1chip2chicks3cheeks
Songster
As @BlindLemonChicken said, it’s not fair to the chickens to try to make them eat when they’re wanting to sleep. It sounds like scheduled feeding times are something that isn’t easily achieved for you, so perhaps free feeding is your best option (leaving food out 24/7). The way to accomplish this without attracting predators too easily would be to use a predator proof feeder such as a treadle style feeder or a hanging bucket with feeding ports that aren’t easily accessible by rats. We use treadle feeders, at night we just put blocks on the part that flips up so that rats can’t trigger it to open when they walk on it, in the morning we take the blocks off and the chickens eat freely throughout the day.