Chicks Feeder

[Kellichick]

I have 9 babies between 2 and 3 weeks old. I had one of the long, two-sided plastic red feeders in my brooder and it just looked like to me that the food didn't come close enough to the top for the chicks. Plus, it kept getting tons of pine shavings inside of it. So, I put one of the regular mason jar feeders in the brooder yesterday. I swear, all they've done since I changed the feeder is eat like they've been starved. I've put 3 pints of crumbles in there between 2p.m. yesterday and 9a.m. this morning. I don't know if this amount of eating alright/normal or if the red feeder has been starving them a little OR if the red feeder keeps them from over-eating. Any thoughts, info or suggestions??

 

[justbugged]

I prefer the mason jar style feeders. The long flat ones don't work very well in a brooder that has shavings. The chicks may have not been able to get enough feed, and they are growing rapidly.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

These are what I prefer:

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chick_feeder.html

I don't set them right down into the shavings though, but on top of a small wood and hardware cloth platform the chicks hop onto. This way they can't scratch shavings into it but can easily get into the feed.

When I first put the chicks in the box I use the bottoms of the eighteen count egg cartons for the first couple of days. I set the chicks right down on top of the feed after first dipping each one's beaks into the waterer. Once they are eating well I pull the egg cartons and just used the reel-top feeders. They always figure it out.

 

[OkChickens]

I have 21 chicks I'm my brooder and I have a red long feeder that I Fill up to the top. They get there little heads down there and eat because I fill it up every other day. In the feeder there are a few shavings but not many. What kind of chicks do you have?

Nate

 

[Kellichick]

So, do you think that their eating the right amount of food now, though? Maybe just growing rapidly?

The whole platform deal is pretty smart, A.T.!! I've probably got enough scraps outside in my building to make one, too. Thanks!!

OkChickens...I have 4 RIR's, 2 Barred Rock's and 3 Dom's. One of my RIR's is so very small and doesn't seem to be growing at all. It's very active and healthy and does everything that an almost 2 week old should, but it's very tiny and absolutely adorable. My husband named it JellyBean.

 

[sben451]

I use the round feeder with a jar for small chicks mainly because of space limitations in the brooder. Putting the feeder and waterer up on a block of wood, terra cotta plant saucer, or anything similar always seems to help keep the wood shavings out of the feeder or waterer better.