Suddenly picky eaters

[Jasont]

During the winter I was told to add some Chicken scratch with my laying pellets because there is not that much to eat during the winter scratching around the yard. the chicken scratch was given just to supplement their diet. Now they are picking through the feed eating only the chicken scratch leaving the laying pellets to waste on the ground. Is this normal? Should I discontinue the scratch all together? They have plenty of pellets available to them but are seemingly hungry, following me around wanting to be fed. I have RIRs, Cuckoo Marans, Brahma's, Araucanas, and astrolorps. I feed them all the same food plus some table scraps on occasion. They have plenty of room to roam and run. Please advise...

 

[nsanywhere]

There's another post on here about scratch - you might want to follow that one for info, too.

For your situation I would recommend NOT mixing the scratch in with the layer food. I keep a feeder full of feed for my girls to free-feed, then every morning I scatter about 2-3 cups of scratch (I've got 21 chickens, a goose, 2 ducks and a turkey) in the run for them to dig around for. I'm pretty liberal with my scratch so others might have other opinions

Yes, they will act like they are STARVING and desperate for more scratch! And its amazing how quickly they gather at the door when I come out in the morning! But, they are not starving and I'm pretty sure they come to the door for the scratch, not for me

Scratch is to chickens as candy is to children. If given a choice, they'll always go for the good stuff first!

 

[Bullwinkle]

Quote:
Hey... don't ruin it for me!! I just know that my chickens are running up to me because they want to be with me.... not because of the goodies I'm carrying!!

Yea... its the goodies I know... but still I like the Illusion that they aren't just after the food

 

[LynneP]

As the weather gets warmer, wean them off the scratch and moisten the layer pellets in a stock bowl- they'll return to them. But watch individual birds carefull so they do not 'go light'. In winter they eat the easily-digested high carb foods fir to keep warm. Another way to address this is to offer fat balls or suet blocks in winter instead of scratch, or keep the amount of scratch low.

 

[Jasont]

Thanks for the advice and the web-links. We will see how they do. I'm ready to try anything. I hate seeing the pellets waste.