Mad feeders

[LinaBirdHouse]

I have 1 - 3" PVC pipe feeder for 6 girls. I have a problem with them raking the feed out with there beaks, they look mad to me or one does she hates laying eggs. Two hens are laying, four have not started. They have a large run, 9'x18'. Do they need toys. They run with the dog as he runs next to the run. He guards the coop and keeps the rats out, they like him. They are eating laying pellets. We are also giving them pumpkin, greens, squish, corn ...

 

[JacinLarkwell]

They naturally want to scratch the dirt to find food. Scratching or scooping feed onto the ground is pretty normal

 

[LinaBirdHouse]

they are wasting a lot of food. I was hopping the PVC feeders would slow the food waste, the mad egg layer does it the most.

 

[The Moonshiner]

If I had one that wasted food constantly, was always mad and didn't lay I'd get rid of her for a better model.
No chickens don't need toys IMO.

 

[Lizzy733]

Pelleted 'should' help them be less inclined to dig - as it's usually to find treats, but sometimes that behavior is quite ingrained.

I'm guessing the feeders are well up off the ground? Mine tend to pick less in suspended feeders and not at all in their treadle feeder, but it is designed to make scattering the food very difficult.

 

[rosemarythyme]

They can't "hate laying eggs" and I'm not sure what that means in this context. You also don't mention how old these chickens are so that we can figure out why they may not be laying.

They don't need "toys" but they do need things to do to help keep them busy, whether it's a dust bath, perches, stuff to climb on or under, piles of dried leaves or hay to dig through etc.

 

[Al Gerhart]

If you don't have a treadle feeder then most of the time you have already paid for one many times over. They are not just to stop vermin from stealing feed. A properly designed feeder protects the feed from weather, from having dirt and poo thrown in, and from feed wastage.

Mixed feed gets raked out the most as the hens are looking for the goodies. You need a lip that extends into the feeder at least a half inch to stop most birds. The wire grids are little help unless they are small grids. A section of chicken wire laid on top will fix that in a poorly designed feeder. The birds have to peck to get to the feed through the holes.

Then there are maybe 2% of the birds that you cannot stop with a 1/2" inward lip. For those your treadle feeder should have a feeder lip extension available, that will stop the worst hen from raking feed. But it is rarely needed and costs a buck plus shipping, which USPS continues to increase. Up to $4.60 for the smallest package anymore. Even under the max thickness they still gouge you over the letter rate because you cannot bend the envelope. LOL Still machinable, just gouging people.