my uncle keeps about 15 hens for laying, he has never bought laying pellets, he only buys growers pellets for his young birds, he feeds veg peelings bread fish skins fruit veg mouldy cow provin, and he gets bundles of eggs. if you have a big grassy area you could make a movable pen and they will get most of their food from the grass, insects gras etc, and would only need a few handfuls of pellets/grain a day, it is possible, just not when you read it in books