10% snack theory.

[Chicken girl 15]

I see everywhere I look not to feed more than 10% snacks/treats to the chickens, however, my girls all free range all day. Making 95% of their diet bugs and vegetation. They do fill their selves with feed at bed time though. They all seem healthy and happy so do I need to change to free range only 1/2 the day or leave them as they are?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The 10% therory is for when people feed treats that are inadequate to nutritional needs. Take cracked corn for example, it's very inadequate in protein (8%) and lacking in full nutritional values. Free range nutrition is dependent to where they range, is it high in clover or other high value forage? If you don't believe it is changing to a higher percentage protein feed to compensate like a 20% or if it's a manacured lawn with only cut grass blades keep them in pen until they fill crops in morning before releasing on the range.

 

[MeepBeep]

Egghead_Jr summed it up well, it's all about making sure they get a good balanced diet (especially protein content) and are not holding out for 'treats...

Think of them like children, if you let your children fill up on cheezy puffs and ice cream before all day they are not going to eat a decent meal at meal time, but if you let them 'snack' on a small portion of cheezy puffs or ice cream they will still eat their meals...

 

[Chicken girl 15]

The girls have a very large area to free range on. Some is manacured lawn but most is over growth of so many things I can't even tell you. They go to my neighbors horse barn and eat from the hay pile, or chase bugs. They eat the apples that fall from out trees. They love the compost boxes. They eat everything extra from my garden, well not the spuds or tomato plants.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

a very small bit of the free space they get.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Mine free range, they get about 50 percent ration 50 percent corn sunflower mix, and whatever else I throw their way, mine are fine, I think it matters more if you never allow free ranging, but I don't follow rules, it's very hard to kill a chicken through feeding, but then again I have no expectations from my chickens, so my point is, in my opinion, it's not gonna cause any problems, and if it works for you, do it.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

As long as they stay healthy long enough to make it to freezer camp at a ripe age of 2 I am happy. We will be hatching every spring so that every fall we can butcher. That way there is no laps in eggs and lots of meat in the freezer.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

Thank you all.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Mine are in 1600 sqft of electric netting moved bi weekly around the fruit trees, so seems get less forage than yours. I use turkey finisher 20% protein feed and let them out of coop first light to get the worms. Old farm land like you where the lawn is not 100% blue grass at all. Plenty of clover, vetch and you name it.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

Mine get a all flock grower, I think 20% protien. They are such pigs though parts of my property are going to have to get reseed come fall so spring it's full and green again.