Hello im here to help my fussy eaters

[kriso]

G'day! I have 4 lovely girls mixed breeds, all under one. I feed them a blend thats aparenly top notch and usually recommend to fussy eaterd or chooks off the lay. Still they scatter it all around make a mess and only eat their favorite grains and seeds. The seem to avoid the pellets the most. Its costing me a fortune! If i toughen up and not top up the feeder hoping they'll eat what's left they seem to go on strike and lay less. Hmmpf any suggestions pleeeease?

 

[NickyKnack]

Hello!

Welcome to BYC and the coop! There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to joined the BYC family. I look forward to seeing you around BYC. What I did to end that, was to get a very large cheese ball or pretzel container( clear!). Then cut an oval hole in it, just above half way point on one side. That way the chickens have to stick their heads inside to eat. If they try to scoop it out, it just hits the side and stays contained. My own invention and it works great! Good luck!

 

[kriso]

Ahhh cool! had to google cheese ball container lol. genius, thank you. So you think the chooks are playing me?

 

[Trefoil]

Sounds like you're an Aussie? One solution would be to ferment it before feeding. To do so = putting a couple of days worth in a bucket and putting enough warm water in it to cover the feed completely plus 1". Some of it will probably float, don't worry about that but top the water off as it absorbs to keep the feed completely covered. Stir it when you think of it. After a couple of days the top will get a off white/gray scum and when you stir it it will bubble. That is when its ready to feed. Most birds prefer fermented feed and it is a lot harder for them to puck & choose out pieces. To feed just strain the water off. Add feed to the bucket and stir it up to maintain for the next day.

 

[slordaz]

Welcome To BTC
my flock prefers the fermented feed I add in a clove of minced garlic to mine though and when it's cold I add a tsp of cayenne pepper, they forage a lot free ranging though even with it snowing here now, and the duck taught them to fish in the ditch lol. Another option would be to buy single items and skip the ones they don't like or ask for one that doesn't contain what they don't like to eat in your feed so as they are eating whats fed and what they don't like is not being wasted.

 

[NickyKnack]

Ahhh cool! had to google cheese ball container lol. genius, thank you. So you think the chooks are playing me?

Their like kids, they eat all the good stuff and leave the rest. Good luck!

 

[Teila]

Hey kriso Welcome to BYC!

Ah yes, having 6 spoiled bantams who do not think they are chickens, I am familiar with the fussy eater syndrome and yep, even bantam sized pellets are apparently

I tried fermenting the feed and while they liked it for a short time I switched back to organic coarse grain because they stopped eating the fermented.

I now know how much they will usually eat in a day and I just put that much out each morning with another container of whatever ‘treat’ is on the breakfast menu for that day.

In the afternoon, I scatter whatever grain is left in their favourite spot and they act like they have never seen it before and gobble it down

 

[kriso]

You picked it Aussie chookies. Thank you so much for the advice. I'll try the container first and work on a batch of brew.
Slordaz, if i ad garlic and cayenne pepper I may eat it myself!

 

[N F C]

Thanks for joining us, it's nice to have you here!

We eliminated a lot of wasted feed by getting this feeder:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/premier-blenheim-poultry-feeder-w-grill-13-lb

I also found out the girls prefer crumbles over pellets.

 

[jak2002003]

Stop feeding all the other stuff and only feed the pellets.

They will sulk at first expecting nice treats to come along.. so will eat less. .. and maybe drop egg production.... but it will only last a few days.. then they will tuck into the pellets and start laying normally again.

Just use that other stuff as occasional treats.. like to get them into the coop or tame them.