New to raising chickens

[Leahs Coop]

Hello, and a warm welcome to Backyard Chickens! It's great to have you here with us

 

[kimberlye]

Hello kimberlye.
Welcome to BYC.
I free range. I don't leave food out at all, not in the coops particularly. As you've noticed, the feed attracts rodents. I feed supervised three times a day. Each feed takes about 15 minutes. This may sound like an unnecessary task but I'm able to make sure all in each group (ihave 4 groups) get fed properly and more often than not I get to see who poops what which is a great help when trying to keep an eye on their health.

Interesting....I never thought of feeding them several times a day. I do throw them a bunch of scratch when I get home and hang out with them for 10 min. or so; maybe I do that in the morning as well and that will be the new norm. I was going through food like crazy til I was out in the yard and saw a chipmunk enter the coop....UGGHHH.... Thanks for the suggestion...I am going to give it a try!!

 

[fldiver97]

Welcome Nice to have you here! I use hanging feeders.... store feed in metal containers; keep feeders in covered run and have pavers all around parameters of coop and run so nothing digs into run. I do keep the door open during daytime so the chickens can have the run of the yard. Rarely will a squirrel go into the run, they mostly go for the fruit and veggie scraps I put into a shallow pan by the back steps

 

[007Sean]

Howdy and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

Happy to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!

Thanks for joining our community!