Help with feed waste!

[MommyGirl]

I need some advice on how to avoid all this feed wasting. I have 21 chicks 10 to 13 weeks old wasting unbelievable amounts of feed on the ground. I will post pic of the feeder I'm using. I've tried everything. I've put it up on cinder blocks. I've even added a tray up under it to catch what they fling out but really doesn't help much. They are not scratching it out with their feet they are flinging it out with their beaks I've watched them do it. And with all the rain we have Gotten lately it's a big mess so I usually try to scrap it up and discard before it gets moldy. My hubby made me some of the no waste pvc feeders but I haven't been able to try yet because of so much rain I don't want to fill those up then it rain and waste all the feed because they hold a lot of food. Any suggestions?

 

[MommyGirl]

I need some advice on how to avoid all this feed wasting. I have 21 chicks 10 to 13 weeks old wasting unbelievable amounts of feed on the ground. I will post pic of the feeder I'm using. I've tried everything. I've put it up on cinder blocks. I've even added a tray up under it to catch what they fling out but really doesn't help much. They are not scratching it out with their feet they are flinging it out with their beaks I've watched them do it. And with all the rain we have Gotten lately it's a big mess so I usually try to scrap it up and discard before it gets moldy. My hubby made me some of the no waste pvc feeders but I haven't been able to try yet because of so much rain I don't want to fill those up then it rain and waste all the feed because they hold a lot of food. Any suggestions?

Sorry forgot pic

 

[MommyGirl]

I do have another feeder i tried with a taller lip and they still fling it all over the place

 

[RojoMarz]

I need some advice on how to avoid all this feed wasting. I have 21 chicks 10 to 13 weeks old wasting unbelievable amounts of feed on the ground. I will post pic of the feeder I'm using. I've tried everything. I've put it up on cinder blocks. I've even added a tray up under it to catch what they fling out but really doesn't help much. They are not scratching it out with their feet they are flinging it out with their beaks I've watched them do it. And with all the rain we have Gotten lately it's a big mess so I usually try to scrap it up and discard before it gets moldy. My hubby made me some of the no waste pvc feeders but I haven't been able to try yet because of so much rain I don't want to fill those up then it rain and waste all the feed because they hold a lot of food. Any suggestions?

I'd try the no waste pvc feeder...You don't have to fill it up. I never filled mine. I only put enough food in it to cover part of the elbows. I did have luck with the feeder stopping most of the waste, there was still some, but much less than before. One particular pullet was good about eating the feed that fell onto the ground, from out of the elbow.

I did stop using the feeder, as our rodents, which are chipmunks, were getting inside the feeder during the day. Just advice to keep an eye on it, to make sure you don't get rodents free feeding from inside the feeder.

 

[MarkJr]

@aart made a bucket feeder that seems to be accepted and more effective for me than the pvc elbow varieties.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-waste-free-funnel-bucket-feeder.67218/

6 dollars for a water jug, 7 for bucket and lid, scrap piece of 3” PVC pipe and a few feet of old water hose and it works remarkably well. I still have some spillage, but I can say a few handfuls vs a few cups. If I made it like he showed, I won’t have near the shoveling loss. Just need to cut up another bucket and try it.

 

[Aapomp831]

Hang that feeder off the ground so it’s just high enough for the chickens to have to crane their necks to get it, but too high for them to fling it out with their beaks. We have the exact same feeder you have, it’s nice and cheap and easy to clean. And use pellets - way less food waste.

 

[yakitori]

I must be a tyrant. If I see food on the ground, I take their food away until they clean it up

 

[jreardon1918]

I saw a video when I first got chickens. I just searched and could not find it. Any way our feeder is a 4" PVC tube, reduced to 3" and then has a 6" PVC end cap to hold the feed. The bottom of the tube is notched to let out some feed. This rig when full last about a week for 7 full sized birds. They have to reach in, so there is little/no waste. When the pullets are full grown, I will raise it up a bit higher. I guess any feed on the ground is slightly easier to eat than what is in the feeder. I normally feed pellets, except when we have chicks. We start the pellet conversion in the next few weeks.

 

[MommyGirl]

Update: I put out the new pvc feeder that my hubby made for me. I think it will work better but some of my chickens are not tall enough to reach into it yet. I guess I could put a brick up to it or something til they get bigger. But for now just going to leave other ones too. The chickens who could reach in were still flinging a small amount but not nearly as bad. So I think it will work better. I also tested something. I carried one of the old feeders over to the other end of my property where a neighbor has a bunch of free range chickens roaming all over. I let those chickens eat out the feeder. Went back later to look and no feed on the ground at all. Why are my chickens so messy? Lol is it because they are only 10 to 13 weeks? Will they grow out of that? Or maybe his chickens were just that hungry and mine always have food so they don't care if they waste. Lol

 

[rosemarythyme]

Younger birds do tend to be messier. I have the exact same feeder as the one you posted, and when it's all hens (and I'm feeding pellets) there's very little mess. Same feeder with pullets and crumble, mess all over the place. At least mine clean up after themselves daily as my feeder is inside the coop, and taken in at night, so in the morning the birds go on clean up duty.