Not feeding chickens

[Sam Pritchard]

Soo I'm coming to this group with a question. I've been sort of sick to my stomach how my roommate raises animals. Because of this I decided to raise my three chickens separate from hers. I've raised the 6 birds from babies to now, for two months. She finally got her coop "ready" and they've moved in. They all hang or during the day free ranging. But she refuses to feed her chickens AT all when she puts them up. They're from what I can tell, starving. I feed mine and they go crazy and her three run for my food but I close them off, allowing her to raise her chickens how she wants. This is the second night where they are totally in her care. It breaks my heart knowing they're going to bed hungry. Am I projecting? Am I wrong? She says they need to find their own food. It's just starting to be spring up here in New York, Catskill's. yes they probably are finding food during the day, no doubt. But I really still think they need some feed before bed...

She keeps saying she has experience and worked on farms and it's not just a "hobby" or "pets".. mocking me. Saying what I read online and on blogs is wrong..

I told her she was being cruel and it caused some awkwardness. I feel like I need to just separate myself from those chicks, but it's hard since animal welfare is so important to me. As well, raising them for two months I feel so attached to them.


In your honest opinion.. what do you think? Should they get some feed.. will they be ok?

 

[Theladiesandagentleman]

They need to have feed to supplement any free ranging. My chickens free range for several hours each day but they still eat their regular feed. There are numerous articles on BYC and many other websites about this. It's even more horrible that they have to see your chickens being fed and they are getting nothing. I think you are being responsible and taking care of your animals. They are only two months old and need the balanced nutrition of a good feed. I was raised on a farm growing up. My grandparents had probably 50 chickens that free ranged all day. I still had to give them food every day as one of my chores. I am sorry you are in such awkward situation.

 

[JackieJoe]

Feed them too. Not right , only half gets food , but the other birds have to watch their flockmates eat.... may start a pecking order issue

 

[chickengeorgeto]

A hen or rooster may free range over an area of about 25 acres to make a living. To put that in perspective you are looking at a chicken apartment, house, or living space of over 1,000,000 square feet not exactly a tiny house. And this is only if the free range area is rich in chicken resources or fowl fodder as it were.

So like it or not supplemental feeding is a necessary part of keeping free range chickens.

 

[BarredRockMom]

Wow. I can understand your point of view on this matter. My chickens always have feed available to them, along with fresh water, grit & oyster shell calcium. They go out to free range with supervision.

It has always been my understanding that the feed provides a lot of the balanced nutrition, including vitamins & minerals that their bodies need & that they cannot necessarily find on their own thru foraging.

To not be able to discuss it without mocking you kinda sounds like a defensive position for what she knows isn't correct. (Kind if a jag off move, frankly.) Or she just thinks that she's right and everyone else who doesn't think so (including lots of more experienced chicken keepers than me) is full of it.

Even the larger "free range, touchy-feely, family farm, commercial egg" operations offer their birds food, water, grit & calcium as free choice. So where does her info come from?

You seem to have a few choices:
Distance yourself & ditch her as a '''friend";
Pick up & move yourself & your girls;
Buy extra feed and let her girls help themselves (and yes, they likely are hungry);
Keep doing what you're doing.

It bothers you because it doesn't seem right.
In my opinion, it's not. I am curious to hear what others may think.

I know what I would do & I am refraning from telling you exactly what that is. Let's just leave it at "you're obviously a lot nicer than I am." I also have the luxury of not having to be in a roommate situation, so I get it.

 

[Sam Pritchard]

Thank you everyone for the input! I feel as if I have a lot of knowledge on raising birds- but her belittling my knowledge has me questioning if I was right or wrong.

She was so defensive- I sadly don't think I have a choice of confronting this again. There's no option of moving out. So it looks like I more than likely will just sneak food out of her feed bag (that I bought for her to feed them!) and feed them when she isn't around.

It's really upsetting and what's worse is dealing with someone who believes they "know it all" because they grew up raising chickens. Poor chicks. And seeing my love for raising birds (ducks and chickens) as a "hobby". It just hurt my feelings.. of course it's a hobby but it feels sooo much more than that!


Anyways, love this community and love all the input

 

[Seaecho]

This would just KILL me! To be feeding my chicks, and have hers be so hungry, and then have to be closed off from the food! I would do as some others suggested--I'd feed hers every night (whenever you can get away with it). Otherwise, I'd have trouble sleeping at night knowing those poor chicks of hers went to bed hungry.

 

[red horse ranch]

To not feed her chickens is animal abuse! She may be your friend but in my opinion she should not be allowed to have ANY animals if she can treat them like that!

 

[ButteCA]

Yeeeeeah I would sneak them food. If I’m even late to feeding my chickens in the morning they can be quite aggressive. I give them food in the early morning right when the sun comes up and open their coop so they can go do their chicken thing all day and then feed them to get them back in the coop around 6 or seven at night. That’s probably less than most but I throw them scraps through out the day too. Vegetables and things they are allowed to have. Treat I guess. I’m in a very rural area where bugs are plentiful. That’s freaking sad that they have to see the other chickens eat. I would think it would cause them to become aggressive towards them.

 

[ButteCA]

I know someone like this by the way. Any animal in captivity should not be left to forage only. I don’t care if the chickens are in the coop or not. If they were fed by humans as babies they should continue to be fed by them. They are here because of human intervention not natural selection.