Oy.....such a mess!

[gabby3535]

I have the standard, open-top, slightly tapered, hanging feeders........the kind that has an attached tray at the bottom
to dispense the chick starter.
My small flock of 9 is about 12 weeks old, and it seems that with each passing week, I find more and more and more
'tossed' feed on the ground! I mean LOTS!!!
The tray at the bottom of the feeders has 'dividers'.....which I assume is to diminish the amount of 'tossed' feed?
I am still feeding 'chick starter', and the feeders are suspended, so that the bottom tray is approx 3-4 inches off the ground.

Does anyone out there in BYC land have any suggestions to prevent all this waste of feed, and mess for me to clean up
daily???

Thanks in advance for any advice...............

 

[tykris99]

I made a chicken feeder out of an upside down garbage can and rubbermaid container cover by screwing them together and drilling holes in the garbage can. It holds about 10lbs of feed and never wastes

 

[Baymen Moe]

If your chicks are twelve weeks I think you could raise the feeder up higher than 3-4 inches. Try the height of the birds shoulders and see if that helps. My birds are 5-6 weeks and the feeder tray is higher than 4 inches.

Bill


My birds still try to scratch around the feeder but it's high enough to keep their feet out.

 

[gabby3535]

I have observed my chickens do all of the 'tossing' with their beaks......and 'not' their feet.
In fact, they eventually wear a donut-shaped hole in the ground, below the feeder, by scratching
the ground with their feet 'while' tossing the feed with their beaks!

Can't raise the feeders too much more as I have 3 very large birds (Light Sussex), 5 medium-sized
birds (3 BCMs and 2 Ameraucans), and 1 tiny 'runt' (True Ameraucana).........who all need to have
the same access!

Any other thoughts?
Different type feeders?

Will things get better when they switch to layer feed?
Or, am I doomed to a life of daily 'tossed' feed clean-up?

 

[wanda047]

I have observed my chickens do all of the 'tossing' with their beaks......and 'not' their feet.

I watched mine do the very same thing yesterday. They were using their beaks... swinging their heads back and forth, throwing the feed all over the floor. I'm tired of the waste. Hope someone comes up with an answer for us.​

 

[waibel zoo]

A lot of people won't agree with me here but, let the feeder go empty for half the day. They WILL eat what has been dropped. I never fill the feeder. I put a couple of scoops in when it has been empty for the better part of a day. They waste out of boredom. They don't waste when they are hungry. The feeder also needs to be at shoulder height for the smallest bird. This will limit flicking too. My smaller bidrs have to reach to eat. They can't flick it if they can barely reach it. All the chkens here are fat and happy. They actually prefer to eat the grass. Plus I bring out scratch once a day. They live for that stuff.

 

[ranchhand]

The corn in scratch is a "heat generating" food and not a good treat for summer.
Great in the winter, though.

I have a similar hanging feeder, and I ended up putting a plant saucer underneath. The smaller chicks eat from there, and the bigger ones eat from higher up, which is about 6".

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

I stopped filling the f eeders as well. I put so much out in the morning and again in the evening. I tried the plate under the feeder, hanging the feeders but nothing has worked. I'm still using alot of scratch but then I have alot of babies.lol

 

[sjh]

Quote:
Once again lets disspell this old wifes tale. Corn does not creat heat in a animal. When digested it proveds a large amount of usable caleries. I have not seen a chicken spontaneously burst into flame yet and most comercial feeds are around 50% corn.

 

[terri9630]

Once the feeder is empty I won't refill it until they eat what was spilled on the ground.