Girls arn't eating....is it the Layena?....should I worry?

[Haunted Chicken]

My 5 hens are barely making a dent in their food lately. I recently switched them to Layena (Omega 3) and thought they might not like it. But they free range all day so I thought maybe they were just finding a lot to eat. I had to cut them to half a day free ranging recently and they still aren't eating very many pellets. They do get treats but not much. An example would be, a small zucchini and some yogurt one day and greens and a handful of scratch the next. When I say they aren't eating very much of their pellets I'm talking barely a cup for all 5 of them. I thought they were supposed to have 1/2 to 3/4 a cup each every day.

Is it normal for free ranging chickens to not eat very much of their pellets? They're very active and love to run around the yard, oh and they range from 5-6 months in age. 2 are laying.

Thanks

 

[Clay Mudd]

My flock vary a lot in how much "feed from the feeder" they eat, depending on how much time they've had to forage, how much kitchen waste they've gotten, etc.

What feed were you giving them before the layena?

 

[joneus]

Mine dont eat very much, either- but they free range all day. If they're not losing weight and are acting okay, I wouldnt worry too much.

 

[Haunted Chicken]

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They were on medicated crumbles, which they pigged out on daily lol. Guess I'm stressing over nothing. Must be new mom syndrome.

Thanks, I feel better about it now

 

[Haunted Chicken]

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I'm starting to think I worry over nothing with these girls lol. It feels good to have someone say it's normal. I guess they'll eat if they get hungry. Seems obvious now lol. Thanks

 

[so lucky]

Mine would hardly eat the Layena when I first started them on it. So I fed them extra treats to make up for it, which made them eat even less Layena. I cut back pretty severely on the treats, and now they are eating a somewhat acceptable amount. They free-range a couple hours per day, and really take advantage of that opportunity. Don't know what they are going to do when there are no bugs or fresh grass/weeds this winter.

 

[Haunted Chicken]

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I won 250 lbs of Layena, I sure hope they develop a taste for it because I hate to miss out on that big of a savings on food this winter.

I may have to start farming meal-worms lol