What are your thoughts

[Princess Lay- A]

I feed my girls fermented food in the morning and by late afternoon it’s gone. I have a feeder that they can eat grower feed in it , my question is , I work nights and close the feeder before I leave for work and the girls have not roosted yet, I don’t want to leave opens food out overnight because I am in a high predator area but, feel guilty leaving them with no food , they have grass to eat if they want. What are your thoughts ? Any ideas?

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I feed my girls fermented food in the morning and by late afternoon it’s gone. I have a feeder that they can eat grower feed in it , my question is , I work nights and close the feeder before I leave for work and the girls have not roosted yet, I don’t want to leave opens food out overnight because I am in a high predator area but, feel guilty leaving them with no food , they have grass to eat if they want. What are your thoughts ? Any ideas?

Are they sleeping at night after they roost? If so, no problem; they don’t need food.

But how much time do they have between you leaving and them roosting? If it’s not that long, they’ll probably learn to eat an afternoon meal earlier.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I do the same-the have their dry crumble all day and fermented feed for breakfast. I put it all up when I’m ready for bed. I’ve never asked for their opinion

 

[nuthatched]

They can't eat grass (as a fulfilling ration) but they should be down by the time you leave

 

[Princess Lay- A]

Are they sleeping at night after they roost? If so, no problem; they don’t need food.

But how much time do they have between you leaving and them roosting? If it’s not that long, they’ll probably learn to eat an afternoon meal earlier.

They have about 4 hours from the time I leave til they roost.

 

[Princess Lay- A]

They have about 4 hours from the time I leave til they roost.

They do sleep when they roost ( I check on them when I get home and they’re all asleep

 

[rosemarythyme]

4 hours is a bit long to go without. Where is the feeder located? If it's outside, can you maybe put it in the coop so they can still get something to eat, but it's not as obvious and attractive to pests?

 

[saysfaa]

You can give them a crock or dog dish (or several if you have many birds) with only as much food in it as they will clean up. Or a little less. You should be able to get a pretty good feel for how much within a few days; maybe a little longer because of the way the feeding pattern would change.

I think it would be better if they can fill up sooner to roosting time. Not so much because they won't learn to fill up earlier as because going to roost with a full crop is a pretty universal thing that healthy chickens do. I figure, chickens know how to be chickens much better than I do so the more things that are how they would do them if they could, the better.