can chickens get enough feed from free ranging

[centrarchid]

Foraging area I see in first picture is of low quality. A couple of acres of such per bird would be required to support egg production without supplementation. With high quality forage, you still need more area than shown per bird for sustained egg production. With small flock free-ranging several quality acres I can realize sustained egg production when at least calcium is used as a supplement.

 

[jsmith2952]

I let my three hens free range for most of the day. I do leave pellets in their coop and have noticed 2 things: 1)I'm still working through my first 50lb bag of food, which they've been eating since July, and 2) when we had a spike in the cricket population in our backyard, there was very little feed eaten. Same happened during the frog infiltration! I took this to mean that maybe chickens aren't natural pigs and will eat what they need when they need it. I agree with the other posters to just have some food available and see how it goes. Better safe than sorry. Hope that helps

 

[Janet Pesaturo]

Yes, you do still need to provide balanced feed. Wild relatives of domestic chicken can get all food from wild, because a small flock ranges over several to many acres, depending on quality of habitat. "Good quality habitat" means lots of plant diversity (grasses,herbs, shrubs, trees), not only because chickens need a variety of plants, but because high plant diversity attracts a diversity of insects, providing a variety of high protein foods. A typical size backyard with a mowed lawn and a few other plants is nowhere near enough to provide everything a flock of chickens need for a balanced diet.