how and when to feed 5 chickens

[the girls club]

I have a 3 pound feeder. Been filling it up about every 3 or 4 days. I have 5 chickens. When the feeder is filled in the morning. By nightfall the next day. Walk in to the coop and the feeder is spilled with all the extra feed on the ground. The feeder is usually un the ground. With the feed. I have the feeder setting on a good size cement block. I haven't suspended the feeder because the way the heat lamps are at the top of the coop. The coop is an old milk barn. I have been thinking of what I could use. To put on the top of the feeder. So it wouldn't get knocked over. Any Ideas?. Once all the feed is on the ground. I wait about 2 days before filling it again. Chickens scratch the ground. So I figure they can eat the feed off the floor. I have a cement floor with pine chips on top of it...When I cleaned the coop out this time. Their was a large amount of food in the shavings.. To me that's a large waste of feed. So do I feed them outside in the run and take the feeder in at night.? Do I get like a 4 cup measuring cup and feed that amount. I figure that should be enough for a day. Feed that to them in the run during warm weather and feed that to them inside the coop I'm winter. These are 2 year old laying hens.Don''t free range them because of my Basset hound a nd a hawk who frequents our place. Don't want to provide dinner for either animal. I would love ideas. Thank you for your time.

 

[QueenMisha]

Three pounds is far too small for five mature hens. I'd recommend a 10-12# feeder. It may seem like overkill but you need something big enough that they can't knock it around as easily. Hanging feeders produce the least waste, so I'd recommend hanging it at the height of the back of the smallest hen. The ideal method for most flocks is to simply free feed and let them eat however much they require.

 

[BruceAZ]

i have a small feeder as well

to reduce waste.. use crumbles or pellets also hang the feeder will also help reduce waste

 

[donrae]

Why do you have heat lamps?

What style feeder are you using?

I agree, elevate it to the level of their back. If they have to stretch a little to reach the feed, it's okay. They won't bill out so much.

I use the metal tube style, large feeders. With my mixed flock, I have to have it a bit lower so the bantams and littles can reach. This means the larger hens waste a lot of feed. I cut a collar out of chicken wire to fit in the pan, around the base of the tube. It rests on top of the feed and really slows them down.

What I've read is about 1/4-1/2 cup of feed per hen per day, depending on breed. So, you're only looking at about 2 cups of feed a day.

I like that you're letting them clean up the spillage. I do the same thing but feel like folks here don't always get that, like chickens have to be served on dishes or something

 

[the girls club]

Ilive in Ohio. Where I live in the country. In the country I live in a large open space and at times the wind is really strong. I have an old milk shed converted into a coop. With a cement floor. Covered by wood chips. I will have to redesign the insides. If I hang my feeder. I know the bread of chicken I have. They are Golden Buffs all egg layers. I use the heat lamps in the cold winter. As I don't really know how much cold degree of tempature they can stand. Now with this spring and summer they have feather picked their bottoms till they look bare. I'm afraid they will get frost bite on their bottoms. They have since stopped feather picking. Thank goodness. I don't know if they are smart enough to go inside the coop. When they get cold . I have a plastic feeder that has a red bottom and white sides. I sit the feeder on a half cement block. The chickens are full grown.

 

[the girls club]

If I get a 10 to 12 pound feeder. Wouldn't that put a lot of weight on the ceiling if I try and hang it. If I sit it in a cement block. Yes the weight of it might prevent the chickens from knocking it over. My chickens are full grown. You say a 3 pound feeder is to small. I go out daily and check on the watere and feeder and let the chickens out and gather the eggs. So if the feeder does get to low and the feed is on the floor. It's still like the chickens have feed for a day or two.I never GO PAST 3 OR 4 DAYS BEFORE I FILL THE FEEDER. As I keep a close track of the food on the floor

 

[donrae]

If your birds can get out of the wind and the wet, they won't need supplemental heat at all, no matter how cold it is.

You might look into something like this.....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...te-5-gallon-25-feed-bucket-feeder-for-about-3

 

[junebuggena]

If I get a 10 to 12 pound feeder. Wouldn't that put a lot of weight on the ceiling if I try and hang it. If I sit it in a cement block. Yes the weight of it might prevent the chickens from knocking it over. My chickens are full grown. You say a 3 pound feeder is to small. I go out daily and check on the watere and feeder and let the chickens out and gather the eggs. So if the feeder does get to low and the feed is on the floor. It's still like the chickens have feed for a day or two.I never GO PAST 3 OR 4 DAYS BEFORE I FILL THE FEEDER. As I keep a close track of the food on the floor

I prefer tough-style feeders. The birds can't scratch out feed, and I can remove them at night. Chickens don't eat or drink once they go to roost, so feed left in the coop just attracts pests. They should have unlimited access to feed during the day.

 

[chickens really]

I do not use Chicken feeders...too me a waste of money...I use Rubber stock bowls..Yes! Rubber stock bowls...My Chickens eat all the feed and enough room for all my hens..Try them..? They work...

Cheers!

 

[Cindy in PA]

Chickens eat 1/4-1/3 of a POUND per day. You can only translate that amount into cups by weighing your particular feed. Different feeds fit different amounts and weights into a volume cup measurement.