nanarock Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Hi everyone, I dont know if i am worrying about nothing but my chickens dont eat their pellet feed, they mostly free range all day and i give them cooked rice daily. not a large amount. Are they getting enough from free ranging, should I stop giving them rice which I must say they love. They are all laying daily and look in good health. They also get any greens from indoors. I have just 3 chickens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennym Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Hi there, I'm very new to this but my understanding is that it's best to restrict "extras" in the morning, so they eat some pellets and get all the good stuff they need to be healthy and make the best eggs. Then they can have treats in the afternoon. Having said that I doubt they're starving - if they were truly hungry I suspect they'd eat the pellets! By the way, I think salt is very bad for them so make sure your rice is cooked without it. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nanarock Posted May 22, 2011 Author Share Posted May 22, 2011 Thanks for replying i dont cook the rice with salt, What i am really asking is are all the things that are found in the pellets in the stuff they are eating free ranging on grass and insects. I will now try leaving them in the run for an hour or two in the morning with just their water and pellets and see what happens. They will most probably make a lot noise protesting and pace up and down a bit, but perhaps it for the best. Rice will be left until the afternoon. I am fairly new at this also had chickens for 2 months. Clarissa, Jennifer Nigella Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 If your hens are laying every day and the eggs have good, strong shells then there's probably nothing much to worry about! If you start having any problems with egg laying, e.g. soft shelled eggs, then you will need to restrict the extras and ensure they fill up on their pellets. I wouldn't bother with the rice, to be honest. There's no nutritional value to it and the grains can swell up in their crops (even if its cooked). If you leave cooked rice to soak overnight you'll see how much extra water it can take up! They'll be getting plenty of delicious goodies by free ranging, I doubt they'll miss the rice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
