- Feb 16, 2013
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First a self note: you've read to page 83
Yep I live alone and have done most of the coop so far all by myself. If someone with "balance problems and high risk for falling" with no building experience can do that (my coop progress so far is a thread here) anyone with a saw and either hammer and nails or screws can make a feeder trough. I actually use berry (slotted) trays inserted inside a plastic drywall mud trough set inside a plastic miter box hooked to a piece of wood dividing the scratch area and rear of coop. It can be lifted out and set in yard during the day and works to get them into the coop if I have to leave early. The berry containers work well to carry the feed out to the trough and if a little too moist sits just above the bottom of the mud trough so it will finish draining. Then they will drink the liquid from trough later in day!
They would me too Bee. In fact my friend downstate started singing "Green Acres is the place to be...." when I chose to move back here when I divorced. But I call it Wineinger Wetlands.
Ok Bee is your "BOSS" that commercial stuff I saw at the Farm & Family Home store or the nickname for black oil sunflowers? I had assumed it was sunflowers until I saw the commercial stuff in a bottle at the store.
Tell him that there are people on here who recorded feed consumption and costs comparisons of when they feed dry to when they feed FF and found that they feed almost half what they feed dry when using the FF. Almost half the cost of their normal feeding....half. That's a lot of money when you think about it adding up. So you pay half the cost you usually do for your eggs, your chickens live longer, healthier and more productive(yes, even more eggs than normally produced) lives, the eggs taste better~by far!, the coop stinks less and needs less cleaning.
If that ain't worth pouring some water on the feed and waiting a bit, I don't know what is!
If he doesn't want to make you a trough, just get his tools and head outside..and do it in front of him. Nothing will make a man move faster than a woman headed to the outdoors with his tools.If it doesn't, build your own trough. There is no man around here building mine...I do all the building of things that need doing here and you can too. It takes absolutely no skill to work a drill and a sawsall. I can attest to that!
And, yes, you can dish out several day's worth of feed and leave it for them...it will actually be safer than when you used dry, as the mice don't seem as attracted to the coop now that dry feeds aren't being scattered all over the floor and crevices and I've not seen them be able to get a speck of this FF as the chickens eat it so quickly and thoroughly.
Yep I live alone and have done most of the coop so far all by myself. If someone with "balance problems and high risk for falling" with no building experience can do that (my coop progress so far is a thread here) anyone with a saw and either hammer and nails or screws can make a feeder trough. I actually use berry (slotted) trays inserted inside a plastic drywall mud trough set inside a plastic miter box hooked to a piece of wood dividing the scratch area and rear of coop. It can be lifted out and set in yard during the day and works to get them into the coop if I have to leave early. The berry containers work well to carry the feed out to the trough and if a little too moist sits just above the bottom of the mud trough so it will finish draining. Then they will drink the liquid from trough later in day!
It would be simply lovely. What if you don't like me as much when we meet in person?
They would me too Bee. In fact my friend downstate started singing "Green Acres is the place to be...." when I chose to move back here when I divorced. But I call it Wineinger Wetlands.
I'm no expert, not by a long shot! Even if confined to pen and run, cutting back a little and only feeding once a day should be fine. Especially then..they get very little exercise in a coop and run situation, so they don't need a ton of food to keep a good body condition. You'll have to experiment with it and see how they do when you cut back...on body condition, not on signs of appetite. If you go by how hungry they act you'll be tube feeding them continuously just to fill their gullets.
Take them down to half a bucket and see how long it takes for them to eat it. They should have enough for one good meal and a snack later on...if not, take it a little lower until they do. Give them some good deep litter in the coop and run to give them something to do while they are in jail and they will adjust to the lower activity/lower feed levels.
Now that my flock are not finding bugs out on forage, I'm increasing their daily allotment up to 2 1/2 c. of feed per day from 1 1/2 c. and will monitor it from there. Will be adding some BOSS this weekend for some fats and fiber in the FF.
Ok Bee is your "BOSS" that commercial stuff I saw at the Farm & Family Home store or the nickname for black oil sunflowers? I had assumed it was sunflowers until I saw the commercial stuff in a bottle at the store.
