How often do I change water & feed?

[Mjvl]

Hi All,

New chicken Mom here. I have a small flock of 5 chicks (Hoping they are all Pullets - they are 13 weeks old now). I have a few questions on how often I should add food and/or change the water.

For the Feeder, I have the 4 LB Poultry Feeder.

• I'm using Crumble. Right now, I only it fill it up 1/4 of the way. I find I have to shake it a bit to get the crumble to refill. I find they don't always eat from this feeder so I added a few of the small cups (see attachment) to the run. They seem to eat from these first. It might be because I fill these every morning with fresh crumble
• Questions
  • Is it better to give them 'fresh' crumble every morning?
    • I got the larger feeder for when we are out of town - to make it easier on the sitter.
  • How can I get them to eat from the Poultry feeder?

For the Waterer, I have the 3 Gallon Premier Heated Waterer. We are on a well, but the water I use is filtered from our kitchen sink.

• How often should I change the water?
• Is there a way to keep it from getting 'slimy'? (perhaps because it's well water)
  • I add about a Tablespoon of ACV now, but should I add something else to keep it from getting slimy after a few days?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[All4Eggz]

@aart

 

[3KillerBs]

I add new feed to the top of the feeder as needed, cleaning it only as required if they mess it too much or, with the adults, when the fines build up too much (I use the fines to make wet mash so as not to waste anything). If your feed is not getting wet it will not spoil -- though I wouldn't want a feeder so big for the size of the flock that it didn't cycle through in a week or so.

Open waterers are cleaned and refilled when soiled -- anywhere from twice a day to every other day. Horizontal nipple waterers are refilled when they empty (chickens can't poop in them).

I brush the slime off the walls with a dishbrush when I refill it. I didn't have this issue when on town water but I don't want to bother with clorination, etc. When we shift enough moving boxes to access my DH's plumbing fittings I'm going to drop a bit of copper fitting into each waterer to see if it cuts down on the slime and algae.

 

[aart]

I use a horizontal nipple waterer and clean the container a couple times a year,
when I swap out summer and winter containers.
Never had a problem with slime and would not have ACV in water full time(if ever).

ETA: non treated well water here, high iron content.
Waterer is inside coop, out of any direct sunlight.

I top off water and feed every morning, adjusting for the 24 hour amounts as needed.
It's how I kind of keep track of consumption.

How can I get them to eat from the Poultry feeder?

Don't offer other options, they'll eat from where the feed is when they get hungry enough.

 

[nuthatched]

Chick crumble or layer crumble?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Not all gravity feeders work the same, even if they look somewhat similar, so this particular one may not be ideally laid out because the feed *should* fall and refill the basin as feed is eaten below. So you may want to try a different gravity feeder.

I have that exact same waterer and we have no slime issue, however we're on city water, and I keep the waterer in the shade to further prevent any algae growth. So I only rinse it out when it gets low on water before refilling it. ACV is going to corrode the nipple by the way, so if you really want to use ACV it's better to get a waterer without metal components (nipples).

 

[gtaus]

FWIW, I have a DIY 5 gallon bucket PVC feeder and have never had to clean it out. I just refill it half full and it lasts about 7-10 days. The only thing the chickens can do is stick their neck in the PVC elbows to eat the feed. So the feeder never gets soiled. I have a 3 gallon metal fount waterer and it gets refilled every 7-10 days. I'll rinse it out when I have to refill it, but that's about it. If I see some free floaters in the water fount, I will swish it out so fresh water fills the rim. I don't use ACV because I have a metal waterer. If either your waterer or feeder appears to need cleaning, then I'd say clean it. But, depending on how well your setup works, you should not have to clean everything daily.

Let me add that I keep my waterer and feeder inside my chicken coop, out of direct sunlight and natures elements. The feeder is suspended up off the ground, and the waterer is on a metal heater base that elevates it about 4 inches off the floor. I think that helps keep everything cleaner.

I also keep commercial feed and water available 24/7 for my chickens, so there is never any fighting going on for something to eat. I do feed chicken scratch and food scraps to my chickens, but that gets thrown into the chicken run on the ground and then they can fight over that if they want. But nobody goes hungry as they always have their commercial feed hanging 24/7 in the coop.

 

[Mjvl]

Chick crumble or layer crumble?

Right now, they are on Chick crumble as they are around 13 weeks old.

 

[3KillerBs]

Never had a problem with slime

I have that exact same waterer and we have no slime issue,

It's definitely going to depend on the water supply.

Our well has been tested thoroughly but if water sits it grows slime. The chlorinated city water didn't. Price of living where we live.

 

[Brooks_]

It's definitely going to depend on the water supply.

Our well has been tested thoroughly but if water sits it grows slime. The chlorinated city water didn't. Price of living where we live.

Mine grows slime with the well water I have. No experience with treated water (in this regard). I've found that the waterer stays slime free longer when cleaned with white vinegar. I have no records to support this, just observation.