FLORIDA!!!!!ALWAYS SUNNY SIDE UP!!!

[delder2009]

OK, another food question… how much should you feed your chickens? Do most of you leave a feeder out like a full time buffet 24x7? My silly little birds just fling it all over and don't seem to eat much of it. Do they just like to eat it off the ground? I feel like I might as well pour in on the ground as to put it in the feeder!

I started with it in their feeder and it seemed like they really didn't eat much and they would fill it with leafs and sand. I moved the feeder off the ground thinking that would help but it was the same thing. So now I just put it on the ground and they seen to like it that way. They scratch at it. I make sure they have a constant supply so they can eat when they please. They always have food and water 24/7. Hope this was of some help. And good luck

 

[seminolewind]

I have 5 chamber pots and one bedpan going and hardly ever get crumbles on the ground. The chamber pot seems to have a shape that makes it very hard to fling food. I've used them for 6 years now.

 

[getaclue]

OK, another food question… how much should you feed your chickens? Do most of you leave a feeder out like a full time buffet 24x7? My silly little birds just fling it all over and don't seem to eat much of it. Do they just like to eat it off the ground? I feel like I might as well pour in on the ground as to put it in the feeder!

When there is a lot of feed accumulating on the ground, stop filling the feeder so much, and let them eat what's on the ground before it gets old, moldy, or spoiled. While I was of the mindset that a feeder was more like a feed dish, for them to eat out of, my chickens think the function of the feeder is to hold the feed until they are ready to scratch a bunch out on the ground. The chickens are right, of course. That's what chickens do. They forage, and scratch their food from the ground. They need the dirt as grit to help them digest the food. Mine were wasting a lot of feed, and the older feed on the ground gets to where it is not healthy for them to eat, so that meant extra raking for me. Now I know that when there's a lot of feed on the ground, cut down on the feed in the feeder until they have eaten what's available to them.

 

[kwol]

Our coop stays dry all the time my son cleans the coop every single day and we change their water every morning if it needs it or not I sure hope we don't run into the same problem my kid absolutely adores these chickens we let them roost themselves every night and then we locked the door and when I get up for work in the morning I put them out.

I have six chickens in a mobile a-frame and I do similar to you. I let 'em out in the am and they go to bed at dark and we lock up the coop. They are out to pasture in our back yard all day and we fill the feeder and water daily. They get am kitchen scraps if we have some. Our A-frame has 2 nest boxes and the sides are open so we get constant fresh air. We move it weekly. We are looking for a bigger coop though. we would like another nest box and more roosting room. But it has to be mobile too. We are brainstorming some ideas to do this on a budget.

 

[GermanGirl82]

This is our first coop build all ALONE by my hubby. It's a 10'x16' almost finished tractor coop. There is still a few things that need to be finished, hopefully in a month or more it will be all finished.

 

[JRL1438]

This is our first coop build all ALONE by my hubby. It's a 10'x16' almost finished tractor coop. There is still a few things that need to be finished, hopefully in a month or more it will be all finished.

Wow, I like it!

 

[BlueChick62]

I have  5 chamber pots and one bedpan going and hardly ever get crumbles on the ground.  The chamber pot seems to have a shape that makes it very hard to fling food.  I've used them for 6 years now.

Ahhhh! The bedpan has the lipped edge that would stop them from flinging the feed out. I can't visualize the chamber pot though. Any pictures?

 

[seminolewind]

Wow Germangirl, that's an awesome tractor!

Bluechick, I'll get some pics tomorrow. Yes, the lip is good. I can put about a whole scoop of feed in there.
And with the chamber pots and bedpans, I get the bonus of the "vintage" look.

I've kind of had it with chicken waterers, too. I hate the complicated plastic ones with the screw on lids and the galvanized ones have all rusted. So I'm getting some rubber feed pans for water. Easy to clean, easy to add ice, easy to see when they need more water. And maybe the chickens will think they're drinking out of a pond, LOL

 

[BlueChick62]

Wow Germangirl, that's an awesome tractor!

Bluechick, I'll get some pics tomorrow.  Yes, the lip is good.  I can put about a whole scoop of feed in there.
And with the chamber pots and bedpans, I get the bonus of the "vintage" look.

I've kind of had it with chicken waterers, too.  I hate the complicated plastic ones with the screw on lids and the galvanized ones have all rusted.  So I'm getting some rubber feed pans for water.  Easy to clean, easy to add ice, easy to see when they need more water.  And maybe the chickens will think they're drinking out of a pond, LOL

I've got cheapo plastic feeders I bought at Ace. I've got only 4 birds. The water hasn't been to bad to tend to, but I chose sand for my litter, and the feed crumbles they're flinging out just don't rake up, or sift up. I'm worried about having the feed/organic material rotting in my sand.

Vintage look? Yes! Especially the chamber pots… I googled some images, but they seemed pretty deep and not the right shape for chicken to eat from. Did you get your pans online? Do you really add ice? I did read that the chickens needed cool water to stay cool themselves.

BTW, I see you're from Spring Hill. I used to live there… off Merchant Ave and taught at West Hernando Christian School. I moved to Chiefland in '99 and love it here. Country life is pretty nice!

 

[seminolewind]

Quote: I got some pics