Pooping in the feeder, and its suspended!

[plantguy90]

The new group of soon to be layers (born mid-April) all seem to have flying skills, they perch at night about 7ft high on bars in the small converted greenhouse, and even though the feeder bucket is suspended, there is a ton of poop in there these days. They must be an acrobatic bunch. What can we do to stop this gross behavior?

 

[schrunk11]

Can they roost or sit on top of the feeders and poop from there or are they doing this mid-flight?

 

[ChickMagnet207]

Don't allow them to get on top of the feeder or roost above it.

 

[mickey328]

I'd recommend putting a "roof" on the feeder. An easy way would be to get one of those funnel shaped light thingies (sorry for the highly technical term, LOL) over the chain. Or you could just use some heavy plastic and make a cone around the chain on top of the feeder. That would keep them from sitting on top and pooping, and if they were flying over and pooping, it'd catch the poo before it hits the feed.

HTH
Mickey

 

[plantguy90]

Don't think they are flying over and pooping in it, bucket is standard 5gal metal auto feeder attached to a bigger dish on the bottom. How in the world are they balancing on it enough to poop as much as they do? i guess the only way is to cover it

 

[ChickMagnet207]

You have to cover the bucket with something cone shaped make sure it is secured to your bucket as stated by mickey328.
They can balance pretty good!