[wolverine]

My friend tells me thAt chickens will just keep eating and that I shouldn't fill the feeder and leave it for them in the day. Is that the case or should I just leave it out for them. also they love brocolli am I ok to throw them a few bits of brocoli down someone told me not to till they are fully grown.  any thoughts

[Pretty Chick]

My hens have access to their pellets all the time everyday. Some of them are 3 years old and have always had access to pellets and have never been ill.
How old are your chickens?
Are there any problems with them?
What made you think that letting them always have access to pellets might be a problem  (other than your friend telling you they might overeat) , are they poorly?
I feed my chickens veg for a treat, but not too often because they need to eat their pellets.

[skelly]

The ladies that sold us our chooks told us that they won't over eat, so to have their feeder there all the time would not be a problem.

[wolverine]

well the lady in the shop said they wouldn't lay for 6 weeks and I've had them for three so I don't really know how old that makes them but they look young. they are all fine my mate was just giving me advice but it sounded iffy so I'm checking I'll leave the feeder it's not hurt them so far

[Pretty Chick]

Because they have been okay with the food being in there all the time, then it should be fine to leave the food in there perminantly 

[Casey76]

It is very unlikely your pullets will over eat.

Are you feeding them growers or layers?  If they are still so far from laying they should be on a growers pellet which is higher in protein than the layers.  At this stage they also don't need the extra calcium which is also present in the layers.

If you pullets free range in your garden, or are in a run they should have free access to their pellets all day.  This is because chickens are grazers like cows or horses, and do not eat "meals" like cats or dogs.

The only type of chickens which are likely to over eat are commercial broilers, and this is because they have been genetically programmed to eat and eat and eat to enable them to put on as much muscle mass as possible in their short lives.  Home reared broilers should have thier feed restricted, but even then it is usually on a 12 hour on / 12 hour off schedule.

Broccoli should be fine to give your pullets, if they like it   If they are in a run with little access to grass, you should give them some greens every day.

[wolverine]

So have I been giving them the wrong food for three weeks!!! will this hurt them I'll go and get growers now!!!!!!!! 

[joyfull]

you really need to know how old your chickens are. I start to change mine over onto layers at about 16 weeks just in case they start laying early. 
Do you know what feed they were on before you got them?

[Jeanette]

I leave mine with their food all day but remove it at night because i dont want rats. It would help if you can find out how old your girls are. If they are 16 weeks or more then i would kep them on layers pellets if they are less than 16 weeks then they shoud be on growers pellets.