30 gallon feeder, too big?

[Bear Foot Farm]

I meant 30 pounds! NOT gallons. Yeah, I thought of filling it half way.

LOL!

I have 22 chickens right now, and if I fill the 30 LB feeder, it lasts 6-7 days.
They free range a lot, and eat less feed this time of year

I put a LARGE funnel on top, inverted, and run the rope through the spout.
It keeps them from perching on it and keeps dust out of the feed.​

 

[txredneckmedic]

I wish my chickens would free range. I threw a bunch of weeds I was pulling into the pen and they went nuts. you woulda thought it was candy

 

[felidaet]

I built a feeder out of wood that will hold about 150lbs of feed. I put 100 lbs of feed in it about a month ago and it is not empty yet. It is finally getting low on feed. I will add 50 lbs of feed to it early next week. I have 18 chickens. They are eating a lot of weeds and grass clippings right now. It will be nice in the winter when they are eating almost exclusively chicken feed to not be refilling it every couple of days.

 

[freemotion]

Depending on the size of your chickens, they will eat maybe 1/4 lb of feed a day if they are getting nothing else and not free-ranging. So if you fill a large feeder, calculate about how long it should last. If it is going down too fast, and the rodent population is rising too fast......reconsider!

In the chipmunk season, I throw my girls their breakfast and supper, just what they will clean up in a few minutes. The chipmunk population became more reasonable by the following year. And my feed consumption plummeted. I only use the hanging feeder in the winter months. Just a thought.

I also free-range my girls in a large, fenced pasture and feed them whole grains, so this works for me.

 

[chickachicka]

great ideas! thanks for sharing them.

 

[CityChook]

hey chicka -
I feed my girls in cereal bowls. Yeah, I have to refill them daily, but they don't take up much space. I put them on top of overturned terracotta flower pots to keep the shavings out. Works great, especially for only 4 chickens.

 

[wwdubose]

I've got 14 chicks that are 3 weeks old now. Trying to decide on feeder size also. I've got plenty of room to hang two 12 lb. feeders if needed. Which would be better, one 30 lb. or two 12 lb. Would there be an issue with that many birds eating out of just one 12 lb. feeder?

 

[truckguy]

I used a 3 in PVC pipe and drilled some holes big enough for their heads. So far so good less waste and mess. I may add to the top of it do I can fill it from the outside of the coup.