feeding hens and chicks together, how to keep the food separate?

[DavidMed]

I'm mixing my flock together this week, 2 six year old Wyandottes with 2 eight week old bantams. The bantams are on starter/grower crumbles, which the hens apparently find irresistable. I need a way to give them both food in the coop without having to worry that the hens are going to steal all the chick feed.

Are there any tricks to this? Considering modifying one of my ABS pipe feeders to have a short extension on the end with small holes that hopefully only the chicks can fit through. But not sure that's practical. Another option might be to put the chick feeder up high above a plank that bantams can easily get to. The bantams seem to be a lot better at jumping up on ledges, the hens are a little too... plump, these days.

Any other ideas welcome.

 

[centrarchid]

I use what amounts to a creep feeder. The feeder for the smaller immature birds has gate or fencing that allows only smaller birds to pass. Most of my chicks are are filtered by 2 x 4 inch welded wire that larger chickens cannot get through. My dog kennels can provide similar function. The alternative has been feeding everyone the chick feed or flock raiser with free-choice access to crushed oyster.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Agree that the old “chick feed in a spot the hens can’t get to” approach us a good one.

 

[Folly's place]

Either will work, until the chicks are larger, can't get into the creep feeder, and still shouldn't eat layer feed.
That's one reason that I feed an all- flock feed to everyone, all the time.
Mary

 

[DavidMed]

I was thinking along these lines originally but couldn't envision how it would work. I have an old small bucket that might work as a quick 'cage' around the chick feeder. This is all so I can leave home in a week or so to visit family. Someone will stop by every couple days to check the birds, but I don't want them to have to deal with hens stealing the chicks food. When I get back I may re work this all to do a unified feeding system with oyster shell for the hens.