Help - Chickens wasting feed!

[debir1966]

Thanks everyone for the replies and ideas!

We have tried a couple different things. We went to rations fed in trough feeders, trying to encourage them to clean up rather than waste, but almost a week of doing that and they were acting like they were starving!

So, for now, we hung up my Mom's old metal gravity feeder and got a back of pelleted lay mash (versus crumble). I so much prefer to let them free feed and eat what they NEED to eat. We are going to adjust height, and/or keep trying new things until we can get minimal waste but still keep free feeding.

We will see how they do with pellets... they have never had them, so it may not go over very well but I suppose if they are hungry, they will eat it.

I am waiting on a phone call from the mill that makes the feed I prefer to use so that I can see how they feed it (gravity, trough, free-feed, rations, dressed, fermented, etc). I will post what she does and suggests also.

I would prefer not to do fermented, or dressed, or rations, etc, because we do have an active life-style on the weekends and it is important to us that they can be self-sufficient with minimal care for a couple days at a time, only needing someone to gather eggs, check water, etc, versus having to learn a feeding routine (and thus not be so willing to "come check the chickens" LOL).

 

[Roxannemc]

Thanks everyone for the replies and ideas!

We have tried a couple different things. We went to rations fed in trough feeders, trying to encourage them to clean up rather than waste, but almost a week of doing that and they were acting like they were starving!

So, for now, we hung up my Mom's old metal gravity feeder and got a back of pelleted lay mash (versus crumble). I so much prefer to let them free feed and eat what they NEED to eat. We are going to adjust height, and/or keep trying new things until we can get minimal waste but still keep free feeding.

We will see how they do with pellets... they have never had them, so it may not go over very well but I suppose if they are hungry, they will eat it.

I am waiting on a phone call from the mill that makes the feed I prefer to use so that I can see how they feed it (gravity, trough, free-feed, rations, dressed, fermented, etc). I will post what she does and suggests also.

I would prefer not to do fermented, or dressed, or rations, etc, because we do have an active life-style on the weekends and it is important to us that they can be self-sufficient with minimal care for a couple days at a time, only needing someone to gather eggs, check water, etc, versus having to learn a feeding routine (and thus not be so willing to "come check the chickens" LOL).

I have only kept chickens for 6 months but i think free feeding to eat what they want is best b/c they are birds after all and birds spend their day eating.
I think some of the ppl that feed wet mash and i do like the idea have said it was eaten up all at once also probably free range so the birds do get to eat all day.... Just not their feed. Or my guess.I have the same problem feed all over the ground so i am glad you asked
One of my probkems though is the feeds home made or otherwise the feed doesnt seme to come out on its own as it should ihave to shake them to get it to pile up in the under bowl
Maybe my home made ones need bigger holes so it flow freely

 

[Hollow Point]

My chickens do the exact same thing. Will load a 5gal feeder to the hilt with rough rice, and in a couple of hours its all on the ground. Feeder is actually hanging about 6in off the ground with rope. I just don't refill feeder untill they eat all the grain off the ground, which they do.

 

[lbrtyldy]

That's what I was going to suggest! Take the feeder out for a day or two and make them clean up their mess.

I feed mine treats during the day (we get a LOT!) and then X amount of grain at night. It's expensive - organic, no soy, not in pellet form which I love - and I can't afford to spend a ton on grain. When it got cold (and darker), the egg production plummeted so we had to experiment with more light and more feed and production came back up. If it went back down, I would reconsider the amount of grain being fed.

I feed their nightly ration partly in a hanging feeder and partly on the floor of the coop (we use the deep litter method so this helps keep it stirred up), just not any under the roosts (yuck!).

 

[WestVermont]

take the feeder away. And don't feed them. That may sound mean but if they're hungry enough they will clean it up!

I agree totally with Silkielover92.... I would also change to a pellet feed but don't waste what you have... finish it first and then change it.

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Quote: If it's fresh-- O.K., but if it is moldy and they eat an adequate amount of it, it could lead to cancer later.

 

[debir1966]

We scooped up the waste on the floor, it was dry, surprisingly clean (no poo!), not moldy or anything and made a pile of it out in the snow (where they could see it better). We did this until it was all cleaned up.

I watched them for quite a few minutes today. They seem to be wasting less with the old metal gravity feeder that they were with the other one, however, I could still see certain birds doing a certain motion as they ate... kinda like flicking their beak, and "splashing" or "flicking" food out of the feeder as they searched for their favorite tidbits! Our young Buff Chantecler was doing it for a full 5 minutes as I watched her eat.

We have not run out of the mill ground food - yet! But it should be gone in the next couple of days and they will be on Purina Layena pellets. Which, sadly, is even more expensive than the NON-GMO mill grind laymash I was feeding (and prefer to feed). However, if I can get less (MUCH less!) waste out of it until I can figure out a way to feed my preferred food without waste - it is what it is.

I am actually thinking about designing my own feeder - I saw one that is kind of what I am thinking about, but it would entail cutting circles in a 5 gallon bucket and rigging a PVC gravity feeder inside the bucket in such a way that the chicken would have to stick her head INTO the bucket to eat - thus eliminating any waste from flicking (I hope!). I would probably have to rig up at least 2 of these types of feeders so there would be enough spaces for several chickens to feed at once time, as I would limit the number of holes cut into the bucket so that they would have less probability of flicking the feed out the holes.

Because I have a variety of sizes of poultry, from banty size to turkey size, I have to keep in consideration that everyone has to eat. Right now we are using a block so the smaller chickens can access the highly-hung feeder, however, as I was watching them eat today, ALL sizes of chickens were using the step - I think because we have too much of one instead of a smaller (maybe a 2x4 "four inch side" wide) step where the bigger chickens would be uncomfortable using it.

For now, we are just planning on keeping adjusting and experimenting, wether with the food itself or with what we are feeding it out of, until we are happy with the results (and so are the chickens!)

 

[Mehjr10]

Here is a picture of one I put together similar to others on the site. 5 gallon bucket with 1 1/4 holes x 4 bored around the bottom with a 2.5 gallons metal hog pan from TSC attached to the bottom with a single 1/4-20 bolt. Holds about 30 pounds and I have used fine grind layer to pellets, no waste because the pan is deep enough to keep them from flicking it out.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Here is a picture of one I put together similar to others on the site. 5 gallon bucket with 1 1/4 holes x 4 bored around the bottom with a 2.5 gallons metal hog pan from TSC attached to the bottom with a single 1/4-20 bolt. Holds about 30 pounds and I have used fine grind layer to pellets, no waste because the pan is deep enough to keep them from flicking it out.

Wow that is nice! Nice roosts too, BTW!!!

 

[Mehjr10]

Wow that is nice! Nice roosts too, BTW!!!

Thanks, I'm Cheeep! I Built just about all my set up with re-purposed stuff.