Large pellet feed encourage foraging?

[TSH16]

Didn't see this in any discussions yet, so apologies if this is a duplicate.... I've noticed that most feed on sale is in mini pellet size, which is helpful when first moving juveniles to regular feed and the older chickens seem to eat more when offered the mini size. Wondering if anyone has noticed that the larger pellets encourage chickens to forage more. My chickens have a huge, protected run area, but run en masse when it's feed time like they have no food. When I just have the large pellets, they act like they can take or leave them. No difference in egg production.
Large pellets are harder for me to get, but worth it if they encourage foraging. Any one else experience more foraging with large pellets?

 

[SourRoses]

I'm not sure what your goal is when you say "forage more". Do you mean "eat less"?
We haven't had good results feeding pellets precisely because they eat less. My goal with feeding our chickens is that they eat as much of the healthy, balanced feed as they can, so they look and feel their best.

Foraging is something they're always going to do. A chicken with a full crop isn't going to turn down a wriggly, juicy worm.
Around our place the feeder visits happen after they've exhausted their entertaining opportunities in the dirt and they get hungry.

So, if you don't think they're foraging enough, it might be worth a look around the space to see what's available for them to get out there.
Some plants aren't healthy for them and they instinctively avoid them. People often expect them to eat grass but there's not much in it for them so they really don't (grazing mammals' digestion is different). Ours go after the grass seeds and dig up the roots to find bugs underneath.
The most useful question may be, what can you do to bring more bugs to your area? Damp, organic matter is a good place to start.