Should food be available to the chickens all the time?

[cajunlizz]

Common sense will over rule any experience


You got predators , guard and protect your flock .

 

[Sahara]

I get lots of critters at night so I always put the feed up in the evening. Otherwise I leave it out and filled from early morning until dusk.

 

[annrich]

My chickens free range from dawn until dusk. before I let them out they get their layer feed. I only feed what will be consumed . When they get let out they eat the berries off the trees, insects like crazy, grass, they love earthworms. They have water available at all times. At dinner time they get their Layer feed again. Then locked up for the night. I have to many predators to let them stay out all night long. In the spring and summer I do not feed corn or scratch. It just makes them hyper.

This is just my opinion and what works for me and my chickens.

Edited to add. They also get things like yogurt, oyster shell, and hard boiled eggs sometimes.

 

[kinnip]

Mine have access to food all day and night. Considering there's always a perimeter of cat around their run, I'm not too worried about rodents. There are feeders in the coop for night time. In the morning, their outside feeder is usually still empty from the previous day. I generally leave it until 10 or 11, they're more interested in eating bugs and weeds. When the temp really amps up, I make sure they have easy access to food without having to get around. I also start bringing them treats, since most of those are cold-- fruit, yogurt. By late afternoon the feeder is empty again, but it's cool enough for them to scratch around and chase bugs. Sometimes I still bring them treats because they have a mind control device and there's nothing I can do about it.

 

[palabeco]

Quote:
Well , sorry but I beg to differ . I was raised on a farm with hundred's of chickens . I am 56 years old and can still remember chickens IF ALLOWED would EAT all day long . Like a bottomless pit . LIKE PIGS LOL

Maybe they were meat chickens, which will eat till they can't even stand up anymore.