Feeding my Guinea's - All Flock and Scratch mix

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wyoDreamer

wyoDreamer

Free Ranging
13 Years
Nov 10, 2010
5,910
12,171
621
NE Wisconsin
When we moved to this place last summer, there was a flock of guinea's that came with it. They have a nice little building, about 10x15. The instructions left for me by the previous owner, were to mix the All Flock and Scratch 50/50 for feeding. White millet for treats.

I am tired of having them pick through the mix to eat all the scratch and scattering the All Flock all over the floor.

Can I just put the All Flock in the feeder and put the scratch in a bowl on the floor?
Is my problem that I am putting it in a hanging feeder? would they do better if I just put the feed in the pan on the floor?

I am worried that the two dominate guineas will eat all the scratch and the rest will only get the All Flock. When I put BOSS out for them, I make three piles so they all can grab some. The two dominate ones will seriously guard two separate piles and prevent any of the others from getting any at all.

The building is not secure from rodents at this time. And somehow, wild birds are getting in to eat the feed. I have found as many as 5 birds in there when I open the door in the morning.
 
My guineas have all flock in the feeder alone.I buy all flock because game bird feed is not available where i live. Game bird feed is what they are normally fed. Scratch is normally used as a treat. I give my birds a scratch/seed mix once a day on the coop floor. Same time everyday,the guineas wait for me there. Guineas are great foragers and get their extra protein from bugs and lizards they eat.I always give them boiled eggs as a treat. Put the feeder in a secure place during the night so no rodents come. I too have the bird problem but the birds are the daring scrub jays. They are a pain in the ***. My coop is secure but the door is open during the day and they go in from there.
 
We are just coming out of a COLD winter, so not much to forage for out there. I sprinkled a handful BOSS on the litter for activity on the cold snowy days that they refused to go outside. Today was the first above freezing day in a long time, and a goodly amount of snow has melted and grass is showing. They refused to go inside until after the sun set, I went out three times to close up.
 
Oh, with the warm weather here I forget that its snowing like crazy elsewhere. I would definitely feed the all flock in the hanging feeder.Make sure its only about 6 inches from the ground. And the scratch in a pan on the floor.
 
Well, this new system seems to be working better. They still spill the pellet feed if I don't get out and let them out early enough, but it isn't as bad as it was when the scratch was mixed in. I like that I can control the amount of scratch they are getting this way also. The little piggies would eat massive amounts of scratch if they had a chance. I left the coffee can of scratch out one morning and they had dumped it over and emptied it. That was 8 cups of scratch that day for 5 birds. I am sure they had some help from the wild birds, but sheesh!
 
Great to here its working. Don't worry about the little bit of waste, they all do it. If I could prevent the waste I would! I even tried taking away their feeder until the spilled feed was eaten but they just starved a little so I gave it back
 
I only put about 3 cups of feed in the hanging feeder, then wait to refill it until they cleanup the floor before refilling it. Three cups is lasting two days, whether they are spilling it or not. I am sure there are mice in there helping them out with the cleanup also. The days are getting longer so the guineas are out foraging heavily. They are already eating less feed.
I started putting 1/2 cup scratch in a saucer and another 1 cup is put outside in the grass. they seem to prefer to find it in the grass. The only reason I put some in the saucer is to make it easier for "Biddie Bettty" to get enough, my white guinea had been attacked by something and has crippled up feet. it keeps up with the rest of them OK, and looks to be #2 in the flock, but I want to make sure it gets enough feed.
 

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