How much additional food do I need to feed my poultry so they continue to lay?

I live on 500 acres in Wyoming, and I have chickens, ducks, and geese. I'm selecting for a Wyoming landrace chicken that lays well, is hardy, and forages for most of their own food. The chickens and geese are free ranged all day, so they have access to any greens and bugs they can catch or eat, but I've been feeding them a ton of supplemental layer feed because I don't want them to starve. I tried dropping the feed amounts last fall (not crazily, but still dropping them) and ended up with a ton of bone skinny chickens. Maybe I can try it again now that it's spring green, but I don't want to starve them. I have 24 geese and about 100 chickens at the moment, although come butcher day it'll drop to 9 geese and around 70 chickens. How much should I be able to drop their layer feed, and is there anything else I should supplement them with? I've heard about the method where you just stop feeding them, and whichever chickens survive are the ones you keep and breed, but that seems harsh, and then your hens would all stop laying. So how can I balance wanting to breed for strong foragers that don't need tons of supplements with not starving them all and still getting eggs?

Elena Sparks wrote:I live on 500 acres in Wyoming, and I have chickens, ducks, and geese. I'm selecting for a Wyoming landrace chicken that lays well, is hardy, and forages for most of their own food. The chickens and geese are free ranged all day, so they have access to any greens and bugs they can catch or eat, but I've been feeding them a ton of supplemental layer feed because I don't want them to starve. I tried dropping the feed amounts last fall (not crazily, but still dropping them) and ended up with a ton of bone skinny chickens. Maybe I can try it again now that it's spring green, but I don't want to starve them. I have 24 geese and about 100 chickens at the moment, although come butcher day it'll drop to 9 geese and around 70 chickens. How much should I be able to drop their layer feed, and is there anything else I should supplement them with? I've heard about the method where you just stop feeding them, and whichever chickens survive are the ones you keep and breed, but that seems harsh, and then your hens would all stop laying. So how can I balance wanting to breed for strong foragers that don't need tons of supplements with not starving them all and still getting eggs?

In my experience, chickens would prefer forage if they have things available for them that are good for them and they like to eat.  My commercial food use drops way, way down in the summer because they prefer bugs and things they find.  I don't ever cut my feed to try to force them to forage more.  My own view is that if I own animals, I'm responsible for making sure they get good care.  That to me means making sure they always have shelter, food and water available.  They will forage as much of their own food as they can without starving them into it.  If it's costing too much to feed them, I would just have less chickens.  As far as just not feeding them and letting the "bad foragers" starve off, I don't think people that would do that should be allowed to have any animals.

I definitely agree that the starving method is awful, I just mentioned it to give an example of an extreme I won't go to.
I've tried giving free choice feed so they could moderate themselves, and all that ended up happening was that the bigger chickens got fat and lazy sitting around the feeder all day and the smaller chickens didn't get enough. That pushed me to feeding everything scratch grain style, so I knew everyone would get some and it would force the lazy ones to move around. I do need to cut back on my flock size, although it's more for management ease reasons, but I still need to figure out how to feed them better. I tried the thirds method, where you did one third greens, one third protein, and one third grains, but that got incredibly tedious.
I guess I was wanting to have a base of what supplements I'd have to give if I wanted to go full homemade feed on top of free ranging. I've done some research about how to balance their diet naturally, but I haven't found an easy recipe where I can source or grow all the ingredients, and that still doesn't solve the over eating issue.

Elena Sparks wrote:I definitely agree that the starving method is awful, I just mentioned it to give an example of an extreme I won't go to.
I've tried giving free choice feed so they could moderate themselves, and all that ended up happening was that the bigger chickens got fat and lazy sitting around the feeder all day and the smaller chickens didn't get enough. That pushed me to feeding everything scratch grain style, so I knew everyone would get some and it would force the lazy ones to move around. I do need to cut back on my flock size, although it's more for management ease reasons, but I still need to figure out how to feed them better. I tried the thirds method, where you did one third greens, one third protein, and one third grains, but that got incredibly tedious.
I guess I was wanting to have a base of what supplements I'd have to give if I wanted to go full homemade feed on top of free ranging. I've done some research about how to balance their diet naturally, but I haven't found an easy recipe where I can source or grow all the ingredients, and that still doesn't solve the over eating issue.

I haven't found a good answer either, so I still feed commercial food.  I don't have nearly as many chickens as you do, only 40ish.  I use multiple feeders placed at some distance to try to assist the more submissive chickens.  

@Trace,
Do you have an idea how much feed (in cups or pounds) you are feeding your 100 chickens? Most of the experts that I watch and read say between 1/3 and 1/2 cup of feed per bird per day is a good starting point. Depending on the breed and time of year this may need to fluctuate some. This seems to strike the balance between not letting the chickens get too fat and not starving Them.

I would never go back to feeding free choice. Like Elena said, this could lead to fat and lazy chickens. Some animals you want fat... laying hens are not one of those animals. If the food is still there after 30 minutes, I would say you are probably over feeding them. You definitely want the food gone in a reasonable amount of time. One big issues with feeding free choice... is that you often end up feeding other animals that you don't want to. Like wild birds and rodents.  

Matt McSpadden wrote:@Trace,
Do you have an idea how much feed (in cups or pounds) you are feeding your 100 chickens? Most of the experts that I watch and read say between 1/3 and 1/2 cup of feed per bird per day is a good starting point. Depending on the breed and time of year this may need to fluctuate some. This seems to strike the balance between not letting the chickens get too fat and not starving Them.

I would never go back to feeding free choice. Like Elena said, this could lead to fat and lazy chickens. Some animals you want fat... laying hens are not one of those animals. If the food is still there after 30 minutes, I would say you are probably over feeding them. You definitely want the food gone in a reasonable amount of time. One big issues with feeding free choice... is that you often end up feeding other animals that you don't want to. Like wild birds and rodents.  

I only have 40-some chickens, and 16 of those are still chicks.  I normally have between 25 and 40 adult birds at any one time.  In winter, I go thru 40 lbs of feed in 4 or 5 days, in summer, a lot less than that.  I'm not sure exactly, but I only fill the feeders (which takes one 40 lb bag) every 10 or 12 days, or even less.  I've never felt any need to track it closely.  

I've been free feeding my chickens for more than 15 years and I've never had a fat or lazy chicken, so I'm not sure what I do differently.  Mine always have very large runs or are free range, maybe that makes the difference?  My chickens are constantly moving, digging, scratching, pecking at something.  I don't think it's breed specific either because I've had at least a dozen breeds and they have all been the same.  I never raise meat birds, only breeds that are considered "dual purpose", but as I said, I've never had a fat bird.

Elena Sparks wrote: The chickens and geese are free ranged all day, so they have access to any greens and bugs they can catch or eat, but I've been feeding them a ton of supplemental layer feed because I don't want them to starve.

Things to know: Chickens and geese have different nutritional requirements, preferences, and metabolisms. Geese do great on pasture. They prefer to graze and, if you have good pasture, will do just fine on it. I think the stocking rate for geese is double the number of sheep, because they eat comparable things, but geese are easier on the land, can graze in wetland and hilly areas better than sheep, and are just kinda fun to have around.
I know there are comparable numbers available for stocking rates for chickens on pasture, based on different types of fields/graze/other factors. I'll try to remember to drop those links (assuming I find them) in this conversation.

Elena Sparks wrote:I tried dropping the feed amounts last fall (not crazily, but still dropping them) and ended up with a ton of bone skinny chickens. Maybe I can try it again now that it's spring green, but I don't want to starve them. I have 24 geese and about 100 chickens at the moment, although come butcher day it'll drop to 9 geese and around 70 chickens. How much should I be able to drop their layer feed, and is there anything else I should supplement them with?

Without knowing what they had available to range on, because seasonal labels don't translate well - I'm in Texas, zone 9a. My fall is not your fall. My spring is not your spring. We have different plants that are considered good pasture, good fodder, good ... whatever. I'm going to make certain assumptions based on my reading and experience and trying to convey what feels like relevant info to you.

Chickens are awesome at cleaning up as part of a rotation. They are masters of keeping a barnyard free of stray grain, scraps, anything they think might be edible. My flock (about 30, give or take right now) eats about 50 pounds of feed a week. I actually figured out the math - I feed roughly 8 .75 pounds per day, soaked in about 16 pounds of water - for a total of around 24 pounds soaked feed carried in the feed bucket. That works out to about .8 pounds per chicken of soaked feed or ... .3 pounds dry feed per chicken per day. I'll call it about 9.6 ounces of dry feed per bird, about 1 1/4 cups. Roughly, on average.

My flock free ranges. They are a "stay-at-home" breed, so they don't travel far, but the area they spend the most time in is very green. Like, noticeable from Google Earth green. Greener than my neighbors. They have plenty to eat.
In the spring, they eat mulberries, insects, wild flowers, and anything else that catches their fancy. They keep the grasses in their yard pretty clear, but have allowed goldenrod, Giant Ragweed, Fenugreek, and several native plants grow large enough in population that they have constant cover even when they aren't under the trees. They forage for edibles in the areas around their main yard, but as a more "stay-at-home" breed, they generally don't travel far.
I had some trouble late in the winter/very early spring when several of my flock learned they could climb a Live Oak and get onto the roof which still had some acorns from the previous year. I had chickens falling off the roof into my front yard. It was ... awkward.

Most commercial breeds have studies done at the land grant universities and there is data available that will help you to figure out how much supplemental feed you can get away with, what vitamins and minerals are recommended to supplement any feeding plan, and what you can expect from your birds. I appreciate you trying to start a Montana edition of Land-raced chickens. You do, however, have to start with some type of chicken that's more or less adapted to your climate and environment.
Montana State University is your local land grant university. That means they do research on agriculture, in all it's forms, in your area and keep those records available for you. It's a great resource for anyone in the US.
Because there are several research stations in Montana, and I don't know which ones are closer to you, I'll link the information. Here are the research stations:  https://agresearch.montana.edu/researchcenters.html
There are also two USDA research stations that are part of the system, so you can reach those and their data, through that same link.
The Department of Animal and Range Sciences seems to be the most likely to have the information you need for relevant stocking rates in your general area. The Extension Agents, along with your local extension agent, should be able to help you with more detailed information about what they think you should be doing. Here's the link to that: https://animalrangeextension.montana.edu/
It looks like the guy to talk to would be this linked gentleman in the Natural Resources Extension Program here: https://animalrangeextension.montana.edu/natural/index.html
Unfortunately, the link for the livestock and poultry environmental learning center isn't working for me.

My practices mean that I soak my feed. I've learned they eat more and better when it is wet and slightly fermented - it smells like cheap small beer. They love it. The geese don't care for the feed, but will eat the corn. I have found I can get away with feeding less bagged feed if I soak it. It seems to fill the chickens up faster and, since the geese are no longer digging through the feed to sift out the corn bits, I don't have wasted feed filling my water buckets and trays. I use 1/3 less bagged feed than when I just fed dry.
My geese prefer tender grass, dock, and flower heads. They love to eat the sorghum seedheads. They will eat less tender grass, but are very definite about their preferences and will leave my yard if they are unsatisfied with what they find, or don't find, there. Because I haven't seeded anything in the yard in recent memory, all the plants that make up their potential pasture have to be managed as if they were established graze land - mowed with some regularity or grazed down and watered well.
The chickens make sure to eat any insect they see that isn't a brightly colored butterfly or one of the caterpillars that are bad tasting or potentially hazardous. I don't have a problem with Japanese beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, or any other obvious edibles. They also taste everything else they get near. I do have a short fence (about 2 feet) around my garden to keep them from eating things I would rather they not, but have been playing with the idea of planting them their own squash, kale, and maybe sweet potatoes. They ate all of mine last year.

I hope my long message gives you some useful information. Experimentation is always hard, but the long term benefits are worth it. The good thing with feed experimentation is that your local feed stores can help you try a few new things to see if they would work for you. Since you have been researching it already, you might consider mixing your own feed from individually ordered things from one of the feed stores. I have done that in the past, but it wouldn't work for me right now. I understand that storing all the bits and pieces takes up space, and finding that can be awkward. I'm only just moving into metal cans for feed storage, it's only taken 15 years. I make changes in slow steps.

If I were concerned about additional nutrition for chickens, geese, and other free-range animals, I would plant a cover crop.

For summer, cowpeas would be good.
For winter, winter rye.

Of course, the chickens or other animals would need to free range somewhere else to let the cover crop establish.