At what age can chickens use port feeder?

dfgkfghggfasd

Chirping
Mar 12, 2019
52
44
58
Somewhere
Aye,
I recently received some now (estimated) 8-10 weeks old chicks.
They do not appear to be able to using the port feeder.
upload_2019-4-20_20-31-46.jpeg


At what age can they reach their necks in there and eat?
What can I do to train them to use feeder?

Edit:
For what my chickens and coop look like see my status page:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/members/dfgkfghggfasd.534668/
 
Last edited:
I’d be glad to help you. Your chickens might not know that food’s in there. Their intelligence isn’t very high, trust me. If you want them to eat from it, give them some treats then put them in the feeder. Any fruit or vegetable will suffice. When the treats are gone, they’ll be snacking on their feed in no time!
 
Why is there a trash bag in the feeder?

They should be able to reach inside by now. I have chicks using the elbows at 4 weeks, as long as the feeder is set low like yours. As they get older you will need to raise the feeder so it's not so low though. Fill the elbow up from the outside, so they can see the feed. As the feed goes down you may have to put more in there once or twice, but they will get it. I wouldn't put fruit or vegetables in there, they may start to mold and that wouldn't be good.

If you only have one elbow, you might want to think about adding one or two more, depending on how many chicks/chickens you have or plan to have.
 
Why is there a trash bag in the feeder?

They should be able to reach inside by now. I have chicks using the elbows at 4 weeks, as long as the feeder is set low like yours. As they get older you will need to raise the feeder so it's not so low though. Fill the elbow up from the outside, so they can see the feed. As the feed goes down you may have to put more in there once or twice, but they will get it. I wouldn't put fruit or vegetables in there, they may start to mold and that wouldn't be good.

If you only have one elbow, you might want to think about adding one or two more, depending on how many chicks/chickens you have or plan to have.

Putting a reasonable amount of produce would be consumed in a matter of minutes. At least if those were my chickens, they’re very good eaters.
 

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