How to feed large flock?

[Three Little Bunnies]

Hi!

Chicken math has taken over, and I now have thirty-seven chickens. These include seven bantams (Cochins and Brahmas) and a total of four roosters (right now, at least. We can't keep them all! Two are bantam Cochins and the other two are 12-week-old White Leghorns). Most of the flock is Easter Eggers, with some Australorps and others tossed in. We have two of those galvanized metal gravity feeders, and it's not working out great. If I fill them all the way, the little wild chickadees and sparrows flock in by the hundreds to eat and soil the feed. So, I am giving the chickens small amounts of feed three or four times a day. The chickens have a giant run and free-range twice a week or so, but we're still going through forty-pound bags of feed in four to six days. Any advice? Thanks!

 

[nuthatched]

Move your feeders into the coop if possible to discourage little birds from getting it. What type of feed? Pelleted feed might be too large for little birds.
You should be going through about 9-10 pounds of feed a day if leaning towards the 3oz, for the 3-5 oz a day birds chickens eat , so you're going to go through it fast. You're actually going through it a little slower than you should.

The only thing to do is reduce flock size oand/or find breed with good food to egg conversion like the leghorns. Ees aren't one of those breeds.

 

[21hens-incharge]

What is your run set up like? Is your wiring small enough that the sparrows and chickadees cannot get in? If not that's the first upgrade I would do.

I also suggest securing it so that the little birds can't get it and reducing flock size.

 

[Three Little Bunnies]

What is your run set up like? Is your wiring small enough that the sparrows and chickadees cannot get in? If not that's the first upgrade I would do.

I also suggest securing it so that the little birds can't get it and reducing flock size.

The run is roughly 30 by 60 feet surrounded by goat fencing, so it would be prohibitively expensive to wire it to keep out the wild birds (I assume I would have to use hardware cloth). However, it might work to fence the feeders? Not sure. Thank you for your reply!

 

[nuthatched]

The run is roughly 30 by 60 feet surrounded by goat fencing, so it would be prohibitively expensive to wire it to keep out the wild birds (I assume I would have to use hardware cloth). However, it might work to fence the feeders? Not sure. Thank you for your reply!

You can get bird netting/mesh to put over it, it's relatively cheap.

 

[MGG]

I'd recommend making up some of these barrel feeders. The wild birds can't see in them do it will protect your feed.
Here's a diy one I found on BYC
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...icken-feeder-out-of-a-bucket-or-barrel.74841/

And these are what I use for my ducks

 

[Cindy in PA]

I realize you have some juveniles & Bantams (will eat 1/2 a large bird), but 37 birds could eat between 6 & 9 lbs. a day on average, so your 40 lb. bag won't last long. Chickens don't eat like chickens.

 

[NonnieNonna]

Gosh! Idk where my feed is going either! I’m sitting here calculating how much my birds are eating because it seemed they were going through feed so quickly. I have 20 birds (1/2 sussex, 1/2 barred rock), about 5 months old, I’m getting 7-11 eggs a day. They're in 240 sq.ft. HWC covered run with 10x10 coop. I just switched to layer pellet (16%) on 9/6 and they went through (4) 50 lb bags in 2 weeks and 1 day! I thought they should be eating about 60 lbs in that time frame. But they're at 200 lbs?!? Their feeder is a 10 gallon barrel with holes near bottom, on top of a tray to catch the food. Any food they scratch over the tray is eaten by the end of the day. I cant figure out where the waste is or how they're eating that much! Any thoughts or advice?

 

[Finnie]

Gosh! Idk where my feed is going either! I’m sitting here calculating how much my birds are eating because it seemed they were going through feed so quickly. I have 20 birds (1/2 sussex, 1/2 barred rock), about 5 months old, I’m getting 7-11 eggs a day. They're in 240 sq.ft. HWC covered run with 10x10 coop. I just switched to layer pellet (16%) on 9/6 and they went through (4) 50 lb bags in 2 weeks and 1 day! I thought they should be eating about 60 lbs in that time frame. But they're at 200 lbs?!? Their feeder is a 10 gallon barrel with holes near bottom, on top of a tray to catch the food. Any food they scratch over the tray is eaten by the end of the day. I cant figure out where the waste is or how they're eating that much! Any thoughts or advice?

Is it possible that something else is eating the feed? (Wild birds, rodents, coons etc.)

 

[NonnieNonna]

Is it possible that something else is eating the feed? (Wild birds, rodents, coons etc.)

I don't think so. It’s 1/2” HWC all sides including top of run onto the roofed area, overlapping all 2x4’s. Plus i have 2-3 feet underground all round the barn and run. No sign of digging anywhere, no holes in HWC that I can see. I read recently they can go through a lot of feed when they first start laying. They just started laying about a month or so ago. Think that could be it??