Chick feeder - No waste

[MsRiderUp]

I suspect I'm not the first chicken newbie to look at the stacks of the small jar-top gravity chick feeders at the animal supply store and say, "well, those must work pretty well since they're the only small feeder option." After my first 10 chicks went through several quarts of food in the first couple days I realized why the stores only sell these food-wasting units. Of the many great solutions I found on BYC and other sites (http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/09/outsmarting-chickens-at-feeder.html) I came up with this simple mod and my chicks went from shoveling food onto the litter to not wasting any food. Carefully open the crimp around the edge holding the 2 pieces together, cut a piece of 1/2" hardware cloth to fit (press into place), and re-crimp the 2 pieces together.

This is my first BYC post but I have been reading all winter and I really appreciate all the great advice from all of you.

Hi,

Just wondering whether you stuck with this idea? I have done the same thing with my 1- and 2-week old chicks. They seem to eat down to a certain level, then not bother the feeder much. I feed crumbles. Wondering if they're getting enough?

With another feeder (same type) I just put two circles of wire inside, attaching the wire with a hot glue gun. The larger circle of wire is about 1/2 inch above the bottom of the "O''s, and the smaller circle of wire about 1/2 inch above that one, so basically each "O" is divided into 1/3's by transecting wire. Not quite as small an area to eat from, and no risk of sharp edges from trimming the 1/2 inch hardware cloth.The wire attached fine. Again, not so much food eaten. Wondering if mine are eating enough.

Thanks!

 

[Tmoorie]

Thank you! Getting hubby started on this right away!

 

[EllisB]

Just wondering whether you stuck with this idea? I have done the same thing with my 1- and 2-week old chicks. They seem to eat down to a certain level, then not bother the feeder much. I feed crumbles. Wondering if they're getting enough?

Thanks for the question, sorry it took so long to respond. Yes, I did raise all my chicks last year with this style feeder, but you're right, it could use some adjusting. I found that if I pressed the HC in about 1/2" at each hole the feeders worked really well. After working on feeders for larger chickens though, I think I might try making a "head-through-the-hole" chick feeder like tatiana110 posted. There's less that can go wrong and they almost completely stop spillage.

 

[sarahwright01]

I love the yogurt container one! I'm making one as soon as breakfast is over. We brought home 5 chicks on Saturday and they have probably wasted enough food for a week! I made a makeshift gravity flow waterer out of a pop bottle and plant tray that works great. Although I will be buying some chicken nipple style waterers to train them on.

 

[Tatiana110]

Here is our 'no waste' chick feeder. $0 cost, and it works wondefully. No poop gets in there

Serves 8 chicks at a time., and it is good up to 4 weeks old. It takes much less space compared to the commercial round chick feeder - which is important when the space is tight in the brooder.





Tatiana

We made an improvement to these feeders by gluing the bottom to a larger plastic base (it could be a lid from a larger yogurt container, or even square or rectangular, does not matter. What is does is when a chick takes a bit of food out to look at it and peck at it, the food will stay on the base. Makes it almost 0% waste. Plus it makes it very sturdy - not easy to tip over when a chick decides to roost on it.

 

[303hunter]

Good idea! My chicks are about 7 weeks old, and waste a lot of food with the same type feeder without the hardware cloth. Will it work for them?

 

[Tatiana110]

It works for all chick ages, just get a larger container and cut larger holes in it as they grow.

My chicks are 6-8 weeks old on the picture above (Post #19)

At 2.5+ months, we moved them to the same feeder style, but made from 5 gal buckets. I love it, they love it, no waste, and no poop in the feed.

 

[bumblebird]

These are excellent ideas! Thanks for sharing.

 

[1hawaiian]

@Tatiana110___ This is FANTASTIC!!!
Thank you for sharing as Im getting some hatchlings soon ;-)
What do you use for waterers for these little ones?

 

[vttrissy]

I put my chick feeder on top of an old dinner plate. The plate keeps the pine shavings and poop from being kicked into the food, and catches the falling/spilling feed. Then once every couple of days, I take the feeder out and let them eat what has spilled onto the plate until the plate is clean, then replace the feeder.