How long do you leave out food?

[GentlyLiving]

My girls have their regular feeder with chicken feed in it available to them always. I also like to give them veggie and fruit scraps everyday. My question is, how long do you leave out "real" food in the run? They generally don't eat it all. With the lovely muck they make of leftovers, I don't want to leave it too long, but I also want to make sure everyone has a chance to get what they want.

 

[hallerlake]

My girls have their regular feeder with chicken feed in it available to them always. I also like to give them veggie and fruit scraps everyday. My question is, how long do you leave out "real" food in the run? They generally don't eat it all. With the lovely muck they make of leftovers, I don't want to leave it too long, but I also want to make sure everyone has a chance to get what they want.

I'd toss it at nightfall. I don't want to encourage rats, raccoon, possum, etc.

 

[GentlyLiving]

For sure. I usually take it to them in the morning and leave it until around one (when the kiddos take a nap and I go hang with the ladies). By then it is usually a mess though and I wondered if that was too long?

 

[Nicole01]

I take up fruit 1/2 hour later. Anything else I leave, which is mainly cracked corn, alfalfa, and sunflower seeds.

 

[Den in Penn]

If they are leaving a lot just give them less so they clean it up. I'd give them the whole day to eat it. Do you put it in a tub or trough?

 

[GentlyLiving]

It is not that they leave a lot, they just don't usually finish it all or pick out their favorites. I put the scraps in a tub, but they just walk right through it when they feel like it. I am not too worried, just thought I would see if other people find their hens eat all they want in the first hour or if they pick at it all day.

 

[Den in Penn]

Weelll, I have enough chickens that very few treats last even fifteen minutes let alone an hour or a day. The only things that last a day are pumpkins and squash. Which I cut in half and leave in the run till they are just skins. Hung a cabbage in there thinking it would last. Went in the house came out an hour later and there was just a stem swinging, By the end of the day there wasn't much of that either.