Author: Anna & Mark

Our
chickens seem much happier in their new spring pastures, but are they
more productive?  Although I don’t have a non-pastured flock to
compare our chickens to, I figured that if the chickens laid more
during their first week on pasture than during subsequent weeks, then
the prime forage (mostly eaten during the first few days) is impacting
their productivity.



To test that hypothesis,
I graphed the average number of eggs laid daily each week. 
Unfortunately, the results are all over the
place, in large part because at this time of year, each week has more
sun than the last, which leads to more eggs over time.  I’d love
to think that the huge leap in egg production when I moved the chickens
to their true
forest pasture
(week 6) is due to the quality of forage there, but I know from
examining the eggs that this is merely when our fourth hen (one of the
old girls) finally shook off her winter slump and started to lay.



I’ve got a few avenues to
explore with the pasture productivity question.  First, I suspect
that I’m
currently giving our chickens more food than they really need, so I could cut back their
rations to tempt them to eat more pasture goodies and then repeat this
analysis.  It’s also possible that the chickens are finding more
on pasture than I think during the second week and that leaving them in
the pasture for a third week would be necessary to really see a decline
in found food.  I’ll toss around some more ideas and report back
if I come up with anything definitive.

Most
homesteaders I know allow their chickens access to unlimited food, but
this method is really only appropriate for situations where you’re
raising broilers and want them to bulk up as quickly as possible. 
With laying hens, you’ll run into several problems when providing
unlimited food.  First of all, many chickens will pick through the
trough to choose bits they like best (generally corn), which means you
waste a lot of food and the chickens don’t get the right
proportion of
protein in their diet. 
Meanwhile, your chickens will overeat,
which means they put on body fat and lay larger (but fewer) eggs. 
In the end, you’ve got overweight, unhealthy hens and have spent a lot
of money to get there.



The solution is simple
— give your chickens a measured amount of food
each day.  I like to feed the flock first thing in the morning,
scattering the pellets in a wide arc across the ground of their pasture
so that everyone gets a chance to eat.  If you’re doing it right,
the food will be all gone in fifteen minutes or less…except for just
enough lost kernels that the flock stays busy scratching for the rest
of the day.  You’ll also get the side benefit of chickens that
comes running when they see your face.



The amount of food your
chickens need for optimum health will vary
based on your individual birds (especially based on their body type),
but one suggestion for layers is 0.25 pounds per chicken per day in the
summer and 0.33 to 0.40 pounds per chicken per day in the winter. 
Assuming you don’t heat their chicken coop, your flock will need the
extra food in the winter so that they can stay warm.  You’ll also
want to reduce the protein content to about 15.5% during the cold
months (easy to accomplish
by throwing in a bit of plain
corn.)



When I started raising
our chickens, I decided to test them out and see
how much food they needed to lay well.  I started by providing
more food
than I thought the flock required, then reduced their rations until I
started to see a decline in egg production.  It just
so happens that my experiment matches up with the recommendations above
— I’m currently feeding my flock exactly 0.25 pounds of food per
chicken per day.  When they’re on new pasture with lots of weeds
coming in from the garden and plenty of scraps coming from the kitchen,
I feel like I might be able to reduce that amount further, but I
haven’t been brave enough to try yet.