How do I reduce feed waste??? Help, please!

[l'oeuf]

Hi,

I'm really having trouble reducing feed waste in my coop with my five lovely ladies (2 RIRs and 3 Red Stars). I had a plastic trough feeder (the kind with a double line of holes on top), but they didn't seem to like that, so I switched to a hanging feeder. However, the feed waste is even worse- it's all over the floor of the coop, and at this rate, they will be going thru a 50-lb bag in a matter of days! I think I have it at the right height for them, about 5 inches off the floor. Does anyone have any suggestions?? I'm really in a bind!

Thanks so much!

 

[1acrefarm]

Use pellets and feed them as they clean it up.

 

[Katy]

Try hanging it at shoulder level so they have to stretch a little to eat. That makes it harder for them to throw it out.

 

[eggzettera]

Ditto on the shoulder height
Ditto on pellets not mash
Also do NOT add scratch with the pellets they will knock out the pellets to get to the scratch.

 

[vfem]

Mine eat out of deep clay dishes and I switched to pellets and not crumbles... so far nothing goes to waste, and a 50lb bag lasts for months. Crumbles were a mess and a half to clean.

I only allow my chickens scratch on the run floor or on the lawn in the winter when they need the corn for fats. Gives them something to scratch for.

 

[azelgin]

I have some homemade wooden wall hung feeders for mine. I hung them as high off the floor as I could so they had to really stand on their tip toes to reach in. There is also a small lip that projects to the inside edge of the feeding trough, so the have a hard time flicking the feed out onto the floor.

 

[CANDLE98]

I saw this guy's coop the other day and he had a rain gutter along the bottom of his coop that he filled with food and he said that he uses about 30% less food now than he did before. Kind of a neat idea.

 

[Vcomb]

once their feeder is empty don't fill it for a day or two - makes them clean up what they spilled.

 

[phalenbeck]

I have a 6" pipe feeder (a metal chimney. vent thing and a chimney cap thing stuffed on bottom. This rig is in a 3 Foot plastic pan as in car oil change thing. They spill into the pan, and at times I refill from the pan. They have to climb into the pan to eat. 50 lbs lasts 3x longer now.

 

[rdranch]

You might try not filling the feeder so full. I only put in what they will eat for 2 or 3 days at a time. It seemed that when it was full more would push it's way through and fall to the floor. Sometimes gravity can be a bummer