not liking their feed....

[Cissy48]

What brand of Organic Feed is most popular? My chickens barely eat any of their feed. I let them out after noon till roost time. They have free run of the garden/yard/woods this time of the year. I have 16 total. I have used less than 20#'s in about 3 weeks. When I let them out they go crazy pulling at the grass like they never ate before and then slow down after a few minutes and start scratching like a proper chicken. They are growing well enough and look healthy. They also get scraps from the kitchen. I am alone so that doesn't amount to much. On one hand I'm glad they don't eat much but I want them to eat well. When they were younger and I didn't pasture them I feed them chopped hard boiled eggs as a supplement. Now they get a few handfuls of mixed bird seed to train and socialize them. They train easily. Any thoughts?

 

[extraordinaryfowl]

How old are they? If they are free-ranging and you are feeding them extra treats I wouldn't expect them to eat much feed . . . They will eat what they need, trust me in saying that chickens are not picky. Also if you have 2-3 hens or something like they won't be eating much. MW

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Free ranging will decrease your feed bill tremendously.

When I choose an organic feed, I go by the smell of it.

I have served some organic chick starter that smelled bad- I think because it had flaxseed meal in it which goes bad so quickly. But another brand smells so fresh I am tempted to taste it myself. I don't remember the brand names...check with your feed stores and see what's available to order?

 

[Cissy48]

I have 4 B Andalusian pullets, 4 EE pullets, 3 Brahma pullets and 5 Brahma Roos. They are 12 weeks old today.

I haven't had chickens since 1978. (lost them all to dogs in the Big Snow Storm) There was no such thing as Org Feed back then....at least not around here. We made our own. Organic has finally gone mainstream. It is so much easier to find things. If you can't manage to grow it yourself. Times are changin'.

These beasties have saved me. I have something to be passionate about in my senior years. Keeps me movin'.

Thank you for the input.

 

[so lucky]

Cissy, I have found that my chickens eat their layer food better if I wait a couple of hours in the morning before giving them anything other than their free-choice layer food. They still eat their warm oatmeal or scrambled eggs with gusto when I give it to them at 9:00 AM, rather than 7:00AM. I agree with the other posters: When they free range most of the time, they don't eat a lot of prepared feed. Chickens ARE theraputic, aren't they?