When can I remove food 24hrs?

[TwistedTayy]

I Have had a HUGE problem with flies. I started to see improvement when I switched from starter crumble to starter pellet and have since been mixing in maintenance but I've been seeing an increase in the flies in the last couple days. They free range from around dawn (ish, I'm working on it lol) to dusk, sometimes after dark but they usually put themselves away not long after dark. "They" are 15 five-week-old welsh harlequins, 3 7 week old jumbo pekin, 1 7 week old white layer (a nice surprise) and 2 6 week old pilgrim geese. I have about 4 of those rubber bowls that are spread out in their "pasture" that I keep full for them of their mix though the "littles" have their own mix that stays in their own run (each age group has a separate house and attached run). They never are able to really empty any bowls during the day but they make short work of dumping them out... so then I fill them back up. Wherever there has been food dumped out there is also a COLONY of flies. My thinking is that if they have food taken away at night and "during the day" and are fed a smaller amount in the morning and in the evening, they will be more interested in eating it when its provided than stomping through it and flipping the bowl. The morning food can still be put out but because they were hungry in the night they will eat more of it right away and thus the bowls will be less full during the day so if they DO get knocked over, less mess, less flies.

My only concern is that I know they're supposed to have access to food at all times when they are young but when is that threshold over? First molt? First egg? Its not a matter of switching from starter to maintenance/layer, but encouraging foraging. They have access to about 2000 sq ft and as they grow (or kill grass) I add to or adjust the fence line (plastic heavy duty poultry fence from tsc). There is bushes and trees and all manner of hidey holes for bugs. The welsh harlequins have a large 7 lb feeder in their run which will remain as they are the only ones that go in there really and the pekins/geese are out on pasture (they are the main perpetrators anyways). But Id still like to know the age when they can rely more on foraging instead of staying near food sources.

 

[N Good]

I Have had a HUGE problem with flies. I started to see improvement when I switched from starter crumble to starter pellet and have since been mixing in maintenance but I've been seeing an increase in the flies in the last couple days. They free range from around dawn (ish, I'm working on it lol) to dusk, sometimes after dark but they usually put themselves away not long after dark. "They" are 15 five-week-old welsh harlequins, 3 7 week old jumbo pekin, 1 7 week old white layer (a nice surprise) and 2 6 week old pilgrim geese. I have about 4 of those rubber bowls that are spread out in their "pasture" that I keep full for them of their mix though the "littles" have their own mix that stays in their own run (each age group has a separate house and attached run). They never are able to really empty any bowls during the day but they make short work of dumping them out... so then I fill them back up. Wherever there has been food dumped out there is also a COLONY of flies. My thinking is that if they have food taken away at night and "during the day" and are fed a smaller amount in the morning and in the evening, they will be more interested in eating it when its provided than stomping through it and flipping the bowl. The morning food can still be put out but because they were hungry in the night they will eat more of it right away and thus the bowls will be less full during the day so if they DO get knocked over, less mess, less flies.

My only concern is that I know they're supposed to have access to food at all times when they are young but when is that threshold over? First molt? First egg? Its not a matter of switching from starter to maintenance/layer, but encouraging foraging. They have access to about 2000 sq ft and as they grow (or kill grass) I add to or adjust the fence line (plastic heavy duty poultry fence from tsc). There is bushes and trees and all manner of hidey holes for bugs. The welsh harlequins have a large 7 lb feeder in their run which will remain as they are the only ones that go in there really and the pekins/geese are out on pasture (they are the main perpetrators anyways). But Id still like to know the age when they can rely more on foraging instead of staying near food sources.

By 6 weeks you can move to 2-3 feedings per day, as much as they finish off in 15 minutes. If you are especially worried or a slower growing breed you can wait until 8 weeks.

 

[AOrchard]

They can rely on foraging from day one. Go watch some wild ducks with babies at the park, there are plenty capable of handling foraging as little chicks, especially with the side of area you have available.

In my experience with my chickens at least, the bigger issue is teaching them that forage is tasty. My chickens that grew up on pellets don't know that foraged stuff tastes good, and some of them were scared of bugs and stuff at first.

I've taught them to eat pellets out of my hands, so I will bring them in forage (various bits of plants, live or dead bugs, etc) and give it to them to acclimate them. Usually they are a little weirded out at first, but after a while they get adventurous and then get used to eating foods with different shapes, textures, flavors. Once they are energetically eating different stuff I toss them, then I'll take away the pellets for a few hours. They'll go out to get their own food, and they are open to food that is not pellets.