foraging on open pasture??

[dani2]

Hi,

Ok I have ended up with well a lot of chickens we have around 100+ right now to many for a exact count and the amount of feed we are going through is incredible. We were feeding layer and corn all winter I noticed when I ran out of corn that we still went through the same amount of layer so we have stopped the corn all together as it is apparently just making them fat. We have ten acres of pasture with lots of tall grass wet spots dry spots lots of variety but is there any trick to getting them to go out and eat? We are getting ready to move people around to houses out closer to the pasture for the summer. Does anyone use only free foraging for there diet with little or no layer pellets? I know when I was a kid we had just a few chickens and rarley fed them any actual chicken food they just foraged all day and did great.

Thanks in advance for any help Nicki

 

[Illia]

Even though we feed our chickens layer pellets, they rarely eat it and mainly just forage on 3 acres of pasture/free range.

It's a very wild looking pasture, filled with weeds, shrubs, grass, stumps, a couple remaining trees, and I just planted a whole bunch of grains and other good plants for the chickens and livestock to later eat.

I wouldn't have it any other way!

Anyway, - I think if you let them out to it but made sure all is good and safe, they're fine. If they're not used to it they may take a while to settle into the new lifestyle. . . All of ours, even our latest hatched chicks, are started out on free ranging at about 4-5 weeks. Then, they can enjoy things like grass, seeds, and bugs early on so as they grow up, they forage better than a chicken introduced at a later stage. They still have chick feed to eat though, but spend a lot of time outside.

 

[teach1rusl]

Ten acres is a lot, but so is 100 birds!!! So you're basically asking if an acre can fully or almost fully sustain/support 10 chickens. I have almost 3 acres and five chickens, and they still eat layer feed. Here, bugs aren't out in full force yet, because mine aren't able to get all that they need. I would encourage you to still offer feed, because that is a LOT of chickens to feed off of that land. Can you decrease your number of chickens???

 

[Illia]

Quote:
I have over 60 chickens on 3 acres. . . And all is fine.

But, it is the northwest out here, so. . . Things are VERY lush. I think it depends on location.

 

[iajewel]

I have never fed layer pellets. I don't know if anyone on this board remembers chicken powder. It was a stimulant they had like soybean meal that could be given to chickens un-mixed in feed. During the late 70s drug users learned about chicken powder as it was the Meth of the day. Actually it was the non-bathtub version. After it became apparent that drug users had discovered chicken powder they started mixing the powder or stimulant drug into the feed so that drug users could not extract it. Yes.. thats right.. layer mix is meth for chickens. I don't use it.

That said I free range everything I have. I can't afford not to in the summer when feed is free. I worm and de lice like crazy, and my birds are fat and healthy. When the kids lived at home their birds won allot of shows with free range birds. Im talking 100% free range. No added anything. No days to get them to go into the pen at night I do toss out some corn at dusk. It isn't enough to "feed" them, just a treat to get them to roost where I want them to. About the time the chicks are fully feathered I take them off of feed. Right now my little guys are mostly feathered and eating 2 gallons of bean meal and ground corn mix a day. I only have 66 of the little buggers. They will soon get nothing but range. After all why have chickens if they can't keep your bugs down and your yard thatched. In the winter I save back deer meat scraps and fat from butchering to mix with corn. This cuts feed bills and adds that fat they would have gotten from bugs in the summer. Good protein too. If you butcher your chickens you can save back what you don't use for winter feed.. I know it sounds cannibalistic, but hey.. its free feed and they love it.

 

[gritsar]

I free range on 80 acres, but I still keep their feeder full of layer feed. It's insurance against a bad day foraging.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I can't speak to what was going on in Iowa in the 70s, but I don't want people to worry about feeding chicken feed to their chickens. It doesn't have any type of stimulant in it. It's just food. There are a lot of different ways to feed chickens that work.

Does your pasture have legumes planted in it? To provide more protein to the chickens? If it only has grass, I'd think about planting some legumes out there.

 

[iajewel]

I don't know about other free range folks but I have alfalfa and birds foot tree foil that I also bail up for the cattle and horses. In the winter I find nice fluffy pieces and bring that in for the birds to enjoy during winter months as well.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I haven't gotten courageous enough to fully 100% free range yet, but in answer to your question, i "encourage" foraging by feeding them a small amount in the evening. Specifically since it's now summer, and the woods and fields are full of bugs and new growth, i'm feeding much much less, and i don't keep food in the feeder. I only put feed in the coop if i need them to go in early for some reason. Otherwise, i spread food outside where i want them to forage.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I always keep food in their feeder in the coop, but they only go back there to lay eggs during the day. The rest of the time they are out foraging. I've never needed to encourage them to forage, as they prefer those foods.

We have legumes planted, also, in addition to grass. They used to be pastured in with the sheep during the day, when we had them. They still forage pasture and woodland. They love it once the weather warms up enough for the bugs to show up, of course.