Feeding twice a day - when do you give treats?

[RubyLady]

You're welcome. We have about 20 hens and a roo. They live in an 8x10 hen house and have a HUGE fenced run they spend most of they day in, with lots of native grasses, forbs, plantain, etc. We turn them out every afternoon about 3 pm to forage on more of the same, and we toss them about a cup and a half of scratch at that time just to maintain their willingness to come when called. That's it for "treats" although about once a week I also scatter about a cup of dried mealworms. Their pellets are kept in a no-waste feeder inside the hen house along with two feeders containing their oyster shell and grit. The feeder consists of a rubber trash bin with lid, fitted with PVC elbows they have to stick their heads into to get to the feed. They cannot scatter feed to waste or draw mice, and best of all, my greedy dog cannot help herself to the feed!

I've seen those bins where they stick their heads in. I wondered if people lied them. Nice to hear a plus on that one. Thanks!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I've seen those bins where they stick their heads in. I wondered if people lied them. Nice to hear a plus on that one. Thanks!

I made mine. Starting to fall apart but it still works great.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I've seen those bins where they stick their heads in. I wondered if people lied them. Nice to hear a plus on that one. Thanks!

Oh, one caveat: this past winter we had an extremely bitter winter, and my poor BJG cockerel lost the points on his comb and part of his wattles, possibly due to the use of this feeder with its 4" openings. His wattles would have gotten wet when he drank and then been damaged when he ate, and his comb would have hit the top of the PVC elbow as well. We didn't realize it was happening until too late, and felt terrible when we saw the damage he suffered. I don't recommend this feeder for chickrns with very large combs and wattles; he was the only bird in our flock to suffer damage, and our only BJG.

 

[Geena]

That's kind of where we're at right now and it seems to be working!

Personally I don't think there is any "one perfect way" to feed chickens. If what you're doing is working for you and your birds that's all that matters.
Humans and their dogs, cats and various other pets and livestock around the world eat all sorts of different diets and still fall mostly within the acceptable range.
We have several huge mulberry trees and by choice my chickens pretty much live off of mulberries for about a month every summer. It doesn't seem to effect their health or egg production one bit.
To each his own.

 

[neo71665]

I did try this last week to just leave them plenty of feed - more than they certainly needed in a day. One batch ended up getting water in it from the rain (tarp accident) and was wasted. Another one ended up all over the ground and they wasted it. I can't afford layer pellets just wasted 5-10 cups at a time. I don't have that kind of income. What I do have is time and a wild yard full of edible weeds, clover, grasses, bugs, berry and fruit trees. I think I can capitalize on the fact that that food is unlimited. I have them out of the pen most of the day now that I decided to stop wasting money. They eat the pellets I do give them morning and night. And they lay awesome, hard-shelled, golden-yolked eggs.

You can't just leave it out willy nilly. Of course if you just leave a pan of uncovered feed outside it's gonna get wet.
Mine is outside in the feeder I shown and has never gotten wet. Mine forage during the day but I still leave the feed out.

 

[linguini]

If you are planning on fermenting, you'll need a different feeder for that. Can be as simple as plastic, glass or ceramic bowls (I use cat feed bowls or prep bowls), or I've seen rain gutters cut and capped to make a longer feed trough if you have a bigger flock.

I've used home made pvc pipes of all different sizes for feeds, and when I experimented with fermented feed, I used trays and was frustrated with all the mess and wastes chickens made.

Finally I made two troughs out of one rain gutter ($5 for 10 ft!) and hung them along the wall a few inches off the ground - no more mess and no more waste ! Still use them now even after I stopped fermenting the feed. One trough is designated for melon guts, peels, veggies scraps, the other for regular feed.

 

[RubyLady]

You can't just leave it out willy nilly. Of course if you just leave a pan of uncovered feed outside it's gonna get wet.
Mine is outside in the feeder I shown and has never gotten wet. Mine forage during the day but I still leave the feed out.

Mine is under a sheltered area but we got huge rains and the tarp twisted slightly and the accumulated water decided to leak right over the feed tray. LOL Oh well. It's not quite willy-nilly. It's in a tray for them, but they can still knowck it over, unfortunately, so I'm going to have to build a better system. We don't have the funds right now to buy anything.

 

[RubyLady]

I just bought one of these at Tractor supply for $7. It has little holes so it can be hung up. I'm going to put some small hooks into the side of their coop and hang it so I can take it off and clean it when needed. This way it will be completely protected from rain, it's off the ground and can't be knocked over or stepped on, and with only four chickens it's not too small. If I do get another two next year, I'll get a second one.) I'll be using it for their fermented feed. I'm going to DIY a dry food feeder using a leftover piece of PVC pipe and tray we have already, filling the pipe and the bottom sits just above the tray - which will also be attached to the wall of the coop - dispensing feed as needed. That way we have a couple of different feeders for wet and dry. And they will fit our small area we have that is protected and dry and will give us options for wet feed and treats as well as a constant supply of dry feed. Yay! So many of your ideas really helped, so thanks so much. I'll post a pic when it's all together.

 

[debbiemaedke]

I'm new to raising chickens so I'm no expert, but I read to give them access to chicken food all day and then take it away (or put it in a safe container) at night so it doesn't attract rats. Then put the food out again in the morning.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Seriously? It is literally a handful for the flock. They are adult birds. Thought it was good to give them something to do.
They eat a lot of their feed, Purina Flock Raiser. They get oystershell and grit on the side. They also just get a handful of mealworms. What is the reason not to give them scratch? If is a good brand, no corn in it.

I use non gmo scratch but i add a bunch of their feed to it. Makes the scratch stretch further and is still an effective means to get them in the coop after free ranging and giving me piece of mind that they are not getting too much ‘candy’.