Brooder feeder ideas?

[Hamster0425]

Looking for advice on a feeding system for our brooder. We have an 8x3 wooden box that can be divided in half so we can raise two batches of chicks, keep them separated, or to reduce/expand the space as needed.

This spring we did 25 broilers and it worked perfectly. The problem is once you get that many chicks it turns into chaos real fast, and the end result is a lot of spilled food or so many shavings in the food they loose access. We used both a standard plastic upright chick feeder, and a trough style with little holes.

I'm curious what other people use. Im not opposed to a permanent system.

Pictures attached of the brooder so you can see what I'm talking about.

 

[pibb]

I just use one of those little round feeders and waterers from tractor supply while in the brooder. You probably need 2 or 3 or them. I do the cup mod to the feeder and it works pretty good. They still spill just a bit but far from what it was.

solo cup mod
Mine sticks down in there further than that so I cut the bottom out like the top of a castle to allow the feed to roll out.

After the chicks get bigger and bigger, I start raising the waterer up to keep the pine shavings out.

 

[centrarchid]

I use the little round feeders made of either plastic or metal and place them in rubber dog bowls. The chicks need to be able to jump in to get at feed. The containers need to be checked at least twice daily or multiple units can be used. Still check frequently and make certain the chicks realize crop fill. Cornish cross need a couple days to be able to get in an out of the bowls.

The little red round chick feeder. Over fill it.

The bowl.

I am leaving out details that allow chicks to glean what consumed immediately.

 

[middle TN Nancy]

My chicks wasted SO much food in their brooder at first. I had what I naively thought was a containment area consisting of a wooden platform with a 1x2 edge to keep the food out of the litter. HA. Such a mess. I threw out so much mucky food Mixed with litter. I moved the 5-day-old chicks to the coop (no other chickens) and I put their round galvanized feeder (the type that utilizes a mason jar) into a large cat litter pan which is about 6” deep to contain the feed. I piled the shredded hemp litter up around the outside of the pan and put some rocks inside to serve as a ramp so they could get in and out easily. This has worked great. I still throw out some feed when it seems to not be fresh or clean, but it’s not immediately mixed with litter the way it was before. Their goal seems to be to get ALL the food out of the feeder and onto the floor as quickly as possible LOL.