I had the exact opposite feeling...I felt like they wasted more with crumbles than with pellets. The feeders are under cover and hanging about 2" above ground, so no ants can get into them. Laying pellets are a balanced nutrition feed, so I don't supplement with scratch. When I turn my raised beds over, though, any grubs I find go to the chickens, and when I weed the beds, any weeds (along with grass clippings from the yard) go to the chickens. Last year, I was cutting some watermelons that I grew on the overhead trellis, and dropped 2...I put them in the chicken run, and they ate everything, including the rind!