Eastern Washington

[Cam-n-Sara]

DaveOmak,
I decided to try that style of feeder for my six ladies. I love them. The only problem i can see would be that oyster shell can get bound up in the tight turns in the smaller diameter pipe. Mine are 4 inch pipe and the particular brand of shell does tend to bind up in the 45 degree into 90 degree at the bottom and i have to "stir" it occasionally to get it to flow down where they can eat it.
Peace and blessings,
cam-n-sara

 

[Chickielady]

OK.... here's my new "supplements" feeder idea.......

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...for-grit-oyster-shells-and-chicken-egg-shells

Awesome idea.
I have a neighbor who made his out of the big white drainage pipe.
He made some kinda funnel on top about 5 feet up, and fills it about 1 X a month for his ducks, holding nearly a 55# sack of pelleted feed.

What did you use for the funnel top ?
How do you fill it ?
I am chort, so a tall pipe+me on a ladder with scoops of feed ?

 

[Chickielady]

DaveOmak,
I decided to try that style of feeder for my six ladies. I love them. The only problem i can see would be that oyster shell can get bound up in the tight turns in the smaller diameter pipe. Mine are 4 inch pipe and the particular brand of shell does tend to bind up in the 45 degree into 90 degree at the bottom and i have to "stir" it occasionally to get it to flow down where they can eat it.
Peace and blessings,
cam-n-sara

I add the oyster shell to the feed.
I mix it all in a rubbermaid garbage can with a big feed scoop.
Maybe you can do that ?
It does seem like they eat the oyster shell that way better than if I put it in a separate bucket....

 

[Cam-n-Sara]

Thank you for the response Chickielady. I have tried mixing oyster shell and other items with their feed but them ornery girls just throw anything they do not want onto the ground and leave it. It probably wouldn't be an issue in a non moving coop but in the chicken tractor design i am using i have to clean it up and it goes to waste. They seem to eat it just fine out of the feeder and they waste less (only eat when they need it) and the eggs have stayed strong shelled.

On the 4 inch feeder I just use a small plastic cup (think sour cream container) and scoop it from a small bucket and pour it into the top with no need for a funnel. Squeeze the cup and pour slowly to keep it from going all over. Although the top sits about five foot or so from the ground our youngsters (10-14) can effectively fill it without the need for a ladder. We tried a funnel at first but found that it kept clogging up and caused a larger mess than using the small cup.

Peace and Blessings,

cam-n-sara

 

[Raech]

How is everyone after our lovely weather the last 2 days. I lost some sunflowers and a neighbor had all of her flowers layed down, and the people across the street had their potted plants(pots and all) blowing around their yard. Our satellite flickered a couple of times but that is all the more damage we had.

Hope everyone is ok, and that it didn't spread the fires any farther than they have already.

 

[Scram85]

That wind/rain storm was crazy. My daughter and I ran out to check on the chickens. They were all outside of the coop, pressed against the fence. We picked them all up and put them into the coop. It was really bad here for about 30-45 minutes and then it was sunny. Strange day for sure.

 

[Raech]

It kept switching directions here, but that might also have been because I have the corner unit, and the wind always wraps around my building, but it was really switching for about an hour. I am glad I live in this valley because I think if I would have been up on the prairie I would have been taking the kids in the basement just in case, South Dakota is still stuck in my head after these 6 years. My oldest has been talking about tornadoes and where Mother Nature lives. He thinks she lives on a cloud like a giant(named Jack

) But when it starts to storm he walks out of the house and yells "knock it off Mother Nature, I want to play!!" With his little speech problem it sounds really cute, but I don't think the new neighbor will appreciate his 5 year old ways.

 

[Chickielady]

So thankful for the torrential rain we have had the last 2 days/nights....how lovely it was/is to lie in bed at night and hear the hard rain coming down & sweet scent of the forest/grasses wet and clean....love it, and thankful for the rain !

 

[NinetreesMom]

Wish we had gotten more rain. The ground is already dry again. Watched another field fire last night... Probably started by hot machinery. I feel bad for the farmer that lost a couple acres of wheat. My chickens are happy the wind storm is over though!
Now back to muckng out my barn and chicken coop!

 

[KrystalRose]

I am in the Tri-cities area, does anyone around here have any good places to get organic feed? I am trying to keep to an organic diet for my girls but organic feed and treats have been hard to find locally. I know we are like in a major food growing area and must have somewhere to get organic grains. I found some organic layer crumbles and pellets at Basin Feed but I was hoping to find some scratch grains or something for a treat, anyone got any ideas?