not feeding your chickens. anyone?

[Mattemma]

I feed mine but in the summer I did not always run to the back to fill their feeders.I figured they could eat up all the bugs.In the night/early am they could eat from the feeder in the coop.

 

[Orchid]

I do feed my chickens in the summer, but not much, because their feeder is hardly ever empty. They eat so much free ranging that the layer feed apparently isn't very appetizing.

The idea of "not feeding" your livestock is really not very strange when you consider horses can do very well just grazing during the growing season - assuming you have enough for them to graze, of course. Same idea would apply to chickens.

 

[Evelle]

i was just talking to someone the other day who said he just buys a bag of scratch and throws very little for them he owns like 50 birds?? i was like uhhhhhh no i feed my chicks tons and they still act like they are starving (we were talking because i only had 11 $ to buy feed for that week and the feed i usally get is 26$ for 80# bag or 13 cents a # for a ton) i couldnt beleave he said that

 

[Davian]

Mine free range all summer long and get plenty of food that way. I will give them scraps, greens, veggies, etc as a snack but they get the large majority of their food and even water from free ranging. They prefer stream water to their waterers during the summer...go figure. It depends a lot on the breed though. Heritage breeds are usually much better about foraging than pure layers/pure meat birds.

 

[Evelle]

wow now i understand why my father told me i have healthy chickens #shakes head..

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

When I was a kid we had a flock of bantams (I think, after looking into it here, that they were black copper marans mixes) Who slept in trees and foraged for food. We gave them cracked corn (maybe 2 lbs a day for up to 45 birds) and that was it. We didn't even cut down our rooster numbers- we had 3 acres and the twenty-some roosters just learned to deal with each other. Now we didn't go into chickens on purpose. We didn't know what to do with them. A neighbor abandoned them, so we bought the cheapest 'feed' they had to look after them so they wouldn't starve. They were happy and healthy (except the ones the raccoons got!)
My flock now, though, is way tamer. I feed, and house, and spoil them, and consequentially, I enjoy them more. And I can actually FIND their eggs to eat them. I doubt many of my current flock would be okay foraging for 80% of their food, like the banties were.

 

[flowerchild59]

When I was putting up the girls tonight, one of my buff chantecles squatted for me and I reached down and gave her a pat and felt her crop. It was bulging..........she had some scratch this am and a little pellets mid day. She free ranged from morning til dusk. She had plenty to eat even though they all stampeded me when I got out of the car this eve. They see me and they think they are getting a treat. If they free range over many acres in particular, they eat very well.

 

[Tripp16]

I have heard of people doing this, I will say it does bring their instincts to search and find food without just being able to walk up to a feeder and eat all they want!

I feed mine (they eat ALL the time ) but they are in a enclosed run they probably wouldnt eat so much if they freeranged but I cant let them free range where I live.

Plus mine will always rely on that food supply always being there. I guess if their raised that way they no how to survive!