. Scratch grains are not a complete feed. Treats should be minimal in the first 6 weeks.
Water: Fresh, clean water at all times. Chick waterers should be shallow enough that chicks cannot fall in and drown.
Stage 2: Pullets (8 to 20 Weeks)
Transition from chick starter to grower or developer feed at 8 weeks.
Grower feed: 15 to 18 percent protein, lower calcium than layer feed. Appropriate from 8 weeks until first egg or 20 weeks, whichever comes first.
Layer feed contains 3.5 to 4 percent calcium to support shell formation in laying hens. Feeding layer feed to birds not yet laying causes excess calcium to accumulate in the kidneys, potentially causing kidney damage and shortened laying life.
Transition timing: If pullets start laying before 20 weeks, which is common in production breeds, switch to layer feed at first egg regardless of age.
Stage 3: Laying Hens (From First Egg Onward)
Layer feed: 15 to 18 percent protein, 3.5 to 4 percent calcium. Available in pellets, crumbles, and mash.
Pellets produce less waste than crumbles or mash because hens cannot sort out smaller particles they prefer and leave larger ones. Pellets are the most economical form for most keepers.
Calcium supplementation: Offer oyster shell free-choice in a separate small container. Hens self-regulate calcium intake based on their laying rate. High-producing hens often supplement their feed calcium with additional oyster shell.
Protein adjustments: Standard 15 to 16 percent protein layer feed is adequate for most flocks. In hot weather when feed consumption drops, switching to 18 percent protein maintains protein intake at lower feed volumes. During molt, switching to 18 to 20 percent flock raiser or blending higher-protein feed supports feather growth.
Grit: Laying hens that eat anything other than commercial layer pellets need adult-size granite grit. Hens with outdoor access often find their own grit, but offering it free-choice ensures adequacy.
What Scraps and Treats Are Safe
Safe and beneficial treats:
Fruit and vegetable scraps of almost any kind: apple cores, lettuce, cucumber, tomato, pumpkin, squash, melon rinds, banana peels, carrot tops, corn, peas.
Cooked eggs and scrambled eggs. High complete protein, welcomed by hens, does not encourage egg eating if properly cooked.
Plain yogurt in small amounts. Beneficial probiotics for gut health.
Mealworms, dried or live. High protein, particularly valuable during molt.
Black oil sunflower seeds. High fat and moderate protein, good for feather condition.
Foods to avoid:
Avocado skin and pit contain persin, which is toxic to chickens.
Dried beans contain lectins that are toxic to poultry. Cooked beans are safe.
Onions and garlic in large quantities can cause anemia.
Anything moldy or rotten.
Raw potato skins and green potatoes contain solanine, a glycoalkaloid that is toxic in quantity.
Heavily salted food scraps.
Chocolate: theobromine is toxic to birds.
The 90/10 Rule and Why It Matters
Complete layer feed is formulated to provide every nutrient a laying hen needs in correct proportions. When treats and scraps make up more than 10 percent of daily intake, the remaining 90 percent of layer feed provides less than a full dose of each nutrient.
The most common consequence is reduced egg production. A hen whose diet is 30 percent scratch grain and kitchen scraps is nutritionally underserved on protein and calcium even if she appears to be eating constantly. Stick to the 90/10 rule.
Feeding Chickens from Your Homestead
Garden trimmings and food scraps go to the hens. Hens produce manure that goes into the compost or worm bin. Worm castings and finished compost go back to the garden. The garden produces more vegetables, including scraps for the hens.
If you raise red wigglers alongside your flock, worms and worm bedding are a protein supplement hens consume enthusiastically, nutritionally superior to most commercial treats.
Scratch grains are useful for training hens and supplementing energy during cold weather but are not a feed substitute. Offer scratch in small amounts, preferably in the evening when hens are going to roost.
Chick starter medicated for new chicks.
Purina Flock Raiser grower feed for pullets and during molt.
Oyster shell calcium supplement
Dried mealworms treats for high-protein supplementation.
Poultry grit granite for free-choice grit.
For more on managing your flock, see our backyard chickens beginners guide and why hens stop laying eggs.
— Last updated: June 2026.
