Am I doing this right?

[MerkySky]

Hi,
I let my chickens out in the morning after we move their movable coop about 8, and when I do this I take away their food but allow them all the water they want. I sprinkle in some dried up meal worms that I have to feed our birds and I put in Oyster shells, I also sprinkle in some grit, I do not do the meal worms ever day. That way I figure it gives them a variety to hunt and peck for. They are laying chickens but not yet ready to lay.
When I am ready to get them back into their coop at about 7 pm I gather the food to put back in the coop. I started to do this as it was hard to herd them all back into the coop at night and a friend said this is how she gets hers to come in. I do have a little door I can crawl in and herd them but it is a bit of a work out but I am willing to do it if that is the best way.
But as I watch them run inside to eat they act like they are starving. Should I allow them their food all day long? I have one friend who has chickens who feeds them nothing at all just whatever they find as they roam free in his yard but he lets them go all over. I can not do that or my dogs will eat um.
Also what are good healthy treats you guys share with your chicken? Any advice would be welcome.
Thank you MerkSky

 

[Judy]

I would not make them go all day without regular feed. Mealworms are a great treat, but not a balanced diet. And unless your yard is very unusual, what they forage won't make a balanced, sufficient diet, either. If you don't want to leave the feeder with them (which is what most people here do) then you might want to leave it with them for 20 ro 30 minutes at least twice a day. They won't eat after dark.

Many years ago, the norm was, people let their chickens free range, gave them table scraps and leftovers as available, and perhaps a bit of cracked corn or grain once or twice a day. Chickens can survive this way, depending on the quality and quantity of forage and leftovers, but not necessarily be their healthiest. On a farm with other animals, the forage might very well be excellent. In a modern back yard it is unlikely.

 

[MerkySky]

I would not make them go all day without regular feed. Mealworms are a great treat, but not a balanced diet. And unless your yard is very unusual, what they forage won't make a balanced, sufficient diet, either. If you don't want to leave the feeder with them (which is what most people here do) then you might want to leave it with them for 20 ro 30 minutes at least twice a day. They won't eat after dark.

Many years ago, the norm was, people let their chickens free range, gave them table scraps and leftovers as available, and perhaps a bit of cracked corn or grain once or twice a day. Chickens can survive this way, depending on the quality and quantity of forage and leftovers, but not necessarily be their healthiest. On a farm with other animals, the forage might very well be excellent. In a modern back yard it is unlikely.

Thank you I had no idea they did not eat after dark that means then at 7 they only have a little less then a hour of light so they wont eat and they have gone all day with out it. Good to know I will put it back for them. Glad I asked.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I would highly recommend free choice layer ration all day.

Layer hens do not get fat--they will only eat what they need. Without access to high-quality feed all day, you may get far fewer eggs. The extreme side of this is that you might also get starved chickens.



Quote:
Flockwatcher is absolutely right. My father had free-range chickens that he doesn't feed, but they are on a farm. They eat alfalfa and the bugs in the alfalfa, they get into the commodity bins (corn and oats and ground cottonseed and soybean meal), they "clean up" any spilled feed around the calves' pens, etc--so they get a great diet even without being "fed". Now, if they were in MY yard, they wouldn't find much to eat! Modern life is so different from the way our grandparents lived, but sometimes people forget times have changed and want to do things the "traditional" way even though that way may no longer work.