feeding my flock

What kind of chickens are they and what are you feeding? For most, you can leave the food out all day and they will eat what they need when they need it. You can take up at night if you need to avoid other types of beings taking up residence.

JJ

 

Here is a nice statistic: "4 pounds of ration for every dozen eggs she lays".. got that from Gail Damerow's book. Somehow it was computed statistically to 1/4 pound per chicken per day.

Soooo I fill the feeder with about 1 1/2 pounds and my 3 piglets, I mean chickens, eat it all in the morning. They free range...and they get lettuce, bok choy, pasta, cereal, sometimes left over scrambled eggs, and other food. (tonight they got the remainder/rind of a watermelon.) Then at night they act hungry so I put more crumbles out. I have layer pellets too--and they don't think of them as food. Sometimes too, they get sloppy and waste. They are very hungry....

I know that they don't have worms, because I just wormed them. They are laying up a storm.... And they are not fat and lazy.

That makes me wonder about the quality of the feed in the feed sack.

You may have several variables here, the age and activity and laying of your chickens, and the composition of their food. We are, for example in a drought and there really isn't much to free range on...so that supplement is missing from their diet. So I am investigating the feed to switch to.

I believe that one of the signs of a healthy animal (cat, dog, chicken) is that it is hungry and wants to eat. Chickens also are reputed to only eat what they need. The quality of the chicken's diet will affect the eggs that they are able to produce.

Put out 'a lot' in a free choice feeder, if they empty it, then either put more in or refill. If they only half empty it, then put out less.

Like others, I bring all food in at night so I have nothing to attract unwanted eaters -- like rodents.

good luck finding that balance.