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Restricting food

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Phillyndilly

Phillyndilly

Songster
5 Years
Aug 8, 2018
454
1,192
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Hudson Valley, NY
Hello everyone,
I have a very large mixed flock probably around 100 chickens and roosters, 5 turkeys, 9 geese, 12 ducks.
They are offered free choice in garbage can pvc feeders that I uncap in the morning.
They have access to a fenced 1.5-2 acre area to free range in all the time and they get locked up at night.
They are going through 250 lbs of food in not even 2 weeks.
I’m thinking about starting to restrict their food since it is spring now. And maybe uncap the feeders in the afternoon to see it this makes a difference. I know it’s a lot or birds but they just seem to be going through food so so fast! Any thoughts?
 
Phillyndilly said:
Hello everyone,
I have a very large mixed flock probably around 100 chickens and roosters, 5 turkeys, 9 geese, 12 ducks.
They are offered free choice in garbage can pvc feeders that I uncap in the morning.
They have access to a fenced 1.5-2 acre area to free range in all the time and they get locked up at night.
They are going through 250 lbs of food in not even 2 weeks.
I’m thinking about starting to restrict their food since it is spring now. And maybe uncap the feeders in the afternoon to see it this makes a difference. I know it’s a lot or birds but they just seem to be going through food so so fast! Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
I think that’s a reasonable rate of going through food. Mine go through 100 lbs every two weeks and I have 21 hens, 2 turkeys,3ducjs and 4 chicks
 
Hmm ok it just seems like they’ve increased but maybe because they are all laying now. I just thought maybe free ranging would cut down on feed in general
 
Phillyndilly said:
Hmm ok it just seems like they’ve increased but maybe because they are all laying now. I just thought maybe free ranging would cut down on feed in general
Click to expand...
It can. Depending on what grows in your area will determine how much. If I were to experiment with it, I would close the feeding earlier rather than open it later.
 
Quantity of feed seems low to me too. But within a normal range for your flock.

You don’t live somewhere that can rely on free ranging, for even half their feed, I can’t imagine….unless you specifically plan this. And even then, you are in a colder area, so snow, cold, and lack of bugs will limit the value of free ranging.

However, you have space!! So, do some research on types of plants, grass, greens that are nutritious for the poultry. Encourage bugs to find this area attractive. I know I’ve seen seed mixes (from online resources) that are made for poultry so you can grow a nutritious pasture. I would think that with some research and effort, you can create a nutritious free ranging area for your poultry that helps cut some of your feed costs during the growing months.

Even with free ranging, most people find their birds do best with supplemental commercial feed. I second the idea of letting them eat feed first thing in the day. Cover it up after an hour, if that is possible with your schedule, then re-open 2-3 hours before roost time so they can fill their crops.

FWIW, we are in year 6 of gardening in our current home. It took a good 2-3 years to notice an obvious population boom of insects and worms. But, your efforts will pay off.
 

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