How much do your free ranging chickens eat?

[vortec]

I used to keep my flock in the coop and they were eating fifty pounds of chick feed in one weeks time. Now I let them more or less free range in this huge horse pasture and they don't eat hardly any of the food I put out for them. This works really well for me as I no longer have to stop by TSC every time we pass it to get more feed and its saving me a lot of money. Is this typical?

vortec

 

[danielbrown]

Yep. That the way it works unless you have really lazy chickens.
It makes the eggs so much better too.

 

[Imp]

I usually have 4-5 hens, and only go through 3- 50# bags a year + maybe 1-50# bag of scratch. I do make them a salad every day.

Imp

 

[maf2008]

Quote:
Same thing here... I just put the chickens in a "free range" run that is just sreeened in pvc pipe 25x 50 its huge... and the chickens run up and down the run chasing and eating bugs...

They stopped eating 75 % of the normal scratch and medicated food in favor of grass and bugs. this will save me a fortune! But
I will still feed them all they need.

 

[Judy]

I'm having two different experiences.

I have 4 free range hens who mostly eat in the woods and around the yard, though they have layer mash free choice, and they are locked up at night. I have not kept records but feel they eat about the way imp's do; I buy 25# bags because it takes them several weeks to go through one.

I also have 50 - 12 week olds -- well, it was 50 til we put 10 in the freezer yesterday. They went through 100 lbs. last week. They are also locked up at night but have a 75'x75' yard available all day. They are doing some damage to the weeds in it but there is a lot of green left. But it is about 5-6 years' worth of weeds grown up in what was farmland before, so there is not much grass, and no trees. Their crops were almost entirely full of feed when we butchered. They spend a few hours AM and PM pecking and eating weeds but tend to spend the hot part of the day in the coop. Maybe if it were true pasture, or woods, they would eat less feed. I have maybe 400 sq ft of it sectioned off and planted; when I open that up, it might help, too.

 

[gritsar]

My 13 hens and one roo free range all day, beg for treats as often as possible and go thru about 3 - 4 quarts of layer pellets a day. I say quarts because my feed scoop is a 3 qt. size. They're brahmas aka pigs with wings.

 

[vortec]

Quote:
lol at the comment made at the brahmas. Mine are the same way. You have to love the brahma though, lol

vortec

 

[txchickie]

I have found that it's a struggle to get mine to eat feed, they're all free range and I guess we've got a ton of bugs or something

I keep 1 gal feeders full, one for my 7 weekers (11 chicks), one for my 4 monthers (14 chicks), and one for my adult birds (9 birds). I have to refill them all about once a week? I think it will average out to a bag of starter each month (20lb) and one 50lb bag of layer crumbles every month.

 

[freefly]

8 chcikens freeranging all day, I live on a tropical island Guam.
I give them 12 types of grain available free choice and they eat about 1/2 cup each a day.
They beg for treats any time... I fact when the dog goes out of the house and leaves the door open, I find one chicken in particular standing , looking up to the fridge.... she knows the raisins are keep there.
My girls go crazy when it is raisin time.