Do chickens change eating behaviors w/ change of seasons?

[catlikethief]

I see alot of post asking why chickens stop eating their food and I've never run into the problem until now. Could it be weather related?

My issue is I have seven girls all but one is laying. All are on organic layer pellets and have been for some time, no sudden brand changes.

I've noticed they haven't been eating their feed about ten days ago. I threw away the food in their container and opened a new bag of feed and they still are not touching it.
They do free range in our urban backyard all day, could they just be getting what they need from that alone??

Their crops are fine, and no shortage of eggs so I am not too worried right now.
Just curious.

 

[chickensforever]

If feed intake is weather related, usually it decreases in higher temperatures. Since it's getting colder, their feed intake shouldn't be decreasing, but actually increasing (to get more calories for body temperature maintenance).

I always worry like crazy when one of my animals behaves differently, so I'd probably take one of the chickens to the vet because it's better to know as soon as possible if there is a problem. There's probably nothing wrong, but since you don't know, it's always good to be safe!