What percentage of scratch gets eaten?

[Chocobo]

I have a chicken tractor so there is always grass and I am about to start feeding scratch. From what I've read people throw it into the tall grass as a treat so the chickens have something to scratch around for and occupy themselves. How much of that do they actually find and consume though if it's not a dirt floor?

 

[Fred's Hens]

Scratch is not a necessity, of course, but something that folks buy just to give their chickens a little something that is easy to throw out for them. It's nutrition is somewhat low as it lacks many ingredients needed for a complete feed.

The problem only comes in when owners find the convenience too addictive and over feed it. Chickens too can sometimes get excited about scratch that they over eat on it, as the scratch can displace the higher quality feed in the diet. The BCY rule, for what it is worth, is that scratch should not constitute more than 10% of the diet.

Throwing it onto grass means that some might not be found. It may also mean that the chickens dig and scratch up that area down to the dirt in their search for the grains.

 

[Mahonri]

My chickens seem to find every particle of scratch. I use it sparingly, but I always buy the kind that has BOSS in it.

 

[jlasuzi]

My chickens must be super picky or just spoiled. They wont eat scratch. I throw a very small amount out occasionally to try to entice them and they walk right by it.

 

[southerndesert]

We mix rolled oats, BOSS, and some other seeds into feed store bought scratch and use it very sparingly and the chickens eat every bit we throw out for them.... For our 2 flocks a bag of scratch with our additives lasts a very long time.....