no waster baby chick feeder

[0die]

after dealing with lots of wasted feed all over the brooder I tried an old pie pan, the little baby feeders from TSC fit nicely and I have not seen any more wasted feed on the floor. I added a rock on top of a mason jar lib to keep it in place. The pie pan catches all the waste for easy re-filling.

I did the same thing with the larger 7# TSC feeder by placing it inside a flower pot bottom pan slightly larger than the feeder bottom...the 3 & 4 week olds out in the coop quit wasting food too. the planter base catches 99% of the waste and I just dump it back in the top.

 

[Den in Penn]

Good for you for figuring it out. Those things, well most all chick feeder sold, are notorious for watseing feed. It takes a tray or a dish like a pie an to stop or slow down the waste. Sometimes I think it is a way for the feed mills to sell more feed. Sometimes I view it as a test for new owners.

 

[0die]

here is the bigger feeder out in the coop...TSC sells it as a 7 pound "low/no waste" feeder, I guess because of the "spokes" to keep them from flicking the food side to side...well they still made a huge mess out in the coop/run...as soon as I placed it in a planter bottom tray that was lying around, the waste completely stopped...I think I got it at walmart...it a 2 piece flower plastic pot, the bottom tray for catching water happens to be a perfect fit and the raised lip is enough to catch all the waste for recycling. this is working goo for 3-4 week olds but we will have to see what happens when they get bigger. the big red heat lamp bulb is used to keep the chicks out...I can home to find one of the 3 week olds stuck inside the feeder...this will probably be temporary until they get big enough to need more food or are big enough to knock this feeder over...but working good for juvenile birds.

 

[tsmith91]

Looks like they could still poop in the pie pan has that been a problem

 

[0die]

poop in pie pan has been minimal. not a problem...actually not finding much feed in the pan, it's staying in the feeder.

here is the bigger feeder in the planter water tray...note the lack of feed on the ground around the tray...

 

[0die]

I will be getting rid of these feeders when they get bigger and build one with the 3" PVC elbows and big bucket. I have a feeling that when the girls get bigger the feed waste will return with my current set-up...but for now at 4 weeks it's working well.

 

[Arwenelfmaiden]

I am having the same problem with my baby brood of 2 weeks. They are wasting all the feed all over the wood chip floor. I will try the cake pan and the different lid. But this means I have to fill the feeder more often if I don't use the quart bottle. At this point, I will try anything! Thank you for the great idea!!!

 

[Den in Penn]

I am having the same problem with my baby brood of 2 weeks. They are wasting all the feed all over the wood chip floor. I will try the cake pan and the different lid. But this means I have to fill the feeder more often if I don't use the quart bottle. At this point, I will try anything! Thank you for the great idea!!!

Keep using the quart jar. I use them. I also let them mostly clean up what feed drops int to the pan before I refill the jar. By five or six weeks I also graduate them to a trough feeder. At that age they tend to knock those mason jar feeders and waterers over more.

 

[Arwenelfmaiden]

Hello! And thank you for the great advise. I will go to the feed store and get the Trough feeder for them at the age you suggested. This is my first time and although I have read about all I can regarding raising these little girls, there is the question occasionally that I will have. I am so glad I joined the forum! Thank you again.
Arwenelfmaiden

 

[Den in Penn]

I don't mean the small chick feeder trough they sell. Those are just about as bad for feed waste as the quart jar feeder. I made an intermediate size trough for use with the bigger chicks. You can use a more regular size feeder though. Just give them a step to stand on to reach.



Those chicks were around two weeks. Older and they don't get in the trough near as much. I used a three inch wide board to make it so the trough is around 2.5 inches deep