Food in the run/travel

[springchicken81]

We just recently moved our flock of 6 to their coop and run. They’re 7-weeks old and have adapted wonderfully. We have 6 happy chicks!

But we have some questions regarding feeding them:
-We have the OverEZ chicken feeder which holds 50 lbs of feed. But our chickens keep spilling huge amounts onto the ground. It really just one chicken who’s the culprit. We’ve made a tray to sit underneath so that we can catch it, put it back in or throw it away without it landing on the ground and rotting. But there’s so much waste. How can we reduce this?

-On a related note, can we leave our food out overnight? Last night we noticed a raccoon near our run on our camera, but the chickens are safe inside their very secure coop. The run is fully enclosed with 1/2 hardware cloth and an apron all the way around. Is there any harm is leaving the food out overnight?

-Lastly how do people manage this when they go away. We have an automated door which opens at 5:30am and closes at 8:30and has been working great. But how to manage food? Especially with messy chickens and food in the run. I’ve heard of automated feeders that open when a platform is stepped on. But our chickens are young and I’m not sure they’re heavy enough.

Any help on any of these questions would be so helpful!! How do others handle food, predators, and travel?

thanks!

pic of overEZ feeder before we made the tray. Another pic of curious chicks in their coop.

 

[3KillerBs]

I can't answer your other questions, but I've found much to like in my traditional-style, metal hanging feeder.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/in-praise-of-the-traditional-hanging-feeder.1452899/

When my chickens have spilled feed from other feeders I've left it there on the ground for them to eat -- not refilling it until they'd cleaned up their mess. I have extremely well-drained soil and have never had a problem with feed molding in that situation.

I leave food out in the run, behind the electric poultry netting, and have not noticed any incidence of it attracting pests (I'm pretty sure that some resident raccoons have been zapped). Others have problems with everything from songbirds to bears -- your mileage may vary.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Is there any harm is leaving the food out overnight?

Lastly how do people manage this when they go away. We have an automated door which opens at 5:30am and closes at 8:30and has been working great. But how to manage food?

Main concern would be rodents. I put all food away at night and bring it back out in morning. It also helps clean up messes (my dry feeder is inside the coop, so no risk of mold) as the flock reliably eats any spilled feed the next morning before I get up. With your feeder is there a cover for the ports that they sell, so you could deter any potential rodent access at night?

Vacation is different, in that case I'd be be leaving feeders out the entire time I was gone, unless someone reliable is pet sitting and managing the feed.

 

[dennisma1]

I would try hard not to leave food in run at night. It attracts rats, possums, you name it. I keep a steel trash can near their run and put any leftover food in there at night. Trust me rats are extremely hard to get rid of. I try to put their food over some concrete pavers so it's easier to clean up their mess. As for going away, I have family member or pet sitter but I also have dogs. I think it also depends on where you live and how secure your run is. I've lost or had chickens injured by dogs, hawks, bald eagles, possums, cats. We also have foxes bobcats and bears but dogs help with that.

 

[blackdog043]

This is the first time I have ever seen that feeder. From looking at it, it looks very easy for them to billow feed out. Not a great design and not cheap. The feed sits up to high in the opening. You might be able to stick something inside the opening, so the chickens have to reach deeper, to get the feed. This would stop the billowing. Maybe a short piece of solo cup or something similar. I use the DIY 90 deg elbow style feeders and don't have a problem with billowing, because they have to reach down further to get the feed.

The run is fully enclosed with 1/2 hardware cloth and an apron all the way around. Is there any harm is leaving the food out overnight?

Since your run is fully enclosed with 1/2" hwc and you have an apron, I don't see any harm in leaving your feed out, unless you see signs of rodents. My old run was all 1/2" hwc, I never took my feeders in and never had a problem in 4 years. I moved, so now I have a different set up.

Lastly how do people manage this when they go away. We have an automated door which opens at 5:30am and closes at 8:30and has been working great. But how to manage food? Especially with messy chickens and food in the run.

With no one tending to my chickens, I used to go away for a week at a time using DIY feeders and horizontal nipple waterers. My chickens, 24 - 26 of them, always had food and water when I got home.
Again my run was all 1/2" HWC, all the openings on my coop were covered with HWC and I had an apron around the whole set up. I never locked my chickens inside the coop and didn't have a problem with predators getting in. The worst predators I had in my area were, raccoons and fox seen on trail cameras around the run. There was evidence of some scratching at the apron once in a while, but the HWC did it's job.