Chickens not eating their commercial feed

[Amazonium]

My pullets have become extremely finicky lately. They haven't begun laying so I still have them on starter/grower feed but they have begun turning up their beaks at it and won't eat it no matter how hungry they seem to be. They have a half-acre yard to free range in from sunrise to sunset and then back to the coop they go. I've tried 2 different brands of food and both were no-gos. I can't tell if they are underweight ( when I pick them up they do seem "light" for their size, if that makes any sense) but they are active and seem to be happy. Am I just being a worry-wart Mama??

 

[Mace Gill]

My pullets have become extremely finicky lately. They haven't begun laying so I still have them on starter/grower feed but they have begun turning up their beaks at it and won't eat it no matter how hungry they seem to be. They have a half-acre yard to free range in from sunrise to sunset and then back to the coop they go. I've tried 2 different brands of food and both were no-gos. I can't tell if they are underweight ( when I pick them up they do seem "light" for their size, if that makes any sense) but they are active and seem to be happy. Am I just being a worry-wart Mama??

If they are active, happy, healthy, and enjoying the forage, let them be ... heat might have something to do with it also ... mine are eating less right now with the heat wave, but are perfectly happy.

 

[Amazonium]

If they are active, happy, healthy, and enjoying the forage, let them be ... heat might have something to do with it also ... mine are eating less right now with the heat wave, but are perfectly happy.

Thanks! We are definitely in the throes of a Texas summer, so perhaps that's it!

 

[Mace Gill]

Thanks! We are definitely in the throes of a Texas summer, so perhaps that's it!

If you think they're overheating, take a muffin tin, fill the cups with peas, berries, beans, or what have you, fill with water, freeze, and pop a couple frozen treats out for them.

Avoid corn for now, especially cracked corn ... they have to grind that up in their gizzards and that generates heat

 

[centrarchid]

If hot like it is here, then they will consume little during the middle of the day. They will feed off and on in morning till about 10:00 AM then not start up again until the last couple hours before going to the roost. Mine have exceptional forage right now so they have little trouble feeding up even with so little time devoted to foraging. As of right now when temperature is about 100 F, all the birds are loafing in shade with many laying down or even sleeping. I have close to 30 roosters, yet can not hear a peep from anyone. Only chicks and small juveniles are active but they are not going after feed even though it is good and and nearby in the shade.

 

[lazy gardener]

If you think they're overheating, take a muffin tin, fill the cups with peas, berries, beans, or what have you, fill with water, freeze, and pop a couple frozen treats out for them.

Avoid corn for now, especially cracked corn ... they have to grind that up in their gizzards and that generates heat

They have to grind everything up in their gizzards. Corn is the primary ingredient in chicken feed. A calorie is a calorie, no matter what the source. The definition of a calorie: amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1,000 grams of water by one degree Celsius. This unit is used as a measure of the energy released by food as it is digested by the human body. So no matter the source, the body requires a certain number of calories to maintain current weight.