Chickens hate my new feeders...

[Minky]

thanks for posting the pics. those look good. do you only have 2 feeders? for how many chickens? have you found it to be problematic? thanks again

 

[1 acre willows]

thanks for posting the pics. those look good. do you only have 2 feeders? for how many chickens? have you found it to be problematic? thanks again

I made them as tall as I did for volume. Those 2 will hold over 25lbs of feed between them. Have found them to work well with both pellets and crumble. I do go and quickly twist from side to side a couple times a day just to be nice and bring the feed closer to the end if they're not trying to scatter feed all over. They feed about 50 birds for around 3 or 4 days when they can get out and forage. In the winter it's closer to 3. The hoard usually plays nice and I'll usually find 2 birds at each feeder. They also seem to think that when I play with those feeders the night be some treat in it for them, so of course I have a curious audience.

 

[jreardon1918]

My pvc feeder is explained in my coop article. The six inch pvc end cap is deep enough to prevent waste. Her is a picture from this morning.

 

[User395221]

they look at me in the morning as if they are starving

I think this is a "chook thing". All of my girls use their feeders, but they still carry on as if they are starved and they go crazy for scattered kibble or their salad.
How long have you had the new feeders up? If they are completely new, give them some time to adjust.

 

[Minky]

no, theyve been up for a month, but i had the old food in it (organic pellets) that they hated.
Then i switched to a whole grain organic feed (that they loved but would only pick out the little black things(i suspect sunflower pieces) and the corn. Then i was left with pound and pounds of expensive organic "feed dust". So i hated that one! Now Im back to an organic crumble which they like (but dont love) and I find the waste is substanially less.
At $40 a bag (25 kg) I get a little miffed when it all gets knocked over or flicked out onto the deep litter and is gone forever.
So I built these feeders... If I put oats in them they are all gone .... but if I put the feed in there... it seems to just sit.
Maybe they are just playing me... like my kids!!

Good to know they all pretend to be starving ... maybe I just give out too many treats (rolled oats), and so they are spolied.. who knows. All i know is Im done with feeding the dirt floor of the barn!!!

 

[dunnmom]

My chickens used to scatter their food everywhere, too. There were some days I just wouldn't give them food so they'd clean up what they spilled. Eventually, I started soaking their pellets. I did that for maybe 6 months and they didn't make a mess with that. I recently switched them back to dry pellets and they no longer make a mess with their food. I guess it broke them out of the food scratching habit.

 

[jreardon1918]

There was a question about how many feeders. We have one feeder for seven one year olds. Five can feed at once. Fill every other day. Fifty pounds of feed lasts almost a month. This spring the run will get expanded an additional 8’x8’. We will leave the walls and add in chicken doors. There will a second feeder in the new section. The new section will connect wherethe chickensare in this pic.

 

[aggiemae]

Try painting around the edges where you cut with red or orange spray paint or nail polish fast drying polish works great. No science. It's what we did and it worked.

 

[Minky]

My chickens used to scatter their food everywhere, too. There were some days I just wouldn't give them food so they'd clean up what they spilled. Eventually, I started soaking their pellets. I did that for maybe 6 months and they didn't make a mess with that. I recently switched them back to dry pellets and they no longer make a mess with their food. I guess it broke them out of the food scratching habit.

That is exactly what i am planning to do once spring arrives!! (i type as its snowing!! again!!) I am hoping to ferment the feed over the summer and into fall, and here's hoping that will break their habit, too.
Did you ferment- or literally just give them their feed but in water?

 

[Minky]

Try painting around the edges where you cut with red or orange spray paint or nail polish fast drying polish works great. No science. It's what we did and it worked.

really! What an interesting idea. I will do that!! I have tons of nailpolish that serves no purpose anymore! LOL