How much feeder space do I really need?
I have a 15 foot long trough feeder for about 40 birds. It is full all the time with a variety of foods, I top it off several times a day, any time I am outside. The problem I am having is that when I put a scoop of feed in, all the birds rush to that one spot instead of spreading out as I add feed down the trough, instead they will stay bunched up in one spot until they eat all they can hold. The littler chickens rush in first, and then the bigger birds end up standing on top of them to eat--I have heavy roosters trampling on the necks and heads of bantams while the little ones are screaming and trying to get away, and the big ones just stand on them and ignore them and won't move until I literally have to go in kicking them and throwing them across the pen to rescue the smaller birds! They have adequate pen space and have access to several acres to free range too, so they are not really crowded, they can get away from each other or at the feeder any time they like, from inside the pen or outside of it. I am losing two or three birds a week lately with broken necks, wings, legs, and spines. Before, I had several flat round pans meant for feeding horses, and there was less space, but they shared it ok, and no one got hurt. The hurting only started when I built the trough, which has MORE room! I switched to this feeder because they would stand in the pans and kick the food all over, then poop on it and not eat it. With the trough, it is raised a little higher and they have to reach their heads through a wire panel (plenty big enough for their heads to get in and out safely) to eat, so they cannot put their feet in their food. It does save me lots of food that would be wasted otherwise, but I don't care about that if it means saving food at the cost of birds' lives.
I've thought of maybe only filling it at night while they are sleeping to prevent them rushing the feeder...does anyone think that would work? Or have any other ideas? Is that really not enough space for that number of birds, should I build another trough?
I have a 15 foot long trough feeder for about 40 birds. It is full all the time with a variety of foods, I top it off several times a day, any time I am outside. The problem I am having is that when I put a scoop of feed in, all the birds rush to that one spot instead of spreading out as I add feed down the trough, instead they will stay bunched up in one spot until they eat all they can hold. The littler chickens rush in first, and then the bigger birds end up standing on top of them to eat--I have heavy roosters trampling on the necks and heads of bantams while the little ones are screaming and trying to get away, and the big ones just stand on them and ignore them and won't move until I literally have to go in kicking them and throwing them across the pen to rescue the smaller birds! They have adequate pen space and have access to several acres to free range too, so they are not really crowded, they can get away from each other or at the feeder any time they like, from inside the pen or outside of it. I am losing two or three birds a week lately with broken necks, wings, legs, and spines. Before, I had several flat round pans meant for feeding horses, and there was less space, but they shared it ok, and no one got hurt. The hurting only started when I built the trough, which has MORE room! I switched to this feeder because they would stand in the pans and kick the food all over, then poop on it and not eat it. With the trough, it is raised a little higher and they have to reach their heads through a wire panel (plenty big enough for their heads to get in and out safely) to eat, so they cannot put their feet in their food. It does save me lots of food that would be wasted otherwise, but I don't care about that if it means saving food at the cost of birds' lives.
I've thought of maybe only filling it at night while they are sleeping to prevent them rushing the feeder...does anyone think that would work? Or have any other ideas? Is that really not enough space for that number of birds, should I build another trough?