Food for Four

[KickingChicken]

I have 4 chickens total, two 7 mo. old cuckoo marans and two 6. Mo. old Orpingtons. I fill their hanging metal feeder every morning with at least a gallon sized mason jar filled with Purina Layena chicken crumbles. They go through that easily in one day. Also I open up their run in the morning, but they never seem to leave it. I would like them to get out and free range a bit, if anything to give their run a break. It would be nice if they supplemented their food with what they find out in my yard. I also do give them kitchen scraps when I have them.

They also spill a lot of their crumbles on the ground. I am wondering if I should switch to some sort of pellet or a different container? So to summarize my quandary, does that much food for four chickens seems excessive? How can I make them free range? Should I change type of food?

 

[sharol]

That's way more than my 7 eat. I have a hanging feeder that I put about a quart and a half of feed in every few days. They also have pellets (only one or two eat those -- the others shun them like the plague) available and a half pint of soaked pellets (to use them up) in the morning as a warm breakfast in the run. You must be getting some waste from them. Can you get a picture of the setup?

 

[Chick Charm]

Switching to pellets will decrease food waste compared to crumbles. That amount of food seems a tad high. Throw some mealworms outside of the run and open it up. They will come running. That should encourage them to free range a bit. Free ranging is beneficial for many reason.

 

[backyardmenagerie]

That's a lot of food! My 12 chickens take 2 days to go through a gallon sized feeder full of feed, if allowed to free-range. On rainy, nasty days when they are locked up, they finish off most, but not all, of a feeder full in a day. I only re-fill in the evening. If they run out during the day, all the more incentive to go out and forage.
Do you have the feeder raised up? Also, you said they are spilling a lot. Can you put a pan on the ground to catch the waste, or change to a different feeder?
Maybe try taking the feeder away when you want them to free-range. If they don't have a free meal to sit in front of, they may be more willing to venture out.

 

[TomG]

Hang your feeder up off the ground at chicken head level, then thy can't scratch it out. You may also be feeding all the mice in the area.

 

[KickingChicken]

I think I may have found a few of my problems by your wonderful posts! I only have the hanging feeder a few inches off the ground.... I will raise it to head level tomorrow morning. I should also switch to feeding at night. They are just going through so much food. The hanging feeder also seems to clog up if any water or humidity gets to it. I will have to go take another look at other options for feeders.