Why do chickens need to eat all day?

[cheer10]

As I watched, my chickens are eating almost all the time. Why do they eat all day?

 

[Battlepants]

A hens nature is to eat as much as possible. Extra nutrients go to making eggs.

 

[3KillerBs]

It's how nature designed them.

They fill their crops quickly then go to a sheltered place to rest and digest. Then they come out and do it again.

Because they have a rapid metabolism this cycle occurs many times a day.

 

[saysfaa]

Rapid metabolism and short digestive tract.

That works well for a bird on a jungle floor where it is much more likely to find small bits of food often than to find a big meal at once - or possibly would be eaten herself if she did find a big meal at once. Being taken out of the jungle hasn't changed that her design works well for that environment.

 

[Al Gerhart]

A hen's egg production is limited by the amount of protein she can digest so constant eating helps. That and they are browsers/grazers, constantly searching for small bits of food since it is rare in nature that there is a large amount of anything edible available. Most grazers are like this, graze a bit, ruminate it, go back for more. Predators are geared toward a huge feast, eat till they pass out, wake up and eat some more.