I need some help please. I have searched this board but find too many different answers to zero in on to know what to do. Currently my 8 week old chicks are in an old 100 gallon stock tank and we are rapidly trying to finish their coop since they are getting so large. They do have a small wire run that I put them in during the day. My problem is that I have one of those TSC standard plastic feeders (red bottom, white top). They scatter feed out of that something awful. I fear that once our coop with a slightly larger and more permanent run is finished, rats or mice will just love the fact that they scatter all this feed. Not to mention how expensive and wasteful. Please advise any help with a type of feeder they cant knock feed out of. Thank you so much.
Well, I really don't know of any other types of feeders, except those long, feeders that they can eat from. I believe TSC carries them too. If you want to use what you've got, I would recommend just either hanging the feeders, or placing the feeder up on bricks or a crate that brings the feeder up level with the chicken's heads. That way, they can't get their feed into the feeders and scratch out the feed. My first year, I had the chicken food outside in the run and that was a terrible mistake. They spilled it and then it got wet and rotten, so I was constantly scraping up a nasty, stinky layer of chicken feed. YUCK. So, I keep the food inside the coop, and it's elevated on a crate, and then I keep the water outside in the attached run. Also, once they become adult chickens, I switched to pellets instead of crumbles and there was alot less waste. It's not as easy for them to fling around with their beaks...... Hope this helps, Sharon
That's the kind I use, well, one of them. Works fine. Just hang it at the level of their "shoulders" or set it on something so it is that high.
Is the feeder up off the ground? I find it helps a lot if the feed is approx. at the height of the chick(ens) backs.
I used to have a problem with birds billing out their feed and wasting as much as they ate. I purchased a couple of Kuhl Range feeders and that ended my problem. http://www.cutlersupply.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=395
Besides raising the feeder or getting one with a protective lid, another option might be to put a catch pan underneath the feeder so they can eat the feed off the ground.
The only thing that helped me was a bowl in a bowl. Then for older chickens, I have always used commodes bought on ebay (cheap, chipped or cracked) and fill it half way. Never had any spilt feed on the ground. They can be called chamber pot as well. I've used them for 4 years now with no complaint.
Quote:haha when you said commode, I thought you meant a porcelain goddess (as in, you worship one when very ill). Then you said Chamber Pot and I was like.. WHEW lol! I don't think I could stand watching my chickens eat out of the same type of thing I put my... waste... into.
