Free Range and Supplemental Feed

[annelions]

Cost aside, if you're not at least offering them something, I'd think they might get it in their little chicken heads to not come back from free ranging, if they found a halfway decent food and water source.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I'm new to raising chickens and we've just got them in the coop. We have 2 acres, 1 of which is trees/brush/weeds/grass etc (left natural) and 1 is a little more manicured. So far the chicks are staying very close to the coop and eating a lot of grass, new blackberry leaves, etc..

I have feed in the coop (grower at the moment, but will switch to layer when the time comes.) and I do see them duck inside on occasion to grab a beak full. My question is, are the chickens smart enough to regulate their own diet? If they're outside eating grass all day, are they missing the nutrients they need because they're full and not eating their feed?

Chickens are good at knowing when to stop eating; you rarely see a fat chicken (though it does happen). They don't know to eat more bugs vs. grass, though. If they did, then they wouldn't pack their crops full of bread and scratch when there is a feeder of chicken feed nearby.

When they are outside eating grass, etc, they are getting LOTS of nutrients that they don't get in the winter. What they might not be getting, depending on what range they are on, is enough protein. I change from a 16% layer pellet to an 18% pellet in the summer just to give them a little protein boost in the feed they are eating. I also make sure to keep their oyster shell dispenser full all the time so they can grab more calcium if they need it. They are pretty good at regulating their own calcium intake if the supplement is available.

 

[cibula11]

Cost aside, if you're not at least offering them something, I'd think they might get it in their little chicken heads to not come back from free ranging, if they found a halfway decent food and water source.

This was also something I considered too. I'll keep doing what I always have. Thanks.

 

[buckbye]

H

Cost aside, if you're not at least offering them something, I'd think they might get it in their little chicken heads to not come back from free ranging, if they found a halfway decent food and water source.

Has never happened to me. Chickens know where they live.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

H
Has never happened to me. Chickens know where they live.

They know where they live, but they do change where they lay their eggs if they find something better than your nestboxes. Always something to consider when you free-range.

My dad had free-range birds on his dairy farm and they found eggs in the hay mows, the calf pens, in boxes on high shelves in the machinery shed, and once in the cab of a tractor. The birds came back to the hen house every evening, but they never laid their eggs there.

 

[buckbye]

They know where they live, but they do change where they lay their eggs if they find something better than your nestboxes. Always something to consider when you free-range.

My dad had free-range birds on his dairy farm and they found eggs in the hay mows, the calf pens, in boxes on high shelves in the machinery shed, and once in the cab of a tractor. The birds came back to the hen house every evening, but they never laid their eggs there.

Very good point.

 

[KellyRea]

My chickens free range during the day and then get dry split peas and lentils from the grocery store and sunflower seeds and a wild bird mix with millet from the feed store in the evening. Sometimes I will leave the porch light on and let the chickens come up and eat the bugs before closing them up for the night. They have very shiny feathers and lay amazing eggs so I'm guessing that is enough for them.