Free ranging chickens not.... ranging

[Angela2014]

We have a 30+ acre property (and yes, are duly grateful for it) that my chickens have "free range" of. I put that in quotes because they rarely go 50 feet from their coop.

I specifically bought breeds that I understood were good at being independent (orpingtons, plymouth rock, leghorns, and then some easter eggers thrown in for my kids). These guys do nothing other than sit around the front of my house and poop on the walkway.

I had been feeding them organic feed in a free-choice set up, but frankly got tired of going through so much food so fast. So I started only putting some out in the mornings, but they still didn't show much interest in looking for their own food. Now I've started throwing handfuls out on the ground, to encourage them to look at the ground, but they sure do seem like they're starving. They've started running and leaping up at me and my kids when we go outside and it's frankly getting a bit alarming.

I feel like we're really out of balance. I can't justify to myself going through a 50 pound bag in 3-4 days when we have all this land available. To be perfectly honest, I don't want to provide any store-bought food at all, given that I can't walk outside with ticks, flies, and other bugs all over me. Shouldn't that natural bounty be delicious for them?

Any suggestions or guidance from the experienced would be helpful. I've read a lot of posts about chickens acting hungry all the time, but most of those were about chickens in runs. I feel like the amount of space here should make a difference in the analysis.

Info that might be relevant:

We have a total of 40 birds, 20 are the chickens and 20 are a combo of turkeys, muscovies, and guineas.
The non-chickens range a lot further, but even they have started copying the chicken behavior recently.
The chickens are now 4 months old, everyone else is 2 months old.
I do have too many roosters (bought straight run) and am slowly culling them.
We're in VA. It's been 90+ degrees with no rain for about 2 weeks. I've been refilling multiple water dishes regularly.
These are our first foray into poultry but they seem pretty healthy.


Advice, please?!?!?!?!?!

 

[amynrichie]

I think your birds are young enough that they NEED the extra feed. My older birds (over a year) are lovely free rangers. My 3 1/2 month olds are starting to get the hang of it, but still go to the feeder a lot more frequently than the older birds. My bourbon red turkeys free range well, even the two month olds, but the meat gturkeys, (broad breasted,) need A LOT more than just free range. They, too, spend more time at the feeder.

You might also look into feeder options that don't create as much waste. We just built 5 gallon bucket feeders with pvc pipe holes, and reduced the waste considerably.

Once you get your roosters in the freezer, that will help, too.

 

[amynrichie]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/830967/keeping-food-in-feeder#post_12538597

Hopefully that link works. That's the thread that showed us how to make our bucket feeders

 

[sanchabird]

I personally wouldn't withhold feed from them. They are still pretty young and they need it. And you have 40 birds so your feed bill will be high just because theres 40. Mine were in a tractor until they were 5 months. I decided after that that I wouldn't pen them up, so now they have free range of our 1/2 acre backyard. Not much, but perfect for 4, well now 3 chickens. For a while they stayed close to the coop, then slowly started venturing off to the other side of the yard. Now 1 and a half years later, they are very independent. I have 1 that jumps the fence all the time, actually I don't think she spends anytime in the backyard. I have another that's broody and another that wanders the backyard. I think the ranging comes with age and they still might not go far. We have 30 acres, but we don't live on it and I can't imaging my girls going farther than an acre maybe 2. Growing your own vegetables for them would also help. Carrots, tomatoes, squash, zucchini and sunflowers are good choices.

 

[Angela2014]

Thanks to both of you, it sounds like I was just anticipating too much from them at this age. I'll cross my fingers and hope they'll grow out of this as they get bigger.

 

[sandesnow]

I agree. Age is probably what is keeping them so close too. I have 5 hens, 2 that are a year old and 3 that are 6 months old and the younger ones stayed close for some time. Probably started venturing out further within the last month. After the pecking order was establish, the looked to the others on foraging, least that is what it seemed. They now traipse all over our 1/2 acre just like the older ones do. My kids even have to bring them back into the fencing multiple times a day because for some reason 1/2 an acre isn't enough?? LOL They rarely go off of our property, but having lost one last year to a hawk, we are always mindful of where they are at all times.


EDIT: I should also say that we feed daily in the morning. The girls stay in the coop until we get 4-5 eggs. I am not real sure how much they need to feed on daily, but they are never without ever. I think I add a 2 pound scoop of food a day. Sometimes they go through it all and leave like an inch or so in their feeder, sometimes they hardly eat half because they are munching on bugs and other things. Lately (it has been quite warm) they have been eating lots of watermelon and on really hot days I have been feeding frozen bananas. They love it!

 

[yyz0yyz0]

+1 on the age thing.

Last summer when mine were young they would not go far from their pen whenever i let them out. Now as soon as the gate is open they're off and running to their favorite garden to start tearing it up. Oh, how I long for the days when they stayed close and the gardens were safe......

 

[birdlady79]

I agree. Age is probably what is keeping them so close too. I have 5 hens, 2 that are a year old and 3 that are 6 months old and the younger ones stayed close for some time. Probably started venturing out further within the last month. After the pecking order was establish, the looked to the others on foraging, least that is what it seemed. They now traipse all over our 1/2 acre just like the older ones do. My kids even have to bring them back into the fencing multiple times a day because for some reason 1/2 an acre isn't enough?? LOL They rarely go off of our property, but having lost one last year to a hawk, we are always mindful of where they are at all times.


EDIT: I should also say that we feed daily in the morning. The girls stay in the coop until we get 4-5 eggs. I am not real sure how much they need to feed on daily, but they are never without ever. I think I add a 2 pound scoop of food a day. Sometimes they go through it all and leave like an inch or so in their feeder, sometimes they hardly eat half because they are munching on bugs and other things. Lately (it has been quite warm) they have been eating lots of watermelon and on really hot days I have been feeding frozen bananas. They love it!

Sorry about hijacking this thread.... My chickens are starting to squat, red combs, and loud but no eggs.... They free range... I've put plastic eggs, hung curtains over nesting boxes and still nothing.... Should I try leaving them in coop all morning to see if they will lay? I've read where several people keep theirs locked up I till they lay.... My oldest ones are 5 months... I know I'm really excited for my first egg!! Lol

 

[lazy gardener]

What I did with my starter flock of 5 pullets last summer was let them range from the time they were "full sized" (around 3 months) till the time they were squatting, singing the egg song, and checking out the nest box. Then, I kept them shut in their run. I don't remember if i kept them in 24/7 until the eggs started appearing, or just kept them in most of the day. Until they were reliably using the nest box, they didn't get out of the run until well after noon. When they returned to the nest box from where ever they were ranging, i started allowing all day ranging again (as long as I'm home.) It's helpful to get them trained to return to the run when you call them. This year's pullets are starting to sprout red combs and wattles, so, i'll have to start the confinement with them soon.

Re: encouraging youngsters to free range, and having a lot of food wasted/used: I feed first thing in the morning, and again mid afternoon or when i want them to return to the coop around supper time. Sometimes I feed them mid day as well. I use FF, so there's not so much as a grain of feed wasted. To encourage the youngsters to forage, I toss a quart of scratch in an area that i want them to work over: on an ant hill, on a persistent patch of weeds, on a compost or leaf pile. Or at the edge of the woods on a hot day to encourage them to seek shade.

 

[sandesnow]

Quote: I really should have been specific in my meaning. This is for hens that have already begun laying on a regular basis, that I keep them in the coop until they have laid 4-5 of the possible 5. It isn't really to make them lay, but so that I don't have to discover a nest somewhere like I had 2 months ago with about 12 eggs in it. They will do all sorts of squatting for a couple weeks before laying. I don't cover my boxes at all. I do have golf balls in my nesting boxes, but that is more to deter pecking eggs. All my hens started laying around 20-22 weeks of age, but also I believe breed plays a part in when a hen starts to lay. My Golden Comets (Sex-links), that was the age of when they started. And every single one of them squatted for a good 3 weeks prior.