Food for thought???

[mamadawn]

I have a coop/ nests and run that has a water and a food despencer and Chunnel that leads to another run across the yard. This second run only has water. I have been giving the girls kitchen and yard scraps in this second run, only to keep flys and pests away from the coop area. It does not have a feeder. I was hoping to bring the girls back to the first Coop/run periodically so that they would use the nesting boxes. I did find a pullet egg shell in the second run. My question is should I add a second feeder to the second run? Or make them come back to the first run/ coop to feed.

 

[kari_dawn]

this is probably more dependent on the numbers and ages of all of your girls. For me, the less feed I have to put out, the less I have to worry about feeding the wild birds, rats, and squirrels. However, if you have large numbers of birds, or birds that are lower on the pecking order that are having a hard time getting their fair share, two food locations may be a good idea.

Alternatively, you can temporarily shut down the chunnel until your girls learn the appropriate place to lay their eggs. Once they have established their egg laying habit, re-open the chunnel for business

 

[mamadawn]

Thanks kari-dawn. I only have 8 girls with a double feeder in the main coop. Do you think that is enough? I made this pvc feeder that has no spillage, so I haven't noticed any critters. (See pic) I lock up the coop effectively shutting down the Chunnel at night. I can easily keep them in the first run.

 

[kari_dawn]

I would think that as long as all your girls are a good weight (no one is getting run off), there is no need for a second feeder I had 12 in my last flock, and one feeder was fine for them, but I have had a flock of 9 where the matriarch was mean, and ran off the lower members so I had to have two feeders for them. I free ranged them during the day, and the cardinals learned to fly in to the open door and help themselves at the feeder while my girls were digging up grubs in the garden

I love your feeder, by the way

 

[mamadawn]

Thanks kari_dawn I appreciate your thoughts, I'll watch the pecking order and their weight.